Brescia, “Cristallo” operation: cocaine trafficking from Belgium stopped; 8 arrested

Brescia, in the early hours of dawn, the Brescia State Police, delegated by the District Anti-Mafia Directorate, carried out the precautionary custody order in prison against 5 subjects (3 Albanian citizens and 2 Italians), responsible, in various capacities, for the importation, transport and sale of significant quantities of cocaine.

The operation, conducted by the Flying Squad of Brescia with the collaboration of the policemen of Bologna and Verona, (the city where 2 of the 5 arrests took place), began on 20 December 2018, following the arrest of a Moroccan citizen found in possession of 1 kg of cocaine.

Subsequent investigations made it possible to identify the supplier of the large quantity of narcotics, an Albanian citizen involved in the management of a bar in Travagliato, which he had transformed into a real drug sorting centre.

The monitoring activities of the police made it possible to record the numerous meetings within the business, during which the Albanian trafficker sold the cocaine to other compatriots and to Italian citizens, one resident in the Verona area, who in turn sold placed it on the final market.

In some circumstances the deliveries were documented with special surveillance services, which made it possible to find the newly supplied drugs and arrest the buyers.

At the same time, the trend relating to the subjects who dealt with the supply of cocaine from Belgium and Holland and its transport to Italy was developed.

In this sense, on 20 May 2019, over 15 kg of cocaine were seized in Cologno Monzese, coming from Belgium and transported to Italy by a haulier from Bologna, on board a rented minibus, narcotics destined for an Albanian citizen.

The operation allowed a total of 8 people to be arrested and over 16 kg of cocaine seized.