Italian authorities have seized almost two tons (2,000 kilograms) of cocaine off the coast of Sicily, officials said Monday.

The haul has a street value of about €400 million ($440 million).

The drugs were stored in about 70 waterproof packages and carefully sealed, the Italian Guardia di Finanza said in a statement. The tax and customs authorities called it a "record" seizure.

The bundles were held together by fishermen's nets and equipped with a luminous signaling device, Guardia di Finanza added.

A maritime surveillance aircraft spotted the packages floating in the waters and alerted the police.

The "peculiar packaging methods and the presence of a luminous device to allow tracking" suggested that the haul was dumped at sea by a cargo ship in order for it to recovered later, the statement said. 

rm/rt (Reuters, AFP)