Colombian drug trafficking, 4.3 tons of cocaine seized

4.3 tons of cocaine seized, among the largest quantities ever recovered in Europe. Thirty-eight precautionary measures. After the extradition to the United States of Otoniel (aka Dario Antonio Usuga David), head of the feared and powerful criminal organization of the Gulf Clan, another severe blow to the most important group of Colombian narcos was inflicted by the investigation of the Pef Nucleus. Guardia di Finanza of Trieste with the guidance and coordination of the Anti-Mafia District Directorate of the Julian capital. Over 60 financiers are executing a precautionary detention order in prison involving 38 people in Italy, Slovenia, Croatia, Bulgaria, the Netherlands and Colombia, all accused of international drug trafficking. The investigative activities, which lasted for over a year and started with the cooperation of the judiciary and the Colombian Police, together with the US Homeland Security Investigations Agency, have allowed to rebuild the dense network of relationships between South American cocaine producers and buyers in the area. national and European, belonging to well-known organized crime contexts operating in Veneto, Lombardy, Lazio and Calabria. Furthermore, in the middle of the distribution chain, important brokers and wholesalers as well as various transport operators have been identified, all subject to the restrictive measures. the use of ‘undercover’ agents, who infiltrated the organization by pretending to manage the logistical part of the traffic. The collection of evidence was made possible through as many as 19 consecutive controlled deliveries, which took place between May 2021 and May 2022, thanks to which important mediators in the world drug trafficking system and a large number of carriers operating both in national territory and abroad. There are therefore 4,300 net kg of cocaine subjected to seizure, which is estimated to have been paid around 96 million euros by the criminal buyer groups. It is one of the largest seizures ever in Europe, while on the Italian market, retail sales would have more than doubled its final value, reaching a price of at least 240 million euros. During the operation, in addition to several vehicles, including a lorry and an SUV worth over 100 thousand euros, 1,850,000 euros in cash were also seized: huge financial and patrimonial resources stolen today from the availability of fierce organizations criminals thanks to the work of the specialists of the Guardia di Finanza, who acted in close contact and in perfect unity of purpose with the judicial authority.