Cocaine, hashish and marijuana from South America: the Finance of Bologna dismantles the drug cartel
The Fiamme Gialle operation led to the execution of 41 pre-trial detention orders against people linked to the 'Ndrangheta
Bologna, 30 May 2023 - An impressive operation by the Guardia di Finanza led to the execution of 41 pre-trial detention orders ( 37 in prison , 3 under house arrest and a residence permit), in the provinces of Bologna , Reggio Emilia, Modena , Parma, Milan, Cremona, Brescia, Pavia, Livorno, Rome, Foggia, Potenza, Crotone and Reggio Calabria. People linked to a criminal association made up of Italians belonging to or contiguous to the 'Ndrangheta of Reggio and Crotone, dedicated to the international trafficking of cocaine , hashish and marijuana, ended up under the lens of the Fiamme Gialle.
According to the financiers, the leader of the association would be a person at the top of the 'ndrina " Staccu " of San Luca, in the province of Reggio Calabria, a fugitive in Spain since 2018 and arrested in March 2021. Precisely during the period of inaction the boss would have pulled the strings of a vast international drug trafficking network capable of handling loads of drugs of hundreds of kilograms per month, thanks also to close relations with South American cartels , including the Brazilian Primeiro Comando da Capital and Colombian, Peruvian criminal organizations , Mexican and Bolivian , and some of the best known and most dangerous Italian fugitives.
From South America , the drug arrived in the ports of northern Europe, particularly Antwerp and Rotterdam , to then be distributed to the rest of the continent. Business in Italy was managed by people linked to the criminal association, Calabrians who had been living in the Parma and Reggio areas for years , who, making use of logistic bases located in various regions (Calabria, Lazio and Lombardy), of couriers and compliant companies, were able to deal with illicit trafficking throughout Italy .
According to financial sources, a network of people of Chinese nationality would have played a leading role in all of this, using the Fei-Chien money sending system to transfer, through a long chain of wire transfers , large sums of money to commercial companies in China and Hong Kong . The latter, through articulated compensation mechanisms, were able to deliver the money to the drug trafficking brokers and to the South American cartels themselves through agents residing abroad. The investigations revealed that, thanks to the Fei-Chien mechanism, the association was able to clean up more than 5 million euros.
In addition to the 41 precautionary custody orders, the Fiamme Gialle carried out the seizure of 44 buildings and land, 17 cars and motorcycles, 354 bank relationshipsand 80 companies, commercial activities and shareholdings, for a total estimated value of over 50 million euros, while numerous personal and local searches are still underway .
