ROME-A British man and a Bolivian woman attempted to smuggle 15 kilos of cocaine in shoes and pots into Italy this month in yet another “ingenious” smuggling ploy.

The smugglers flew into Leonardo da Vinci airport from San Paola in Brazil and were discovered by the 'Guardia di Finanza', a special branch of the Italian police.

The woman, in Italy on the basis she was looking for a job as a cook, hid the drugs inside the lower layer of the pots. She aroused suspicion due to the weight and the thickness of the cooking utensils, where she had stashed 12 kilos worth of the drug.

The man, who was carrying a large number of shoes under the pretence they were gifts for his parents living in Italy, was also hiding cocaine.

In total he was carrying 11 plastic bags, equalling altogether 2 kilos of the narcotics.

The drugs, with an unusually high purity, have a net value estimated at three million euros.

 This year alone, airport security has found cocaine in chalk statues, baggage trolleys and even women's implants.

On Oct.23 Il Messaggero reported that both foreigners have been charged with international drug trafficking and are incarcerated at Civitavecchia prison.

National press printed the story earlier this week but sources at the British Embassy asserted the incident took place at the start of October.