19 people were arrested this Tuesday morning as part of the anti-drug operation "Hermano" led by the Carabinieri of the Provincial Command of Reggio Calabria in coordination with the Antimafia Reggio District Directorate.
Italian media report that the detainees are accused of being members of a criminal organization, capable of managing a thriving drug trafficking.
According to investigations, the drugs were bought in South America and passing through the Spanish Channel, then arrived in Italy where they were resold in various northern cities. 19 people arrested, seven in prison and 12 under house arrest were in contact with Peruvian narcotics.
Among the recipients of the arrest warrant issued by Gip Giovanna Sergi, is Carmelo Bonfiglio, 42, considered one of the promoters and organizers of the criminal association aimed at drug trafficking. According to the survey, Bonfiglio was in contact with Spanish and Albanian suppliers. But above all with the Peruvians.
In fact, according to the DDA, the detainees had had privileged relations with these latest cocaine producers, thanks to which they could buy bundles of drugs at competitive prices: 32 thousand euros per kilogram against a market price ranging from 35 to 40 thousand. euro.
Prison for 44-year-old Rocco Camillo, Diego Giovinazzo (46), Palmiro Cannata (62), Salvatore Sano (60), Damiano Veneziano (33) and Antonio Pedullà (36).
The judge ordered house arrest for Antonio De Luca 71 years old, Antonio Ranieli (71 years old), Francesco Macrillo (64 years old), Francesco La Cognata (44 years old), Maurizio Scicchitani (55 years old), Antonio Zangari (53 years old), Gino Carlo Melziade (50 years old), Peruvian Oscar Bruno Bagigalupo Lobaton (47 years old), Donato Melziade (63 years old), Endri Dalipaj (33 years old), Gioacchino Marco Mole (30 years old) and Riccardo Ierace (34 years old).
So, among the above names, the Albanian is 33-year-old Endri Dalipaj.
There are 56 suspects in the investigation launched in December 2017 after arrest during police control. At the time, in fact, inside a car, carabinieri found 3 kilograms and 400 grams of dried indica cannabis flowers. Since that kidnapping, he was first tracked down to Palmiro Cannata and then to Carmelo Bonfiglio, thus rebuilding the drug supply chain but also outlining the structure of the criminal gang capable of managing marijuana, hashish and cocaine trafficking. .
It is learned that the detainees were able to import large groups of drugs to Italy. The cargo was hidden in "secret compartments" inside the vehicles used for transport in major Italian cities, including Milan and Rome. There the medicine was divided into doses and traded.