Rome, major anti-drug operation in Ostia: 20 arrests for international drug trafficking, “Er Miliardero” also arrested 

On behalf of the DDA of the Rome Public Prosecutor's Office, from the first light of dawn yesterday, the Carabinieri of the Ostia Group executed an order issued by the investigating judge of the Rome Tribunal, which provides 20 people arrested, 16 in prison and 4 under house arrest, 7 other people are under investigation at large (including 3 women), all seriously accused, to varying degrees, of criminal association for the purpose of drug trafficking, possession, dealing and international drug trafficking.

The Carabinieri of the Investigative Unit of Ostia, coordinated by the Public Prosecutor's Office, District Anti-Mafia Directorate of Rome, have collected serious circumstantial evidence in order to the existence of a criminal organization dedicated to the importation of large quantities of cocaine from Holland to the capital for a turnover of million euros; reconstructing in detail the operating methods of the criminal association, which, between June 2021 and May 2022, would have guaranteed the distribution of the drug, on a large scale throughout Lazio and even in other Italian regions, using extremely sophisticated supply methods to evade law enforcement controls.

The investigations began in June 2021 following of the arrest of Claudio Corelli, found in possession of 220 g of cocaine, brother of Paolo Corelli, murdered on February 14, 2022 in Acilia. The arrest of Corelli represents a fundamental piece in the investigations of the Carabinieri of Ostia aimed at reconstructing the dynamics of his brother's murder and the close ties that, it is assumed, the criminal organization had with the pushers scattered in the southern area of ​​the capital.

Thanks to intensive technical activities and targeted observation services, the Carabinieri have arrived at identify vehicles, registered to third parties, used, on an almost monthly basis, by the defendants for hide the drugs, hidden inside special compartments created in the double bottoms which opened using elaborate automation systems.

Among those arrested is also Alessandro Capriotti, known as 'the billionaire', already involved in previous investigations into the Roman underworld.

Furthermore, the defendants had at their disposal 4 properties located between the provinces of Rome and Latina where he stored the narcotic

During the investigations, the Carabinieri of Ostia have 9 people arrested in flagrante delicto, Over 32kg of cocaine seized, for a value of approx 1,5 million euro, as well as €174.000 in cash, deemed to be the proceeds of illicit activities.

As many as three couriers were arrested, some of whom were returning from Holland, with large quantities of cocaine: the first intercepted at May 2022, at the Roma Nord motorway junction, on board a Ford Transit vehicle carrying 19 one-kilogram blocks of cocaine, hidden in special compartments created in a double bottom; the second, a June of the same year, stopped while driving a Citroen Jumper with a 8kg of cocaine hidden in spare tire; the third, a few days later, on board a Toyota Rav 4 in which they were travelling 4 kg of cocaine and over 130 thousand euros in cash.

What is assumed to be a criminal organization, had a solid and well-defined pyramid structure. At the top, on the basis of the serious circumstantial evidence collected, was an Italian, resident in the area of Lido di Ostia, capable of coordinating a heterogeneous group of collaborators, including the couriers responsible for transporting the drugs and the so-called "lines", responsible for the custody, concealment and sale of the narcotic; Among those under investigation are also some women, seriously suspected of holding strategic roles within the gang.

Today's operation represents another hard blow to drug trafficking and demonstrates how the Carabinieri and the Public Prosecutor's Office of Rome are constantly committed to countering this phenomenon in the Capital.

Previous 1 di 4 The next