«An abject crime, as well as being particularly costly for the public coffers». This is how the prosecutor of Reggio Calabria Giuseppe Borrelli defined the thefts of oncology and life-saving drugs discovered as part of the investigation which led to the arrest of four people accused of the attacks carried out in 2024 in the pharmacy of the “Tiberio Evoli” hospital in Melito Porto Salvo.
The magistrate underlined how the investigation required close collaboration between multiple judicial offices. «The investigative activities carried out by the Carabinieri – he explained – were shared with the Prosecutor’s Offices of Naples and Benevento, who proceeded almost simultaneously with the execution of further restrictive measures for crimes within their competence, because the group operated mainly in the province of Naples». Borrelli also clarified that the stolen drugs had not expired, but were still fully valid at the time of the theft.
Lack of security at the time of the thefts
Deputy prosecutor Chiara Greco also spoke during the press conference. «The medicines were certainly not left at everyone’s mercy – he specified – but there was no video surveillance system specifically dedicated to the hospital pharmacy and, from what appears, not even an alarm system». During the investigations, Dr. Di Furia, manager of the facility, was also interviewed to reconstruct the management methods of the pharmacy. “No critical issues or responsibility on the part of the hospital emerged.”