Dog sniffs out 13 kilograms of cocaine hidden in wheelchair at Italy airport

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It was a dog day afternoon for a canine at an airport in Italy after nearly 13 kilograms of cocaine was found stashed inside a wheelchair.

The pooch’s discovery came on Friday at Malpensa Airport in Varese, about 50 kilometres northwest of Milan.

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The sniffer dog detected something fishy in the leather upholstery of a motorized wheelchair.

Guardia di Finanza, a military police force that operates to protect economic and financial security, posted video of the huge drug find.

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The specialized canine unit was deployed to check passengers and their luggage arriving from the Dominican Republic after drug couriers previously used the route, police said in a statement.

Authorities can be seen cutting into the seat and back of the wheelchair where they found packets of cocaine.

“A canine unit of the #GDF of #Varese identifies a passenger who, pretending to be disabled in a wheelchair, was carrying 13 kg of cocaine,” GDF tweeted.

The passenger got up from the chair and was taken into custody.

He is currently behind bars at a local prison while investigators work on the case, police said in a statement.

Authorities said the 11 packs of cocaine, which weighed 13.35 kilograms, have a street value of about $1.8 million.