Rome: Drug trafficking dismantled in Casal Bruciato

The Carabinieri of the Rome Piazza Dante Company, supported by the Santa Maria di Galeria Dog Unit and the Pratica di Mare Helicopter Unit, executed an order issued by the Preliminary Investigation Judge at the Court of Rome, at the request of the officer of justice of Rome. Office, District Anti-Mafia Directorate, which orders the arrest of 6 men, 5 in prison and 1 under house arrest, on varying degrees of serious suspicion of possession and trafficking of narcotic drugs and of association for the purpose of trafficking in narcotics. The investigation, coordinated from November 2023 to April 2024 by the Public Prosecutor’s Office of Rome, Anti-Mafia District Directorate and carried out by the Carabinieri of the Operational Unit of the Company of Rome Piazza Dante, made it possible to collect serious circumstantial evidence on the existence of an association that managed a drug trafficking square in the densely populated Capitoline district of Casal Bruciato, in Via Sebastiano Satta and specifically as a base in a former arcade, illegally occupied by the suspects, owned by the Municipality of Rome; the organization of drug trafficking in shifts, during which buyers were guaranteed the purchase of cocaine and crack, narcotics for which pushers and lookouts used an encrypted alphanumeric code indicating the quantities and quality of the substance bought and sold daily.

Through the checks carried out during the investigation, the Carabinieri established that the position of the pusher, located in this place called gambling den, was protected by an iron door, which was illegally installed and could only be operated from the inside. For the further defense of the pusher, a network of lookouts was planned, some of which were called to observe the entrances to the access roads to the place, while others would instead carry out a preventive control on the buyers who had just arrived: the Het was necessary not only to avoid the presence of plainclothes law enforcement officers, but also to know in advance the quantity and type of narcotics being requested. After the first “check” was passed, the lookout, without using transceivers, at the risk of being intercepted, but only through conventional signs, allowed the pusher to open the door so that the customer could reach him for the next sale. Access to the premises was controlled by a video intercom and two cameras placed at the entrance to the ‘gambling den’, providing a view of the person arriving to make a purchase and of the area in front of the entrance. In some cases, buyer visits were preceded by telephone contacts via computer platforms. For organizational purposes and to maintain relations between the suspects and to provide daily necessary information, telephones specifically intended for the illegal activities and falsely registered were used.

In case of police intervention, the lookouts would make the buyers leave, while the pusher, leaving the iron door closed, would abandon his post and hide in one of the apartments in the building. During the investigation, the suspects also paid special attention to the method of supply in the drug trafficking area. Typically, the cocaine and crack refills, due to their small size, were hidden in cavities created in the shutters of an uninhabited building near the drug trade. The purpose of these precautions was clearly to ensure virtually uninterrupted operation of the drug trafficking area, while minimizing the potential consequences of police action. A real system of rules and tools that, however, was discovered and dismantled by the Carabinieri of the Operational Unit of the Company of Rome Piazza Dante; the two commercial properties that constituted the gambling den and an illegally occupied apartment had already been seized and cleared, then returned to the municipality of Rome. The Carabinieri also seized a blank pistol without a red cap, two video surveillance systems equipped with three cameras, various materials for cutting and packaging the drug, 18 smartphones equipped with calling cards, an address book with dates and numbers related to the purchase of the drug. drug, 24,155 euros in small and medium banknotes. During the investigations, 5,648 episodes of drug trafficking were documented with a turnover of tens and tens of thousands of euros.