Vast operation by the State Police on the national territory to combat the illegal disposal of waste, to ascertain and sanction the multiple forms of illegality in the delicate sector of environmental protection.
The complex activities, coordinated centrally by the SCO, were conducted by agents of the Mobile and SISCO teams in 33 Italian provinces with the specialist support of the regional agencies for environmental protection and the traffic police. In some provinces, given the operational specificity in which it operated, the peripheral structures of the National Port Authority Corps were also involved.
At the end of 3 days of intense operational activities, over 168 areas suspected of being used for the illicit storage and conservation of waste were subjected to inspection, 40 of which were seized. More than 1763 subjects were identified, 103 people were reported in a state of freedom for crimes related to illicit waste management, 2 people arrested in flagrante delicto and over 85 administrative violations detected for an amount exceeding 200 thousand euros.
The investigation and verification activities resulting from access to the controlled sites will continue in the next few days by the individual regional environmental protection agencies, in order to assess the existence of further administrative and criminal offences.
More specifically, the following operational results were achieved in this province.
Six commercial activities were inspected (four car washes; a fleet and a road freight transport company). In particular, in two car washes the failure to treat (annual) waste water was ascertained and, therefore, the two owners were referred to the Judicial Authority for violation of the art. 256 Legislative Decree 152/2006 (Consolidated Environmental Law).
Six garages rented for “car storage and garage use” were also checked.. In three garages, car parts were found from which the identifying marks had been removed to make them no longer identifiable, car parts from theft and engines on which further investigations are underway. For this reason, the two tenants were referred to the Public Prosecutor’s Office of Foggia for the crime of money laundering. The boxes and the material found were seized.
In the other three, however, the presence of an artisanal body shop activity carried out in the absence of the required authorizations was ascertained. With the help of the Local Police of San Severo, an administrative fine was imposed on the operator and the three boxes were subjected to administrative seizure.
Furthermore, during the aforementioned services, 1100 people were identified and 690 vehicles checked; Thirteen administrative sanctions were contested and three vehicles seized for violation of traffic regulations.
The activity is part of the constant prevention and monitoring action conducted by the State Police, in a sector that for decades has represented a source of huge, illicit profit also for criminal organizations, in order to put a stop to the expansion of so-called environmental crimes which damage the territory and constantly put the health of citizens at risk.
