In the port of Salerno, there was an “illicit service company” operating, subservient to national and transnational associations, which was also involved in international waste trafficking.
This is supported by the Public Prosecutor's Office and the Guardia di Finanza of Salerno, who at dawn executed 69 precautionary measures (39 house arrests, 21 residence bans, 9 measures of disqualification from practicing the profession, public office and public service) against 17 customs officials, 6 health officials, 22 customs forwarders, 10 port operators, 2 lawyers, an administrative employee in service at the Public Prosecutor's Office of Salerno, a soldier of the Guardia di Finanza and 10 private individuals. "The investigations have made it possible to reconstruct at least four illicit activities involving a large number of employees of the Salerno customs office", explained the prosecutor Giuseppe Borrelli, illustrating in a video conference the details of the "Tortuga" investigation, in which a total of 87 people are under investigation. The crime of international waste trafficking is charged to two customs forwarders and seven African citizens. It is precisely within the scope of these specific investigations that over 60 tons of waste – special and otherwise – were seized, as well as 1000 photovoltaic panels and 1000 electrical energy accumulators, of stolen origin, destined for the African continent.
The investigation began in April 2018, following a tip-off from OLAF, the European anti-fraud office, about alleged smuggling of hookah tobacco from Salerno to Morocco. The investigations revealed that the cargo, over 5 tons of foreign manufactured tobacco, fictitiously registered as outgoing thanks to the complicity of customs officials, had actually ended up on the illicit market, causing an evasion of customs duties of approximately one million and 200 thousand euros. The investigations, which lasted four months and which relied on wiretaps and environmental interceptions, also revealed omissions by the top management of the customs office – the interim director and the vice-director of the Customs office – who, despite being aware of the investigations, Borrelli stressed, “continued to offer protection to illicit behavior.” But the 'Tortuga' investigation also shed light on 53 episodes of illicit appropriation of goods and consumer goods, even of low economic value, from containers stored in the port. Furthermore, some officials, in exchange for "bribes", allegedly carried out - but only fictitiously - administrative and health checks on the goods. Among the 69 recipients of the measures are also a financier, an administrative employee of the Salerno Prosecutor's Office and two lawyers: the first, in collaboration with a customs official, allegedly fictitiously certified the return of goods temporarily exported but in reality never transited through the port. The others, again according to the prosecutors, allegedly accessed the computer systems to divulge confidential data to customs officials who feared being investigated.
HOUSE ARREST (39)
Ammendola Eugenio, Angrisani Pasquale, Annunziata Luigi, Bevolacqua Davide, Crescenzo Orazio, Di Agostino Saverio, Fiorillo Antonio, Gambardella Andrea, Giordano Alfonso, Giordano Pasquale, Granata Emilio, Grimaldi Luigi, Ieromazzo Marco, La Torre Claudio, La Torre Gianfranco, Mattera Daniela, Morrone Giovanni, Santorelli Rita, Sollazzo Sergio, Stella Giuseppe, Esposito Carmine, Di Mauro Vincenzo, Iacomino Giovanni, Iacomino Raffaele, Bellosguardo Emidio, Bisogno Antonio, Caravano Salvatore, Del pezzo Luigi, Fausto Ciro, Grillo Vincenzo, Sguazzo Antonio, Vece Alfonso, Bance Abdoulaye, Bazie Narcisse, Cisse Faysal, Kagambega Wendyam Fulbert, Okia Loukou Daniel, Salbre Wahabou, Sambare Adama
RESIDENCE PROHIBITION IN SALERNO (21)
Andrea Avagliano, Claudio Bottigliero, Giampaolo De Rosa, Giovanni De Rosa, Antonio Granozzi, Alfredo Grillo, Massimo Grimaldi, Raffaele Irpino, Pacileo Antonio, Vincenzo Paradiso, Luongo Michele, Marchetta Alessandro, Marrese Marco, Pagano Barbara, Pepe Daniele, Riccio Guido, Ruocco Paolo, Savelli Ernesto, Stabile Aniello, Verace Mario Aniello, Vitiello Angelo.
PROHIBITIVE MEASURES (9)
The author is Aniello Del Gaudio, Maurizio Iaugulli, Stefano Fasolino, Felice Pessolano, Romano Assunta, Carmine Guerra, Andrea Nardi, Marco Martello.
Article published on May 6, 2020 - 07:40 pm
