TRAFFICKING IN Narcotic Substances. 31 PERSONAL PRECAUTIONARY MEASURES AND SEIZURES OF ASSETS FOR ABOUT 2 MILLION EUROS ARE BEING EXECUTED.
BARI – From the first light of dawn, the financiers of the Provincial Command of Bari and of the Central Organized Crime Investigation Service – with the support of the local Aeronaval Operations Department and personnel of the Provincial Command of the Guardia di Finanza of Foggia – are carrying out a the order, issued by the GIP of the Court of Bari at the request of this District Anti-Mafia Directorate, applying personal precautionary measures towards 31 subjects (of which 15 in prison, 14 under house arrest and 2 recipients of the residence obligation) residing in the provinces of Bari, BAT, Foggia, Teramo and Chieti, as well as a decree for the preventive seizure of assets worth approximately 2 million euros.
The persons drawn from the restrictive measures (assessment carried out in the preliminary investigation phase which requires subsequent procedural verification in the cross-examination with the defence) are investigated, in various capacities, for the crimes of association aimed at trafficking in narcotic or psychotropic substances, as well as production, illicit trafficking and possession of the same.
Today’s operation constitutes the epilogue of a complex investigative activity, coordinated by this judicial office and carried out by the ICO Central Service and by the GICO of the PEF Bari Unit, which made it possible to reveal the existence of a criminal group with operational headquarters in the province of Foggia and offshoots in those of Bari and BAT.
Numerous operational findings were made during the investigations which allowed the seizure of approximately 150 kg of hashish and 200 thousand euros in cash, as well as several arrests in flagrante delicto.
Therefore – according to the accusatory approach accepted by the GIP of the Court of Bari (at present, without prejudice to the evaluation in the subsequent phases with the contribution of the defence) – the investigations carried out would have made it possible to demonstrate how the association was characterized by a high organizational capacity and equipped with a significant availability of financial and instrumental means, having a “common fund” and real “operating accounting”.
In particular, the organization would:
– supplied with narcotic substances, in a systematic and widespread manner, through the use of vehicles equipped with double bottoms, various squares in the provinces of Foggia, Bari and
Barletta-Andria-Trani, as well as the coastal areas of Abruzzo, also by virtue of the criminal fame deriving from the belonging of one of the main suspects to a well-known clan operating in the Daunian territory;
– used encrypted and “closed circuit” communication tools, camouflaging illicit activities in structures used for commercial activities;
– used suggestive language in conversations, which conventionally defined drugs with terms such as “1p” to indicate a 100 gram block or simply “una” with reference to a case of approximately 30 kg, while money was identified with the word “ documents”;
– guaranteed legal assistance and maintenance of arrested associates. In this regard, the ability of the suspects to reorganize is underlined, even in the face of multiple repressive interventions by the police.
Furthermore, targeted economic-financial investigations were carried out on the subjects investigated and their respective families aimed at identifying forms of “enrichment” not justified by legitimate income sources, in relation to which preventive seizure was ordered “due to disproportion “, aimed at the so-called “enlarged” confiscation of financial assets, movable and immovable assets worth over 2 million euros, including 28 agricultural lands, 7 apartments, as well as 900 thousand euros in cash, life insurance policies, active balances of current accounts and 2 cars.
The results of today’s investigation constitute significant evidence of the constant supervision ensured by this Public Prosecutor’s Office – in close synergy with the Financial Police – in combating, also on a financial level, drug trafficking, as witnessed by the relevant results achieved, in the last two years, by the specialized units of the PEF Unit of Bari, which seized approximately 2 tons of narcotics and arrested over 40 couriers in flagrante delicto.
