Naples continues to experience its dual weekend landscape: on one side, the nightlife of the historic center, on the other, the relentless drug dealing. On Friday evening, in Piazza Bellini, Carabinieri officers from the Napoli Centro unit made yet another arrest: the eighteenth drug dealer arrested in this area alone since the beginning of the year.
This time, the person stopped is a 23-year-old man from Sri Lanka , already known to the police. The scenario is the tried-and-true one: he moves cautiously through the crowd, carrying a few doses and a disposable cell phone in his pocket, ready to declare that the drugs are for personal use. But the officers, in civilian clothes and blending in with the young people of the night, observe him and follow him unnoticed.
The dealer positions himself right under the statue overlooking the square, once a cultural center, now a hub for nightlife and drug dealing. The exchange is swift: a bag in one hand, a banknote in the other. But the scene is fully documented by the Carabinieri, who, at just the right moment, intervene and arrest both men.
The client, who was barely over 23, was reported to the Prefecture. The XNUMX-year-old, however, was arrested and subjected to a search, during which another dose of marijuana was found. The arrest, the latest in a long series, confirms that drug dealing in Naples' nightlife remains a persistent and difficult issue to eradicate, despite the relentless efforts of law enforcement every weekend.
It's a complex and difficult issue to manage. Naples has a drug problem that can't be solved. Law enforcement is doing what it can, but there are more and more pushers on the loose. The situation is worrying and requires attention.