The Court of Cassation confirmed the 16-year prison sentence for Pasquale Bifulco, 50 years old, originally from Careri, accused in one of the strands of the “Buongustaio 2010” anti-drug investigation. According to the DDA of Reggio Calabria, Bifulco would have held a top role in the international association dedicated to cocaine trafficking, acting as a promoter, organizer and financier.
The Sixth Criminal Section based its decision above all on the full usability of the chats acquired by the investigators. The judges reiterated a consolidated principle: the international letter rogatory is necessary only when the interception activity requires operations to be physically carried out abroad.
However, when the collections can be carried out from Italian territory, there is no violation of the sovereignty of other States and it is not necessary to activate judicial cooperation procedures. The Court also clarified that the letter rogatory is not mandatory even in the subsequent phase, that is, the acquisition of the content of communications stored abroad, if such data is in the public domain or is made available by the legitimate holder, public or private.
The lawyers Antonio Speziale and Giuseppe Russo, defenders of Bifulco, which is believed to be located in South America, have announced a technical-legal study on the issue of the usability of the chats. At the end of the analysis, they do not rule out the filing of an extraordinary appeal. Bifulco, after a period of untraceability, was arrested in Peru. In 2015, however, the Peruvian judges ordered his release from prison due to the expiration of the terms while he was awaiting extradition to Italy. The investigation, conducted by the Goa of the Gdf of Catanzaro and coordinated by the Reggio Calabria anti-mafia prosecutor, with the collaboration of Brazilian prosecutors, had hit what the investigators defined as “one of the most powerful and organized international cocaine trafficking networks”.
The Italian strand concerned an alleged association linked to families operating in the Ionian area of Reggio, in particular in the Natile di Careri area, with branches in Brazil and several European countries.