QThis morning, at the end of a complex investigative activity coordinated by the Naples prosecutor's office - Anti-Mafia District Directorate -, the Frattamaggiore financial police executed 10 restrictive measures of personal freedom, issued by the investigating judge of the Naples court. The application of 6 personal precautionary measures of house arrest and 4 precautionary measures of the obligation to report was ordered against residents of the Naples province and believed to be part of various organizations dedicated to cigarette smuggling with operational bases in Afragola, Cardito and Casoria. According to what emerged from the investigations, 7 groups would have managed the trade, operating in a situation of substantial monopoly, in some municipalities in the northern area of the Neapolitan province for years, at least since 2013.
In particular, the Guardia di Finanza reconstructed the supply flows, discovered storage depots, monitored the movements of the subjects and ascertained the operating methods implemented also in the retail sales phase. Specifically, the promoters of the criminal groups are accused of having assumed the role of local contraband leaders from that moment on, getting help from various collaborators to organize the sales points, take care of the transportation of cigarettes and monitor the area. They also had a network of sellers who ensured continuity in the retail sale and widespread control of the territories. A series of precautions and expedients were put in place to divert. Furthermore, the channels and routes for supplying the product were often changed, transportation was split up, cars and mobile phone cards used for direct contact with suppliers were replaced. 51.163 kilos of cigarettes, 4 depots, 4 vehicles and 10 mobile phones were seized. During the technical activities, cash movements of approximately 1.000.000 euros were identified, all for a nominal value of 10.000.000 euros and with an ascertained evasion of excise duties of 3.200.000 euros.
Article published on November 27, 2018 - 13:27
