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Teenagers who came on tourist visas and were recruited as "drug horses" - Another Albanian group in Italy is hit, 16 people are arrested

2026-05-27 15:27:01Aktualitet SHKRUAR NGA REDAKSIA VOX

Teenagers who came on tourist visas and were recruited as "drug

Another major anti-drug operation has been finalized in Italy, dismantling an Albanian drug trafficking organization in the L'Aquila area.

There are 40 people under investigation, 16 arrested by court order and 9 others with milder security measures. The distribution activity was carried out mainly through encrypted messages and the "delivery" scheme, secure delivery to the apartment.

They arrived from Albania on tourist visas, mostly teenagers who were recruited as "drug runners", with no criminal records and no criminal history.

They would land in Rome, then someone would take them to L'Aquila. Apartments on the outskirts of the capital or in nearby towns, rental cars, several mobile phones and always different SIM cards. They stayed for several weeks.

When the carabinieri stopped them, the pattern always seemed the same: ten, twelve doses on them, small amounts, no criminal record, no personal phone number that could be traced back to them. These kids were almost invisible and when they were caught they had the alibi of the user.

But behind that continuous series of arrests and checks, according to the L'Aquila District Anti-Mafia Directorate, there was an organized system that in recent years had built a real cocaine network between the Abruzzo capital and the surrounding area.

"Operation "Head Delivery" began at dawn this morning, ordered by the Anti-Mafia Prosecutor's Office of the L'Aquila District. Carabinieri from the Operational and Mobile Unit of the L'Aquila Company, supported by the territorial commands of the Carabinieri, a crew from the 16th Carabinieri Helicopter Unit in Rieti, two dog units from the Chieti Dog Unit and two operational intervention teams from the 8th Lazio Regiment and the 10th Campagna Regiment, executed 25 personal precautionary measures and 11 detentions," the authorities announced.

Forty people are under investigation, almost all Albanian citizens. They are accused of conspiracy to traffic narcotics and possession and distribution of cocaine.

The investigation, coordinated by prosecutor Roberta D'Avolio under the direction of district attorney Alberto Sgambati, began in January 2025 precisely from that feeling of constant repetition: the same profiles, the same movements, the same boys appearing and disappearing within a few days.

“We didn’t just stop at individual arrests,” explained Major Massimo Canale, commander of the L’Aquila Carabinieri Company. “We tried to understand what was behind this constant turnover of individuals.”

And piece by piece, investigators began to reconstruct the mechanism.

According to the Prosecution, there were three distinct criminal organizations, autonomous but connected to each other and, above all, linked to an operational structure in Albania that managed the recruitment, drug supply and continuous circulation of dealers.

The young people were brought to Italy on regular tourist visas. Once there, they received full logistical support: rental cars, cell phones, SIM cards, and temporary housing.

The choice to use boys without a criminal record was part of the system itself.

"They were young people who had arrived maybe the day before, with no criminal record," prosecutor D'Avolio explained at a press conference. "The risk was that any incident would be limited to a simple arrest for minor drug trafficking."

Instead, investigators began to connect dozens of seemingly isolated cases.

The cars used by the dealers changed constantly. Telephone lines were very short. Cocaine was hidden in forest areas, in the countryside and on the outskirts of L'Aquila. Dealers carried only a small amount of cocaine with them precisely to avoid the stricter precautions if they were stopped.

The rest of the substance was found in secret places from time to time. A mobile and fluid structure, built to make it difficult to reach the highest levels of the organization.

When one of the traffickers was arrested or simply targeted by the police, he disappeared. He returned to Albania. And was replaced almost immediately by another young man who had just arrived.

"The investigators' skills lay precisely in identifying so many seemingly unrelated incidents," emphasized District Prosecutor Alberto Sgambati, who thanked in particular Colonel Salvatore Del Campo, the provincial commander of the Carabinieri of L'Aquila, Public Prosecutor Roberta D'Avolio and all the officers involved in the investigation.

During the investigation, the Carabinieri made 16 arrests and seized approximately one kilogram of cocaine. Investigators believe that the sale of at least 3,200 doses has been confirmed, with an estimated turnover of approximately 125,000 euros.

Over a hundred identified users have been reported to the competent Prefectures, Italian media reports.

According to the Prosecutor's Office, the groups operated mainly in L'Aquila and surrounding municipalities, but also had links in Tuscany and Veneto.

"This operation does not solve the drug problem," D'Avolio said. "But it represents a significant blow to the criminal organizations that had been operating continuously in the area."


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