Italy Busts Surfer Drug Smuggling Ring

Italian police said Monday they had busted a ring of smugglers who attempted to traffic cocaine from Latin America to Europe by hiding it in surf boards and a sailing boat.

The police said they had arrested 19 people -- 16 Italians, 2 Peruvians and a Columbian. In all, 24 people are under investigation.

A total of 330 kilograms (727 pounds) of cocaine were seized from surf boards at Santiago airport in Chile and another 330 kilograms were found in a large, specially-adapted sailing boat stopped in Venezuela.

Two kilograms of cocaine were also discovered in the buttons of a Peruvian poncho mailed to Florence in central Italy.