Heavy hand of the anti-mafia prosecutor of Reggio Calabria in the abbreviated trial resulting from the investigation called “Tre Croci”. At the end of his indictment, the prosecutor asked for 484 years in prison for the 27 defendants accused of drug trafficking at the port of Gioia Tauro. The requests arrived yesterday afternoon before the judge for the preliminary hearing of the court of Reggio Calabria.
The sentences requested by the DDA
Salvatore Bagnoli at 20 years old, Domenico Bartuccio 18 years, Franco Barbaro 16 years, Salvatore Bellè 6 years, Rosario Bonifazi 20 years, Vincenzo Brandimarte 20 years, Antonio Bruzzaniti 8 years, Bartolo Bruzzaniti 20 years, Salvatore Cananzi 20 years, Bruno Carbone 10 years, Salvatore Copelli 20 years, Alessandro Cutrì 20 years, Savior of Water 20 years, Girolamo Fazari 20 years, Saints Fazio 20 years, Roberto Ficarra 20 years, Domenico Gulluni 20 years, Domenico Iannaci 20 years, Rocco Iannizzi 20 years, Raffaele Imperiale 10 years, Vincenzo Larosa 20 years, Domenico Longo 18 years, Pasqualino Russo 18 years, Antonio Sciglitano 20 years, Antonio Sciglitano 20 years, Nazarene Valente 20 years, Antonio Zambara 20 years.
After the public prosecutor’s indictment, from the next hearings it will be up to the defense to discuss the positions of the individual defendants, involved in the maxi-operation coordinated by the Reggio Calabria DDA and carried out by the Provincial Command of the Financial Police on 6 October 2022. The defense arguments were scheduled by the preliminary hearing judge district. The last of which is scheduled for April 22nd. On that date it will be decided whether any replies to the accusation will be expected. Immediately afterwards, the date of the council chamber for the report of the sentence by the Reggio judge will be set.
All the defendants involved in the maxi investigation are accused, in various capacities, of international trafficking of narcotic substances aggravated by the aim of facilitating the ‘Ndrangheta.
The “Tre Croci” operation is the epilogue of complex investigations by the anti-mafia prosecutor’s office, in which over 4 tons of cocaine with a retail value of approximately 800 million euros were seized by the Guardia di Finanza, conducted by the Crime Investigation Group organized (Gico) of the Economic and Financial Police Unit of Reggio Calabria. The investigation revolves around the port of Gioia Tauro and has as its underlying theme the international trafficking of cocaine. According to what emerges from the ordinance, the drugs arrived in the Calabrian port on container ships from Latin America. This is where the alleged unfaithful port operators came into play who «relationships – the investigators write in the order – with foreign drug traffickers and importers for the carrying out of criminal activities functional to the exfiltration of the narcotic, the transport out of the port area and the delivery of the substance”.