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Catania: Criminal association set up in a council house dismantled, 5 of the 18 investigated are minors

drug operation

Catania: Criminal association set up in a council house dismantled, 5 of the 18 investigated are minors

It was also, a "search warrant" was executed against six additional adults, currently under investigation at liberty, for "purchase, possession for the purpose of dealing and transfer of narcotics", for which the Ordinary Judicial Authority, following the preliminary interrogation, will evaluate the request of this Prosecutor's Office for the issuing of a precautionary measure. The operation, called “Molosso”, allowed the dismantling of a criminal organization that would have managed a “drug dealing square”, set up in a public building in the “San Cristoforo” neighborhood, which would have guaranteed an important source of income for organized crime.

Catania: Scardinato sodalizio criminale allestito in una palazzina popolare, 5 dei 18 indagati sono minorenni

The investigation, coordinated by the ordinary and juvenile AAGG and conducted by the Operational Unit of the Catania Piazza Dante Carabinieri Company from June 2023 to February 2024, originates from a observation service during which the Carabinieri had ascertained a continuous coming and going of young people who were quickly entering and exiting an apartment on Via Salvatore Di Giacomo. After deciding to stop and check two of them, finding that they had purchased marijuana, The Carabinieri raided the building, arresting 5 people and seizing drugs, packaging material and a video surveillance system connected to a large screen used to monitor customer access and evade any checks by the police.

Catania: Scardinato sodalizio criminale allestito in una palazzina popolare, 5 dei 18 indagati sono minorenni

The name of the operation, “Molosso”, was conceived during this intervention, since a Rottweiler puppy was also found in the apartment that the suspects, on the basis of the investigative elements collected, they would have bred it to use as a guard dog. The little dog, who in this circumstance was named Dante, was then entrusted to the veterinary staff of the ASP and later adopted by a family from Catania.

Despite the arrests in flagrante, however, the immediate “reopening” of the drug dealing area was ascertained and it was placed under continuous monitoring by means of cameras. According to the prosecution's hypothesis, shared by the Preliminary Investigation Judge, in a state of the proceedings that has not yet allowed the establishment of adversarial proceedings between the parties, the 18 suspects (13 adults and 5 minors), who were allegedly part of the drug dealing organization, were organized in an "entrepreneurial" way, with specific tasks as lookouts, cashiers and pushers and with specific shifts and working hours.Catania: Scardinato sodalizio criminale allestito in una palazzina popolare, 5 dei 18 indagati sono minorenniThe operational base of the gang would have been the apartment on Via Salvatore Di Giacomo, which it had been modified with the addition of two armored doors, one of which – the external one – even had a small window for exchanging drugs/money, so as not to have to enter the house to make a purchase. The suspects also allegedly used a complex video surveillance system, equipped with cameras positioned around the entire perimeter of the building, as well as at the entrance, which relayed the images to a large screen installed in a room of the house.

Investigators also found out how, following the first arrest, the criminal group had changed its modus operandi to avoid suffering large seizures, storing the drugs in other homes in the neighborhood considered "safe", and transporting them as needed, in small quantities, using specially rented vehicles. The Carabinieri estimated that the illicit activity, which had well-defined opening hours, that is, from 09.00 in the morning until 03.00 at night, would have produced a turnover of thousands of euros, more precisely, a total amount of approximately 162.000 euros in the months in which it was monitored.

Catania: Scardinato sodalizio criminale allestito in una palazzina popolare, 5 dei 18 indagati sono minorenni

For this reason the Catania DDA has issued a seizure order for an equivalent amount on the assets of the defendants. Finally, during the investigations, it was possible to arrest a total of 14 people in flagrante delicto, report 4 of them at liberty for possession of drugs for the purpose of dealing and trafficking, report 62 buyers (8 of whom were minors) to the Prefecture, and seize a total of 23 grams of crack, 1,2 kg of marijuana.

 

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