Wild boar in Italy have no shortage of enemies, from farmers and vineyard owners to motorists, but to that long list can now be added drug dealers.

A gang of dealers in Tuscany was left aghast after discovering that a stash of valuable cocaine they had carefully buried in the woods had been dug up by a herd of snuffling wild pigs.

With their powerful snouts, the boar managed to rip open the waterproof packages in which the cocaine was kept, scattering around €20,000 (£17,000) worth of the white powder across the forest floor.

The unusual drug “bust” came to light when police tapped the telephones of a suspected drug trafficking gang - an Italian and three Albanians.

One of the men was recorded furiously reporting the loss of the cocaine to a fellow gang member, telling him the drugs were ruined.

It is not known what became of the boars or what effect the cocaine had on them.

All four alleged dealers were subsequently arrested and face charges of drug trafficking. Two were sent to jail while the others were placed under house arrest.

They were allegedly selling around 2kg of cocaine every month at bars and nightclubs in and around the historic city of Arezzo in Tuscany, as well as in nearby Siena and the hilltop town of Perugia, in Umbria.