Smugglers escape after firing shots off Corfu
Police were searching the popular island of Corfu yesterday for three drug smugglers who shot at the coast guard during a high-speed chase at sea. The three men were spotted in a powerful speedboat that was heading toward the island from Albania yesterday morning. When a coast guard patrol boat approached the vessel, the smugglers opened fire, the Merchant Marine Ministry said. During the chase that ensued, the suspects continued to fire at the coast guard while also throwing 17 sacks of cannabis into the sea. Nobody was injured during the gunfight. The smugglers eventually ran their boat aground on a deserted beach on the northern coast of Corfu and made off on foot, according to the ministry. The coast guard found another 11 sacks of cannabis in the boat.