On charges of smuggling cigarettesarbitrary loading of contraband goods on the military ship Capricorruption for acts contrary to official duties and ideological forgery, four Italian soldiers were subjected to the obligation to remain in their place of residence and a Libyan officer was ordered to be arrested in prison. The Italian soldiers under investigation are three officers and a non-commissioned officer of the Navy, while the Libyan officer is serving in the Libyan Coast Guard. The 5 were notified by the Brindisi magistrates of an order for personal and real precautionary measures at the end of an investigation by the Guardia di Finanza.
According to the prosecution, the crimes were committed during the international mission ‘Operation Safe Sea‘ carried out by the Italian Navy vessel Capri in the port of Tripoli from 14 December 2017 to 28 March 2018. Two of the officers involved are from Taranto, the other from the province of Brindisi, while the non-commissioned officer is resident in the Bat (Barletta-Andria Trani). In this mission, investigators believe that the officers would have played a leading role, including officer in ‘Second’, ‘Head of Operations’ of the naval unit Capri and ‘Technical Officer’.
The ship’s final landing in the port of Brindisi took place on May 14, 2018. The investigation revealed that the suspects had organized the boarding, transportation from the port of Tripoli to that of Brindisi and the introduction into Italy of approximately 300 kilograms of contraband foreign-processed tobacco, intended for sale to members of the Italian Navy and also to outsiders. In addition to the cigarettes, according to the investigators, there was also contraband goods procured on the local market by the Libyan Coast Guard officer. According to the prosecution, the Brindisi officer had recovered the sum of money necessary to finance the supply of the illicit cargo to Tripoli, through invoices for operations that were completely or partially non-existent by Libyan companies believed to be close to the arrested officer, making them appear as supplies of goods and services useful to the ship. According to the investigators, the Brindisi officer and the Libyan one were linked by a corruption pact. Three other people are being investigated in the investigation, including another member of the armed forces, and two relatives of the officer from Brindisi, who allegedly supported the man in the transportation and custody of the contraband cigarettes.
© ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
Read the full article on
Puglia Newspaper
