A family-run organization capable of managing an incessant flow of cocaine, hashish and marijuana, ready to transform into a machine of terror and violence in order to recover the money from the doses. This is the scenario that emerged from the “Smile” operation, the investigation with which the Carabinieri of the Gioia Tauro Company dealt a severe blow to a deep-rooted drug dealing network active in the plain and beyond.
Six people arrested
The blitz, launched at dawn with the support of the Rende and Taurianova Companies and the “Calabria” Helicopter Hunters Squadron, led to the execution of a precautionary custody order issued by the GIP of the Court of Palmi, at the request of the local Prosecutor’s Office directed by Dr. Emanuele Crescenti. The toll is six people arrested (four Italians and two foreigners) residing between Rosarno, Taurianova and Rose (CS). For the two promoters of the illicit activity, father and son linked by a solid criminal bond as well as by blood, the doors of prison have opened. Four other members of the network, responsible for logistics and retail sales, ended up under house arrest. The investigation also includes five other suspects who were released in a state of freedom, one of whom was already repatriated last February to his country of origin.
A 24-hour supply chain: drugs between the bathroom toilet and the balconies
The investigation, conducted in the field by the Operational Section of the Gioia Tauro Company and coordinated by the Deputy Prosecutor of Palmi, Santo Melidona, revealed the existence of a real drug “chain” in Rosarno and the surrounding municipalities, structured to satisfy the requests of a large and loyal clientele at any time.
What struck the investigators was the extreme speed and ease with which the main suspect, constantly supported by his father in logistics management and deliveries, managed to find and place the narcotic. To avoid checks, the drugs were hidden in decidedly bizarre makeshift domestic hiding places: “in the toilet bowl” or “behind the plant” on the balcony. From there, the doses were ready to be quickly delivered to buyers, directly at home or in strategic and popular meeting points, such as city squares and post offices.
The “coffee” code and digital payments on Postepay
The turnover discovered is impressive. The Judge for Preliminary Investigations contested 225 charges linked to individual detentions and sales, while the wiretaps documented a total of over 260 drug dealing episodes. A family relationship, that between father and son, totally subservient to the logic of profit.
To protect the trafficking from the attention of the police, the suspects used cryptic language but which the Carabinieri managed to decode: the drugs were ordered over the telephone, asking from time to time for “cigarettes”, “coffee” or “wine”, depending on the type and quantity desired. During the investigations, the military intervened experimentally in the field on 11 separate occasions, seizing various quantities of drugs and arresting two people in flagrante delicto.
As proof of the modernity and capillarity of the network, payments did not only take place in cash. The organization regularly accepted traceable methods, collecting thousands of euros through bank transfers and top-ups on Postepay cards, often registered in the name of nominees or the customers’ own family members.
The ferocious face of credit: “I’ll break your bones, tonight we’ll kill you”
If the drug dealing was structured with corporate precision, the recovery of unpaid debts shows the crudest and most ruthless side of the criminal gang. Those who didn’t pay were placed in a real climate of terror. The investigations documented ruthless threats and even a serious episode of extortion, formally contested in the GIP order: a debtor was forcibly forced to hand over his latest generation smartphone, worth around 600 euros, as forced payment for the arrears.
The leaders of the network did not hesitate to subtly leverage the family affections of customers or to explode into verbal attacks of unprecedented ferocity. The environmental and telephone interceptions returned sentences emblematic of their criminal caliber. On one occasion, the head of the network intimidated a buyer by saying:
“Look, you can leave 330 euros to yourself – I told him – I don’t want it, I’ll give it to you, believe me!… I won’t even calculate this… but don’t look at me – I told him – I’ll catch you and break all your bones… you’re done with me – I told him – go, go, take a walk!”.
A constant psychological pressure which, in the face of prolonged delays, resulted in explicit and terrifying death threats:
“Tonight you have to give us the money otherwise we’ll beat you to death (…) and even the Eternal Father can come… I want the money tonight and that’s it!”.
A wall of violence and intimidation that was definitively broken thanks to the intervention of the Carabinieri.