Five million euro drug shipment seized in Varese with a wirehaired dachshund on board

Financial police in Varese intercepted a drug consignment valued at more than five million euro, arresting three men travelling in a Spanish-plated camper van and a Fiat 500, according to local reports. The operation, conducted by the Guardia di Finanza’s Economic and Financial Police Unit, dismantled a trafficking network supplying the local market and surrounding regions. Alongside a cache exceeding 70 kilograms of narcotics and an array of weapons, officers found a wirehaired Brittany dachshund named Watson inside the caravan.

Camper van and Fiat 500 intercepted near wooded smuggling trails

Investigators tracked the illicit transport as the Spanish-registered camper van moved slowly along a dead-end dirt road toward wooded areas known for drug dealing. A couple in their mid-fifties occupied the caravan alongside Watson the dachshund, while a 34-year-old local Italian man followed closely behind in a Fiat 500. Financial police officers, concealed within dense vegetation, watched as the vehicles stopped in an isolated clearing at the edge of the woods. The occupants of the camper van unloaded a heavy duffel bag and transferred it directly into the trunk of the hatchback. As officers moved in to block the vehicles, they inspected the bag and recovered multiple blocks of cocaine stamped with a Superman logo.

Seized narcotics include flavoured cocaine and over 70 kilograms of drugs

Follow-up searches of the caravan and the Italian suspect’s home uncovered an extensive inventory of illicit substances totalling more than 70 kilograms. The haul comprised 19 kilograms of cocaine, 49 kilograms of marijuana, 1.9 kilograms of hashish, 72 grams of heroin, 233 tabs of LSD, and 200 ecstasy tablets. Part of the cocaine had been mixed with methamphetamines and adulterated with artificial flavorings including strawberry, grape, coconut, and melon as part of criminal marketing strategies. In addition to the narcotics, authorities seized 6,600 euro in cash and an arsenal consisting of a taser, a machete, a baseball bat, a telescoping baton, and a pocketknife.

Suspects transferred to local prisons as Watson finds temporary care

The two Spanish nationals and the Italian man were taken into custody and transferred to prisons in Varese and Como pending further judicial proceedings. Meanwhile, the dachshund Watson was cared for at the barracks by financial police officers before being placed temporarily with a local family.