Haapalah / Aliyah Bet

Abdul-Aziz Kerine attempted to augment the Syrian Army's arsenal, which could have determined whether the Jewish State would survive.
The acquisition of 6000 rifles and 8,000,000 rounds of ammunition would have added a considerable amount of offensive power to the Syrian Army, or the Palestinians.
Shaul Meirov was informed by Ehud Avriel, and he, in turn, talked to David Ben-Gurion, who decided the shipment would be stopped at all costs.

Lino, flying the Italian flag, carrying a large cargo of arms to Syria. sailed from Rijeka, with a crew recruited from Fiume, by a company in Trieste.
In Trieste, electric poles and other goods were loaded, and Lino sailed for Fiume, where she took on weapons, including ten thousand rifles and cases of ammunition and explosives, all listed in documents from the company attesting to their legal transfer to a Syrian port.

The Haganah הגנה pilots combed the seas for three days, without success, until, on March 30, 1948, Shaul Meirov cabled Munya Mardor, a high-ranking Haganah הגנה officer, to say that SS Lino was in port in Yugoslavia, for unknown reasons.
SS Lino was forced to stop at Molfetto, due to bad weather.
Amnon Yona cites Lino, on her way from Fiume, was compelled to anchor at Molfetta, ostensibly due to a breakdown, the failure of a pressure gauge and to take on food.
The Port Adminstration was told by the Captain that SS Lino was carrying timber and miscellaneous material, destined for Beirut.
Lino was detained by order of the Port Administration, after customs officials noticed suspicious movement on her deck, and the crew of seven were transferred to Bari.
The Haganah הגנה thought of bombing Lino from the air, using one of the recently acquired planes, but the planes had no bomb doors, so they proposed that a crew member to roll the bomb out at low altitude and hope for the best.

On April 1, 1948, while SS Lino was at sea, a storm erupted in the Mediterranean Sea.
Haganah הגנה air searches became impossible, so. an alternative plan was developed, to outrun and board SS Lino on the high seas using of a yacht
Before the plan was implemented, SS Lino developed engine trouble and pulled into Molfetta.

Lino sailed from Molfetta to Bari.

Ada Sereni in Italy, working for Shaul Meirov, telephoned a friend who worked for a Christian Democratic newspaper, and told him that the Communists were landing and gathering arms, and there was a ship docked in Molfetta loaded with weapons.
"Within twelve hours that news was on the front page of every newspaper in the land. The government feared a Communist coup; the Communist newspapers immediately branded the accusations as provocations."
The Communists claimed that the right-wing parties planned to use the weapons to suppress the Communists.
The Italian government oreded the crew arrested, and SS Lino towed out of Molfetta.
SS Lino's Captain revealed the truth to the Italian authorities; the arms belonged to the Syrians, and the ship had only put into port due to the weather and engine trouble, and the British, who permitted arms to flow freely into Arab countries, applied pressure, so, to defuse the political tensions, the Italians decided to release the ship.
A Palyam פלי"ם‎ demolition team, of Yossa’le Dror, Benni Kravitz and Meir Falick, moved into action, hiring a fishing boat, they planned to disguise themselves, and change into diving gear when out of sight, row to the entrance to the harbor, the sappers would dive into the water, fix the mine to SS Lino's hull, and swim back to the boat and row back to shore.
At 4:00AM, the Palyam פלי"ם‎ sappers got to within yards of SS Lino, but could not get closer, because of the British searchlights and activity on both the British destroyer, so they removed the detonators from the mine and left it there.

On April 10, 1948, after the British destroyer sailed from Bari, Palyam פלי"ם‎ sappers, Yossa’le Dror and Benni Kravitz, slipped into the water and attached the mine to the hull of SS Lino.
At 4:00AM, while the Palyam פלי"ם‎ sappers were safely on the road to Roma, SS Lino went down within ten minutes, sending 6,000 rifles and 8 million rounds of ammunition to the bottom of Bari harbor.

On April 11, 1948, Italian newspapers reported that SS Lino had been sunk by a mysterious explosion, and her cargo of weapons lay at the bottom of the port of Bari.

Lino´s cargo of weapons were fished and placed in storage at Bari, and then loaded on to Argiro, to be transported to the end of August, 1948, via Beirut, to Syria,
Eric Salerno cites Ada Sereni received tacit and covert support of the Italian secret service in planning the seizure of Argiro.