An organization dedicated to facilitating the hiding of 'ndrangheta bosses has been disarticulated by the carabinieri of the provincial command of Reggio Calabria who arrested 14 people held responsible, in various capacities , trafficking and association aimed at the illicit trafficking of narcotic or psychotropic substances, personal support of fugitives, possession and port of common and war firearms. The operation, called Gear, was carried out between Reggio Calabria, Teramo and Benevento.
The organization had established its nerve base in an aggregate quarry located in Gioia Tauro identified thanks to investigations conducted by the Operative Section of the Carabinieri Company of Gioia Tauro and follows the arrests of fugitives Antonino Pesce, Salvatore Etzi and Salvatore Palumbo.
The monitoring of fugitives' wives, girlfriends, relatives and supporters had brought out the centrality of the extraction site which then turned out to be a real hub of the criminal activities. Monitoring of the quarry also allowed the Carabinieri of Gioia Tauro to capture, on April 14, 2018, a fourth fugitive, Vincenzo Di Marte, included in the "list of dangerous fugitives" and considered a prominent element of the Pesce gang.