On June 25, the preliminary hearing judge of the Court of Palermo issued a sentence of conviction against seven defendants, involved, on February 17, 2023, in the operation “Virgilio”, found guilty of criminal association aimed at trafficking and dealing in narcotics in the popular neighborhood of “Sappusi” in Marsala. The heavy sentences imposed, despite the reduction of the abbreviated procedure, involved 5 defendants from Marsala and 2 from Palermo, with sentences ranging from 7 to 19 years of imprisonment. The preliminary investigations and the accusation in the trial were supported by the District Attorney’s Office of Palermo, following the transmission of the preliminary investigation file by the Public Prosecutor’s Office of Marsala, which coordinated the investigations carried out by the Carabinieri of the Marsala Company Command and which had led, on February 17, 2023, to the application of precautionary measures against 14 suspects. On December 14, two other defendants involved in the same “Virgilio” operation, for whom the hypothesis of association had not been contested, were sentenced, following an abbreviated trial, by the GIP of the Court of Marsala, with sentences ranging from 5 to 8 years of imprisonment. The sentence therefore recognizes the operation of a real criminal association aimed at drug trafficking in the Marsala neighborhood of Sappusi. The trial is still underway before the Court of Marsala, regarding the remaining eleven defendants, involved in the same investigation, who have decided to be judged through the ordinary procedure.
