46kg of cocaine hidden in cargo ship seized near Corinth

46 kilograms (101 pounds) of cocaine hidden behind a water intake grate in the hull of a cargo ship, has been seized by Greek authorities.

The Marshall Islands-flagged ship 'SKYROS' had set sail from the port Santarem, Brazil and was going to dock at a coastal facility in the area of Kalamaki, near the Corinth Canal.

On Monday, an inspection of the vessel's hull was carried out by a team of Hellenic Coast Guard divers, following a tip-off.

Footage released by the Coast Guard shows a diver unscrewing a grate from the side of the ship under the waterline, and removing a large black waterproof bag which contained 46.7 kilograms of cocaine in 38 plastic packages.

A thorough search of the ship was carried out with the assistance of sniffer dogs, without finding anything further.

Twenty-three crew members of the cargo ship were arrested.

The drug bust comes four days after Greek authorities seized more than 4 tons of cannabis from Lebanon that were hidden inside industrial cupcake-making machines.

The shipment, containing three of these machines, arrived on April 14th to Greece’s main port of Piraeus from Lebanon. It was scheduled for transport to Slovakia on April 20th.

After receiving information from the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), Greek authorities raided the container on April 16th and seized 4.3 tons of cannabis.

*More on GCT: Piraeus flooded with cocaine: Why Colombian cartels use the Greek port