Anti-drug operation of SPAK and Italian authorities/ 23 arrested

2024-11-06 10:40:00, Kronika CNA

The Special Prosecutor's Office in cooperation with the Regional Branch of the Anti-Mafia Prosecutor's Office, Florence have hit a criminal group in the trafficking of cocaine from Latin America to Tali.

In total, 23 people were arrested in Italy, Tuscany, Calabria, Lazio, Puglia, Campania, Lombardy, Veneto, Liguria and 2 people in Albania.

This successful crackdown is the result of the work of two long-term joint investigation teams (JITs), supported and funded by Eurojust.

Notice of SPAK:

"Since December 2021, the Special Prosecutor's Office against Corruption and Organized Crime has conducted investigations within a joint investigation team created with the Italian judicial authorities, specifically with the Regional Branch of the Anti-Mafia Prosecutor's Office, Florence, Italy. The object of the investigation this criminal proceeding was the attack on the trafficking of large quantities of cocaine from South America to Italian seaports, mainly that of Livorno.

Following the investigations carried out in the framework of this criminal proceeding, on 05.11.2024 a joint international operation was carried out with the participation of Eurojust. On 05.11.2024, the decision on the appointment of security measures was executed by the Court of Preliminary Investigations of the Court of Florence, for subjects of organized crime with Albanian, Italian, Romanian citizenship, etc. In total, 23 people were arrested in Italy (Tuscany, Calabria, Lazio, Puglia, Campania, Lombardy, Veneto, Liguria) and 2 people in Albania. This successful crackdown is the result of the work of two long-term joint investigation teams (JITs), supported and funded by Eurojust.

Investigations into the Albanian criminal network were initiated by the Prosecutor's Office of Florence in Italy, in 2021. That same year, the first joint investigative team (JIT) was created between the Italian and Albanian authorities. The investigations were supported by wiretapping of information exchanges between criminal organizations, which used the encrypted communication tool, SkyECC.

The organized crime group was active as a wholesale supplier of drugs to the Italian markets. Drug shipments were sent from South America in containers, through Italian ports (Livorno, Genoa and Savona) and to other European countries. The containers were stored at the ports of arrival, where special teams took care of recovering the narcotics and removing the shipments from the port areas, to then make them available to criminal groups. To facilitate the operations of identifying and finding cocaine, the organized criminal group used radio-location equipment, while the substance was hidden inside containers loaded with exotic fruit cover or in special spaces created for this purpose.

From the investigations carried out, it was possible to seize over 2 tons of cocaine, 45 kg of hashish, 20 kg of marijuana - from which the criminal group would have benefited about 70 million euros - as well as the arrest of three of the members of this group. .

On 05.11.2024, with the authorization of the Special Court for Corruption and Organized Crime, under the direction of the Special Prosecutor's Office, the General Directorate of the State Police organized the work with teams, which included the investigators of the National Bureau of Investigation, representatives of the Office of the Security Expert at the Italian Embassy in Tirana, representatives of the Guardia di Finaza Italy and carried out the inspection of 18 apartments of suspected persons, a good part of them resident in Italy but also residing in Albania.

The General Directorate of the State Police arrested two of the participants in this structured criminal group, citizens MN and JK, and during the controls, 20,000 euros, 52 watches of different brands were found and seized. Rolex etc, 1 Audi RSQ8 2020 vehicle as well as 3 cell phones, 2 of which are G Pixel, a beret pistol firearm with 15 rounds, 3 cell phones and other equipment.

Similar operations are underway in France, Romania and other involved countries.

The Special Prosecutor's Office thanks the Anti-Mafia Prosecutor's Office of Florence, Italy and the Guardia Di Finanza for the successful cooperation during the investigation within the Joint Investigation Team as well as Eurojust and Europol who supported the need for international cooperation and coordination.

Also, we thank the General Directorate of the State Police for the cooperation both during the phase of preliminary investigations and during the execution of security measures and conducting checks." / CNA