A branched criminal network with a logistical base in Naples, specialized in carrying out thefts against hospital pharmacies throughout the national territory. This is what emerged from the investigation coordinated by the Reggio Calabria Prosecutor’s Office and conducted by the Melito Porto Salvo carabinieri which this morning led to the arrest of four people believed to specialize in the theft of very high-cost oncology and life-saving drugs.
The four, originally from Naples and its province, Gennaro Bevilacqua, Massimo Conte, Roberto Conte and Mario Criscuolo are accused of as many attacks carried out in 2024 in the pharmacy of the “Tiberio Evoli” hospital in Melito Porto Salvo for a total value of approximately 1.2 million euros.
The investigation
The suspects were reached by a precautionary custody order in prison issued by the investigating judge at the request of the Reggio prosecutor’s office. The provision represents the outcome of a long investigation conducted by the operational section of the Carabinieri Company of Melito Porto Salvo, developed between April 2024 and February 2025 following a series of thefts perpetrated in the pharmacy of the Reggio hospital in the months of April, May and July 2024.
The investigators traced the alleged perpetrators thanks to the analysis of the images of the video surveillance systems near the health facility, subsequently examined in depth through telephone interceptions and the analysis of a vast amount of telephone traffic data.
The modus operandi
According to what was reconstructed by the investigators, the group acted following a well-planned scheme: preventive selection of the health facilities to be targeted, inspections to study access and security systems, use of rental vehicles and dedicated telephone numbers, often fictitiously registered in the name of non-EU citizens, so as to reduce the risk of being identified.
The investigation by the Reggio Calabria Prosecutor’s Office also represented the starting point of further investigative activities carried out in coordination with the Naples and Benevento Prosecutor’s Offices, resulting in the issuing of other restrictive measures against individuals held responsible for similar crimes.
Occhiuto’s words: “Ignoble gesture”
“Stealing oncology drugs intended for cancer patients is an ignoble gesture. What happened at the Tiberio Evoli hospital in Melito Porto Salvo is shameful. I thank the Carabinieri and the Reggio Calabria Prosecutor’s Office for dismantling this gang of unscrupulous criminals.” Roberto Occhiuto, president of the Calabria Region, writes it on X.