The Forlì Police Headquarters, run by Police Chief Lucio Abril, worked tirelessly international drug trafficking Romania was considered one of the centers of trade. The businessman in transport and logistics ended up in prison in Forlì over the affair Gianluca Fiore, 46 years old. Overall, the investigative activity made it possible to document and collect evidence of 36 episodes of transnational importation of cocaine and hashish, which took place between March 2020 and June 2021, with a total weight of more than a ton of cocaine and a ton. Hashish with a turnover of more than one billion euros. The entire investigative activities took place at early dawn on Thursday in Italy, Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium in the presence of personnel from Europol and Eurojust, and saw the use of 640 police officers, 35 arrests and 51 home searches.
Almost three years of investigations for this drug trafficking investigation. In particular, in the early morning of yesterday, Thursday, the State Police carried out 27 orders of pre-trial detention, as part of the investigations coordinated by the Public Prosecutor of Bologna – the local anti-mafia directorate – against people residing in Italy and everyone abroad. The operation, which was carried out jointly by the police forces and the judicial authorities of six EU member states, led to “the dismantling of several criminal networks composed mainly of people of Albanian origin, responsible for the importation and distribution of tens of quintals of cocaine on the continent over the years, while benefiting companies The road transport sector also operates in Romania,” explains a note from the police.
Operations on national territory are carried out by the Forlì-Cesena Mobile Teams (commanded by Enzo Tarquini in Forli) and Modena for the arrest of 27 suspects saw the total use of 130 State Police agents among the operators of the various Mobile Teams to assist in the provinces of residence of the suspects, and the crime prevention departments , and anti-drug units. Moreover, in the province of Modena, during the investigative activity, another group of Albanian origin, not directly related to the suspects affected by the precautionary measures, was also identified, caught in the act in March 2021: 5 people with a total of 11.5 kilograms of cocaine and 37 kilograms of hashish and the cash amount of 160,000 euros.
‘complicated investigation’
It was a “complex investigation that lasted almost three years, carried out in different parts of the national territory and also abroad, which led to the seizure of large quantities of narcotic substances trafficked by organizations,” explains Francesco Messina, Director of Central Crime Control of the State Police. transnational and prosecuted thanks to the cooperation of the various police and judiciary involved.The assessment and analysis of the encrypted communications widely used by the suspects to carry out international drug trafficking was a decisive factor.Law enforcement actions coordinated by the Central Crime Control Directorate of the State Police.It is important to recall the quantities of drugs seizures (about 120 kilograms of cocaine and 20 kilograms of hashish) and the amount of seizures of goods and money, carried out for a total of more than one million euros.
Investigations begin in Forlì
The investigations were carried out by the Central Operations Service of the Central Directorate for Crime Prevention of the State Police and by the mobile teams of the Forlì and Modena Police Headquarters, which, after observing the Forlì businessman, Gianluca Fiore, reconstructed an extensive and ramified complex. A network of cocaine and hashish dealers, which would have imported from Belgium and Spain, using specially modified compounds, quintals of drugs, and then distributed them to middle-level suppliers based in northern and central Italy. Investigations would have revealed that the Italian national was to have worked with two Albanian partners in transporting large quantities of cocaine to Europe, through the use of a logistics company from Forlì.
In response to the assumptions, on August 19, 2020, in Aosta, the Forli mobile squad seized a shipment of 28 kilograms of cocaine, which led to the arrest of two couriers, two brothers from Cesena. Subsequent investigations made it possible to document the stable presence in Emilia-Romagna of at least two criminal associations aimed at international drug trafficking: one in the province of Modena and the other between the provinces of Forlì-Cesena and Rimini, linked together and organized hierarchically by the presence of a large number of men, weapons, money and means of transport. And, above all, the logistical bases at their disposal, ”continues the police statement. In the province of Forli Cesena and Rimini, there is a steady presence of companies in the logistics sector that have been transporting medicines from Northern Europe for years.
On the investigative and operational side, the Forli-Cesena Mobile, with the help of local mobile teams, operated in the provinces of Rimini, Frosinone, Teramo, Ravenna and Bari, arresting 10 people, in addition to 1 arrest in the Netherlands and 1 in Germany, with the exception of 5 people who are still wanted Because they are not on the national soil. One of the detainees was arrested by the Bari Flying Squad on a ship returning from Albania. During the operational activities, several luxury goods (cars and valuables) were found and seized, as well as 17 thousand euros in cash and 150 grams of cocaine.
The turning point that testifies to the existence of an interdependence between the two associations concerned, was precisely defined by the seizure carried out by the Forli Mobile squad in Ravenna in December 2020, of more than 40 kilograms of cocaine and by the arrest of the two. couriers involved in their import; The latter was planned and completed by the two aforementioned associations: Modena emerged as buyer and recipient of the cargo, while Romania was called upon to take charge of the collection, transportation and delivery of the cargo.
Branches out in Modena
In the province of Modena, it was revealed that there were 10 people among 27 suspects, which made it possible to document the smuggling of about 320 kilograms of cocaine and its exchange on one occasion for one million and 300 thousand euros for imports from Belgium. An amount equal to 43 kilograms of cocaine was seized as described below. The arrests were also made in the provinces of Genoa, Bologna, Alessandria, Salerno and Lodi, thanks to the assistance of personnel from the Crime Prevention Department and anti-drug units.
Of particular interest is the arrest of a recipient of the precautionary measure, a resident of Genoa, identified on board a train near the Salerno railway station returning from Calabria. During contextual searches in the aforementioned districts, €30,000 in cash, mobile phones and pharmaceutical packaging materials were seized. Among the 10 people, searches are still underway to arrest 3 Albanian citizens who are not on the national territory.
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