Bitonto, 29 arrest warrants executed: Conte clan targeted after final convictions.

La State Police carried out, in the early hours of this morning, 29 detention orders issued on 1 December laid down by the Attorney General's Office at the Court of Appeal of Bari.

The measures concern as many individuals considered to belong to or be close to the Conte clan, criminal group operating in the city of bitonto, all definitively sentenced for drug-related crimes aggravated by mafia methods. One of them was also convicted for mafia-type association.

The story: from the tragic murder of Anna Rosa Tarantino to the "Market Drugs" operation

The convictions represent the natural development of a long investigative process following the murder of Anna Rosa Tarantino, the old woman killed by mistake December 30, 2017 in the midst of the armed conflict between rival clans for control of drug dealing areas.

The episode arose from the violent clash between the two main criminal groups present in the territory, both determined to ensure their dominance in the drug trafficking.

Despite the immediate repressive response of the State Police, the conflict between clans continued over time, giving rise to further episodes of violence and continuous armed clashes in the streets of the city.

To combat the criminal network that controlled the drug dealing areas, the investigators launched the operation “Market Drugs”, aimed at hitting the associative structures of the Conte clan and their trafficking.

The investigation has allowed a clear picture to emerge: a organized, stable and hierarchical structure, completely dedicated to the management of the drug market in city ​​of Bitonto.

The decisive factors in this reconstruction were the statements from numerous collaborators of justice, which allowed us to identify the operating methods, internal roles and economic dynamics of the criminal group.

Execution of the 29 detention orders

The measures carried out today by the Mobile Squad of Bari and from Bitonto Police Station They targeted individuals directly linked to the Conte clan, some of whom were already detained in various Italian prisons.

The body of evidence gathered demonstrated that the group had a well-established ability to trafficking and distributing large quantities of drugs in at least two drug dealing areas considered hegemonic, generating extremely high profits.