Environmental disaster and illicit waste trafficking: 5 arrests in Reggio Calabria.

A Reggio Calabria, the Carabinieri of the local company have carried out a precautionary measure order against 5 men, aged between 35 and 65, with a history in environmental matters and mafia-type association, owners and employees of a company specialized in demolition and earthmoving activities. They are held responsible for being part of an association aimed at illicit waste trafficking, disaster e pollution Environmental Sustainability, unauthorized waste management activities, illegal occupation of public land.

The operation represents the epilogue of a complex investigation activity begun in January and concluded in April 2023, conducted by the Rosario Valanidi Station of the Reggio Calabria Company and coordinated by the local Public Prosecutor's Office of Reggio Calabria - District Anti-Mafia Directorate - directed by Dr. John Bombardieri, which made it possible to stop a series of crimes, among the most dangerous for the environment and public safety.

The military's investigations began following some inspections, in which the criminal exploitation of the property was found Valanidi stream, by the construction company in question. In particular, from the complex and in-depth investigative activity carried out by the Carabinieri, the existence of a real criminal association dedicated to the commission of environmental crimes. The unprecedented gravity of the crimes committed, characterized by irreparable damage to the environmental balance of the site in question, underlines the marked dangerousness of the suspects, whose unscrupulousness was such that they acted exclusively in the middle of the morning.

The investigations, of a traditional and technical nature, made it possible to verify how the company, in the absence of the required environmental concessions and authorisations, illegally received and transported within its construction site - also through false certifications - large quantities of inert, coming from third-party construction activities, so as to obtain illicit profits, evading the required traceability of origin, nature and destination.

This investigative activity embodies the sensitivity of the Reggio Army regarding environmental protection and consequent repression of crimes committed to the detriment of the natural ecosystem. The illicit trafficking of waste and the subsequent disposal in river areas, in fact, which caused the environmental disaster under investigation, are some of the most lucrative activities of the underworld and which jeopardize the safety of the citizens of the province of Reggio Calabria. Taking care of the environment and monitoring it is today's challenge for the Carabinieri to safeguard the local population, with particular attention to the future of future generations.