Two integrated territorial control actions have been carried out in recent days by State Police officers in the San Cristoforo district. The activity is part of the ordinary control and dynamic patrolling services of the city’s streets and squares to guarantee public order and safety, preventing and combating forms of predatory crime and widespread illegality.
The control actions, coordinated by the agents of the “Central” public security police station and the “San Cristoforo” police station, as part of a now consolidated module called Integrated control of the territory, took place on different days and at different times. to make checks more incisive and unpredictable. Evening and morning services, aimed at controlling those streets and squares in the city centre, where critical issues occur the most and which require greater attention from the police.
The extraordinary control action of the territory was carried out through a device that saw some crews from the Crime Prevention Department, anti-drug dog units of the Police Headquarters, the X Mobile Department, together with the local Police.
The vast control action also involved support from the helicopter of the V Flight Department of the State Police, stationed in Reggio Calabria. The aircraft made it possible to monitor the entire city from above and in particular the areas of operations, constantly monitoring, at low altitude and inch by inch, the places where the patrols set up numerous control posts and targeted inspection activities, even of commercial establishments.
During the services, at the disposal of the Police Commissioner, the activity of a public establishment in via della Concordia was temporarily suspended, with the simultaneous closure of the premises for 7 days, according to the prerogatives of the art. 100 of the Consolidated Law on Public Security Laws.
In particular, State Police officers monitored the place, finding numerous criminals among the frequenters. Therefore, having completed the investigative activity carried out by the Administrative Police Division of the Police Headquarters, the Police Commissioner issued the provision with the aim of guaranteeing the legitimate aspirations to live in a safe community, where one can carry out one’s activities in an orderly manner, as well as constituting a guarantee for all those economic activities that comply with the rules. The temporary closure also has the function of producing a dissuasive effect on individuals deemed dangerous, who are deprived of a place of habitual aggregation, being warned that their presence in that place is the object of attention by the authorities.
Fire brigade personnel also intervened to assist the police in order to dismantle iron structures placed to protect some homes believed to be places where crimes were committed, with particular reference to drug dealing. The houses looked abandoned and uninhabited but in reality they were real drug dealing squares indoor with iron doors that protected the entrances. Inside, the rooms were set up with material for packaging drugs and also had microcameras used for surveillance of the drug dealing house, so as to also prevent the arrival of the police forces.
During the checks, the Flying Squad officers carried out several searches which revealed 200g of marijuana and 100g of cocaine, the latter already divided into doses ready for dealing. The narcotic substances were found inside a scooter, completely abandoned, as well as, inside disused homes, so-called “ghost homes”, i.e. dilapidated structures whose owners are not identifiable and often used as temporary storage to hide the drug.
Overall, over 200 people were checked, 48 of whom had criminal records, as well as 102 vehicles, with numerous violations of the Highway Code reported, especially due to the lack of insurance coverage and periodic inspection.
A person, a 47-year-old from Catania, was reported to the judicial authority for theft of electricity with direct connection to the public network.
The territorial control activities carried out can be framed in a broader and more constant context of the controls that the State Police is carrying out not only in the city center but also throughout the province of Catania, in order to prevent and combat any form of widespread crime and illegality.
