Greek police say they have dismantled an international drug trafficking gang that smuggled cocaine from Bolivia to Greece concealed in "sheets of salted leather", Reuters reports.

The case highlights a shift in smuggling methods used to move drugs from South America to Europe, according to officials. 

The police, who were acting on a tip-off from the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, arrested eleven suspects, including Bolivian and Spanish nationals. 

Investigators say the gang operated a laboratory in Athens to extract the cocaine from the salted hides.

Authorities seized at least 300 packages of salt mixed with cocaine, estimating the total weight of the drug at more than 800 kilogrammes.

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