Palermo, two criminal organizations dismantled

The Palermo State Police has launched a major anti-drug operation, carrying out, on behalf of the Public Prosecutor's Office - District Anti-Mafia Directorate of Palermo, the order with which the Judge for Preliminary Investigations of the Court of Palermo has ordered the application of precautionary measures against twenty-five people considered to be responsible in various capacities for the crimes of association aimed at drug trafficking and dealing. In particular, Twenty-three of them were placed in prison custody, while the other two were placed under house arrest.

The judicial provision was the result of a complex investigation conducted by the Flying Squad of the Palermo Police Headquarters, which allowed them to acquire serious evidence of the existence in the Palermo capital – respectively, in the Guadagna and Falsomiele/Villagrazia neighborhoods – of two criminal organizations dedicated to the trafficking and dealing of cocaine and hashish.

The alleged group rooted in the Guadagna neighborhood has shown a marked capacity for territorial control, significant economic availability and a peculiar aptitude for establishing relationships with similar structures operating in Lombardy and Emilia Romagna, from which the drug shipments intended for dealing were acquired.

In relation, however, to the alleged group operating in the Villagrazia-Falsomiele neighborhood, it has been established that the suspects have woven an extensive network of contacts with suppliers based in Calabria, setting up a lucrative drug trafficking operation that from the capital of Palermo also branched out to the province of Trapani.

During the investigation, in confirmation of the elements acquired, various types of drugs were seized (for a total of almost two quintals), as well as five pistols and various ammunition, with the arrest of eight people in flagrante delicto.

The executive phase of the operation involved the use of around a hundred police officers, supported by anti-drug canine units and a State Police helicopter.