Pisa: International drug trafficking association dismantled, Guardia di Finanza makes 30 arrests

On November 5th, an order was executed pre-trial detention in prison issued by the Preliminary Investigations Judge of Florence, at the request of this District Anti-Mafia Directorate, in a criminal proceeding against different subjects, believed to be components of a criminal association aimed at international drug trafficking and involved in a series of episodes of importation, transportation and sale of narcotic substances.

The order, carried out by the Finance Police of the Provincial Command of Pisa, in collaboration with the Central Service for the Investigation of Organised Crime and the Naval Station of Livorno, concerned n. 23 subjects present on Italian territory (Tuscany, Calabria, Lazio, Puglia, Campania, Lombardy, Veneto, Liguria) and abroad (Albania, France, Spain and Romania).

They have been busy 200 members of the Guardia di Finanza to ensure the execution of the precautionary measure, together with the Corps' canine units. Numerous searches are underway, which also involve accommodation businesses in Florence, attributable to the Albanian suspects.

The investigations were directed by the District Anti-Mafia Directorate of Florence in constant and synergic contact with the Special Structure against corruption and Albanian organised crime (SPAK) and with the General Tax Office of the Ecuadorian State (FGE) as part of a joint investigative team.

The investigative activities have allowed us to discover, through the use of complex activities, including those of a technical nature, a broad criminal context dedicated to the importation of large quantities of cocaine from South America, sent by an autonomous criminal structure located in Ecuador and operating between that country and Colombia, where the narcotic is purchased subsequently imported into Italy through the port of Livorno.

N. 23 subjects subject to the precautionary custody measure in prison, no. 6 of those for whom the measure of house arrest was ordered and no. l for which the obligation to sign has been established. The suspects, of nationality Italian, Albanian, Romanian and Ukrainian, were considered to be members of a criminal association aimed at international drug trafficking, with a transnational character. These are people already involved in organised crime, both Italian and Albanian.

During the investigations carried out by the Economic and Financial Police Unit of Pisa and by SCICO, Criminal relations for the supply of narcotics have been ascertained between members of the Italian organised crime ('ndrangheta, camorra) and the Albanian criminal association, operating between Italy, but with ramifications in Belgium, Albania, France, Germany, Ecuador and Colombia.

The drug shipments were sent from South America to Europe in containers at Italian ports (Livorno, Genoa and Savona)  and other European countries (Which Barcelona, ​​Antwerp, Rotterdam and St. Petersburg ). The containers were stored in the ports of arrival, where special recovery teams took care of collecting the narcotics and extracting them from the port areas, to then be made available to the criminal gangs. To facilitate the operations of identifying and recovering the cocaine, the criminal gang used radiolocation devices, while the substance was hidden inside the containers with exotic fruit cover load or in the interspaces obtained for the purpose.

The investigation activity allowed the seizure over 2 tons of cocaine, 45 kg of hashish, 20 kg of marijuana – which would have yielded about 70 million euro to the criminal gang – and of arrest, in flagrante delicto, a further 3 responsible persons.

The operating results were also achieved thanks to the valuable contribution of Eurojust, Europol, Central Directorate for Anti-Drug Services and the Office of the Security Expert in Tirana, which provided constant investigative support to the Judicial Police operators. The National Anti-Mafia Directorate ensured coordination with other Italian anti-mafia district offices. Similar operations are underway in Albania and in the other countries involved, the final results of which are not yet known.

The criminal proceedings are still in the preliminary investigation phase and, due to the principle of innocence, the responsibility of the persons under investigation will be definitively ascertained only if an irrevocable sentence of conviction is issued. District Anti-Mafia Prosecutor's Office of Florence expresses its gratitude to Guardia di Finanza and to all judicial police involved in the investigations, to foreign police and judicial authorities (Ecuador, Albania) who actively collaborated in the investigations, with international organizations (Eurojust, Europol) who supported the needs of international cooperation and coordination and the National Anti-Mafia Directorate.