This morning, one hundred Carabinieri from the Barletta-Andria-Trani Provincial Command – supported by personnel from the 6th Helicopter Unit, from the Puglia Helicopter Hunter Squadron and from the Modugno Dog Squad – executed the custody order in the city of Minervino Murge precautionary measure – issued by the GIP of the Court of Trani at the request of this Public Prosecutor’s Office – in which serious indications of guilt are recognized in the proceedings against 14 individuals under investigation for multiple episodes of possession and dealing of narcotic substances in competition.
The precautionary measure is the result of investigative activity, conducted from March 2022 to June 2023 by the Andria Company under the direction of the Public Prosecutor’s Office, originating from investigative investigations relating to predatory crimes committed in the Murgia center which led to the reconstruction of a sales chain of psychotropic substances.
In particular, the staff of the Minervino Murge Station Command, in examining some investigative hypotheses on the possible perpetrators of the predatory crimes, immediately perceived a thriving retail sales activity of psychotropic substances which interested several subjects residing in that town, to which a large number of buyers turned to to obtain narcotic substances for sale.
According to the accusatory approach accepted by the investigating judge (without prejudice to the evaluation in the subsequent procedural phases also conducted in light of the defense’s contribution), there is a flourishing activity of sale of narcotic substances (cocaine in an almost entirely exclusive manner) which took place in three separate “drug dealing squares”: Piazza Bovio, Piazza De Deo, Piazza XX Settembre (so-called piazza scissors).
Nerve centers of the retail sale of psychotropic substances which was managed, in each square, by three distinct criminal groups headed by as many individuals who employed close collaborators to make deliveries of the narcotic to a vast array of local buyers.
5 suspects were placed under precautionary custody under house arrest and the remaining 9 were placed under precautionary detention in prison, including those who held the role of coordinators and managers of the 3 drug dealing groups, who in in particular they were responsible for procuring the narcotic substance, personally defining the functional dynamics put in place for the consummation of the criminal conduct, and managing telephone contacts with the various buyers to whom they provided information on the place and methods of the money exchange. drug.
The investigations, supported by technical activities carried out through telephone interceptions, acquisition of printouts, video recordings, vehicle monitoring, ordinary judicial police activities such as observation, control, shadowing services, document acquisition, examination of texts, searches and seizures, allowed to record a truly significant number of sales, the requests for which reached the various dealers or directly on site, where a representative of the group was always present, ready to satisfy the needs of the various customers; or through prior telephone contact, managed directly by the group coordinator who, with cryptic language, designed to conceal the real meaning of the requests and agreements for the delivery of the drugs, provided detailed information on the place and methods of meeting with the drug dealer .
Exchanges that took place either near the homes of the group leaders – or in the aforementioned squares or in pre-established places, almost always in peripheral areas of the city, to evade any checks by the police.
Furthermore, during the activity, 4 people were arrested and another 3 were released into a state of freedom for detention for the purpose of dealing narcotic substances, 16 reports were made for administrative offenses (pursuant to art. 75 of Presidential Decree 309 /90) to as many buyers, to the seizure of 2,225.00 euros – believed to be the proceeds of illicit activity – to the seizure of doses of cocaine and hashish, to the discovery of various materials for cutting and packaging the substance, of telephone cards and used mobile phones for the commission of the crimes investigated.
The result achieved is the outcome of the constant action of prevention and repression of drug crimes by the soldiers of the Carabinieri, under the direction of the Public Prosecutor’s Office of Trani associated with the awareness and information campaign carried out especially towards young people with meetings held at schools.
The proceeding is in the preliminary investigation phase and that, following the execution of today’s precautionary measure, there will be the guarantee interrogation and the discussion with the defense of the suspects, whose possible guilt, with regard to the contested crimes, will have to be ascertained in venue of trial in the cross-examination between the parties.
Monday 13 May 2024
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