Penne, firefighter arrested for cocaine trafficking: two other accomplices involved in the Abruzzo valleys
An investigation by the Carabinieri of Penne dismantles a drug dealing network in the Abruzzo valleys. The firefighter, arrested red-handed, also threatened debtors. Two accomplices under house arrest.
Penne, firefighter arrested for cocaine trafficking: two other accomplices involved in the Abruzzo valleys.
On November 06, 2024 the Carabinieri of the Penne Company have executed an order applying a precautionary measure against three people. A 51-year-old firefighter has been subjected to the most severe measure of preventive detention in prison, while the precautionary measure of house arrest has been applied to a 52-year-old retired carabiniere and a 37-year-old man with specific criminal records.
Serious, unequivocal and consistent evidence emerged regarding the three subjects regarding multiple sales of cocaine in the Vestina area.
The restrictive measure has been issued by the Judge for Preliminary Investigations of the Court of Pescara, following a complex and detailed investigation conducted by the Operational Unit of the Operational and Radiomobile Nucleus of the Carabinieri of Penne, under the direction and coordination of the Deputy Prosecutor of the Pescara Public Prosecutor's Office, Dr. Andrea PAPALIA.
The Carabinieri investigation, called “Troubled Waters”, started in the first days of April 2024, characterized by the performance of typical activities (observation, shadowing and control services, photographic and video recordings) and telephone and environmental interceptions, has brought to light a flourishing and frenetic drug dealing activity by the firefighter, who has been charged with 18 different charges relating to as many narcotics sales.
In the course of the activity, in fact, it emerged, that the man was systematically and continuously dedicated to cocaine dealing, so much so that he constituted a real point of reference for numerous users in Farindola, Montebello di Bertona and Penne, all identified and questioned on summary information and some of whom, in clear contrast with the investigative findings that emerged, reported for the hypothesis of the crime p. and p. under art. 378 of the Criminal Code (aiding and abetting).
The unscrupulousness of the firefighter, amply demonstrated during the investigative activity and supported by the Public Prosecutor and the Judge for Preliminary Investigations, highlighted how the same person, having developed over the course of a multi-year, repeated and systematic activity of dealing hard drugs, a sort of unsuspecting nature and the presumed awareness of not being subject to controls, had gone so far, in at least three ascertained and documented circumstances, as to sell cocaine during his shift meeting his clients in a parking lot adjacent to the barracks where he worked.
The favourite places to carry out the illicit activity were identified in his home or in the nearby agricultural company, located a few hundred metres away, where the suspect spent most of his days alternating between agricultural work and cocaine dealing.
On some occasions, he availed himself of the complicity and help of his cousin, a retired carabiniere, for the delivery and sale of narcotics, which is why the latter was reached by the measure of house arrest.
The conversation intercepted by the soldiers of the Penne Company also appeared alarming and symptomatic of clear danger, in which the firefighter, in a frantic attempt to procure a "half kilo" of cocaine to resell, made contact with a man burdened by specific and repeat police and criminal records for the crime of dealing (from whom he purchased about 10/12 grams as a test sample), for whom the Judicial Authority issued the third precautionary measure of house arrest.
The investigative activity culminated at the beginning of June when, at the end of an observation, control and shadowing service, the firefighter was arrested red-handed, as he was found in possession of seven doses of cocaine, a precision scale, packaging material and over twenty thousand euros, which were seized, as they were believed to be the result of drug dealing. The arrest in flagrante and the checks carried out by hiring consumers who habitually purchased cocaine from the firefighter, created great concern in the centers involved in the investigations: hence the name "troubled waters" conventionally given to the investigations.
The environmental context and the position held by the firefighter, well known in the area, have also demonstrated the possible contamination of evidence, based on the intimidating capacity recognized in the man who will in fact also have to answer for the crime of extortion: the investigations, in fact, have shown that on one occasion the man threatened a user, who had contracted drug debts with him for 300 euros, fearing the possibility of going to tell the facts to the boy's parents who, certainly, “they would have believed him because he was wearing a uniform.”
Once the ritual operations were completed, the 51-year-old was transferred to the Pescara prison, while the other two subjects were placed under house arrest.
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