Italian police crack down on international drug trafficking organization, 8 Albanians arrested
The Reggio Emilia State Police has executed a preliminary detention order issued by the Court of Bologna, at the request of the Anti-Mafia Directorate, against nine people, eight of Albanian origin and one Italian citizen. They are suspected of the criminal offense of participation in a criminal organization for the purpose of drug trafficking.
The operation was carried out by the Italian police, who activated Interpol channels for the international distribution of arrest warrants, in cooperation with the Security Expert's Office in Albania.
Arrests and checks are taking place in several Italian provinces, including Reggio Emilia, Bergamo, Brescia and Savona, as well as in France, Spain and Albania, thanks to operational cooperation with foreign police authorities, in particular with the Albanian Criminal Police Department.
The operation, codenamed "STURL ONE", constitutes the continuation of previous investigations known as TREXIT 2019 and BLACK MAMBA, which had led, in January 2021 and September 2022, to the execution of a total of 35 restrictive measures.
The TREXIT 2019 investigation had revealed the existence of three criminal organizations active in the province of Reggio Emilia. One of them, made up of citizens of Maghreb origin and known as the “Rubiera group”, was involved in the retail sale of cocaine. The other two groups were made up of Albanian citizens, who continuously supplied large quantities of cocaine to the North African group.
One of these organizations was led by an Albanian citizen residing in Italy, who frequently traveled abroad and to Albania, acting since 2018 as the main intermediary for the supply of cocaine in the Emilia-Romagna region.
Investigations have shown that the criminal organization was structured on several levels, with a high availability of personnel, tools and financial resources. It was capable of importing and distributing large quantities of cocaine, marijuana and cannabis from South America, Northern Europe and Spain, hiding the narcotics in trucks loaded with agricultural products and then distributing them throughout Italy through a network of couriers.
For secret communication, members of the organization used the encrypted SKYECC platform, installed on specialized phones at very high cost. During previous operations, the Police seized some of these devices. The SKYECC platform was decrypted by French authorities at the end of 2020, which allowed access to the communications of members of the criminal network.
In 2022, the Bologna District Anti-Mafia Directorate opened a new criminal proceeding aimed at identifying the main leaders of the organization. Through a European Investigation Order, encrypted conversations were analyzed and advanced technical investigations were carried out against the suspects present in Italy.
These investigations enabled the documentation of a large number of criminal offenses and the confirmation of the stable and functional role of each member within the organization, leading to the formulation of 44 criminal charges.
During just six months of monitoring, the organization had managed to move and distribute over 200 kilograms of cocaine and about 1,000 kilograms of hashish and marijuana, generating millions of euros in profits. The suspects, confident in the security of their communications, openly discussed negotiations, distribution methods and even commented on seizures carried out by the Police.
Thanks to detailed investigative work, the State Police managed to identify the users of SKYECC PINs and link them to real identities, building a strong evidence base, which was fully accepted by the Judicial Authority.
In total, 15 people are under investigation. In addition to the nine arrests, numerous checks were carried out throughout the Italian territory, with the participation of around 50 State Police officers.
During a special check in the province of Brescia, a Moroccan citizen was arrested in flagrante delicto after being found with over 2 kg of marijuana, 1 kg of hashish and 5,800 euros in cash, suspected to be proceeds from illegal activity.
