3870 people, practically 5% of the population of Terni: many of the drivers of the Umbrian city managed to organize themselves via Telegram into a group, “tr checkpoints”, created with the aim of reporting to each other the places where the patrols. A chat that was closed a few days ago by Digos investigators led by Marco Colurci. It was born before the pandemic, as the Messenger, to warn you about police checks in the city and avoid running into an alcohol test. And it had quickly achieved popularity thanks to word of mouth: it had exploded especially during the lockdown, since it allowed people to exchange tips to evade controls. Ending up including participants of all kinds, from esteemed professionals to drug dealers.
The investigations
For two months, the messages in the group were monitored 24 hours a day. An exchange of information carried out in real time, which notified about police patrols being stationed (“Borgo Rivo police near the greengrocer”), and when the road was once again free of forces. of the unwanted order reassured the group participants. The investigations were not simple: they were all protected by anonymity, and instead of telephone numbers there were simple acronyms. In the end, the investigators managed to trace the administrator of the chat: he is an Italian citizen, now reported for having disrupted a public service. The chat, however, was closed.
