6 fugitives arrested between Argentina Costa Rica and Albania: first operational results of the i – can (interpol cooperation against 'ndrangheta) project
Thanks to international police cooperation and the I-CAN (Interpol Cooperation Against 'Ndrangheta) project, promoted by Italy together with Interpol, the number of' ndrangheta fugitives arrested in three countries on two continents within the Operation "Magma 6" conducted by the SCICO of the Guardia di Finanza of Rome and by the GICO of the Guardia di Finanza of Reggio Calabria, in collaboration with the Central Directorate of Drug Services and coordinated by the District Anti-Mafia Directorate of Reggio Calabria. Operation concluded in November 2007 with the execution of 2019 precautionary measures for criminal association of mafia type, international drug trafficking, illegal possession of weapons.
The investigative activities, culminating with the ordinances carried out on 29.11.2019, allowed to seize about 400 Kg. Of cocaine, 30 Kg. Of hashish, 15 Kg. Of marijuana, an automatic assault rifle, 3 semiautomatic pistols, a silencer and ammunition of various caliber.
In detail, the investigative activities have allowed to completely deconstruct the gang of 'Ndrangheta attributable to the Bellocco di Rosarno (RC) and its extra-regional divisions, arresting all the top members of the preface family, belonging to the "Tyrrhenian mandate" and operating in the plain of Gioia Tauro, in Emilia Romagna, in Lazio and in Lombardy.
The criminal group, articulated on several levels and endowed with very high financial resources, in order to import cocaine, identified in South America, in particular in Argentina and Costa Rica, sources of supply of large batches of that narcotic substance to be sent to Italy hidden, for naval transport, in special bags inside containers.
For these purposes, men of the Bellocco gang have used some emissaries who have made several trips to South American territory, to view the drug and negotiate with the local representatives in order to be able to organize the logistical aspects of the import.
Thanks to the preventive and timely opening of a collaboration channel between the Guardia di Finanza of Reggio Calabria and the Gendarmerie Argentina, through a specific International Rogatory promoted by the District Anti-Mafia Directorate of Reggio Calabria, it was possible to ascertain that precisely in Buenos Aires l The Calabrian criminal association could count on the collaboration of some Italian-Argentine "white-collar workers", intraneous to the organization, willing to facilitate the planning of illicit trafficking and the import of large quantities of cocaine.
In this context, emblematic and the story that concerns an emissary of the Bellocco gang in South America who not only limited himself to the mere function of intermediary in the context of illicit trafficking, but also did his utmost to resolve extremely relevant issues that affected the family of 'ndrangheta of the Morabito of Africo (RC). To this end, the involvement of the emissary with some members of the Morabito gang is emblematic to send a large sum of money, equal to 50.000,00 euros, to Uruguayan territory, aimed at releasing Rocco MORABITO, called "Tamunga", arrested after significant hiding and subsequently escaped.
The latest catches further highlight the line pursued with determination by the Attorney Bombardieri and his magistrates aimed at prosecuting and bringing to trial all suspects including those who try to escape their criminal responsibilities by repairing abroad.
In fact, the search for fugitives has continued in recent months thanks to the activity coordinated by the Central Directorate of the Criminal Police, led by the Prefect Rizzi and the General Secretariat of the OIPC-INTERPOL of Lyon, through the I-CAN units of Italy, of Argentina, Albania and Costa Rica and the work of the Italian Security Experts in those countries which led to the coordination of the execution of the arrests of 4 fugitives simultaneously in Argentina and Albania at 19:00 on Tuesday (now Italian) plus a fifth arrested last night at 2:30 (Italian time) in Costa Rica.
Interpol, the Federal Police and the Argentine Nacianal Gendarmerie were arrested in Buenos Aires, coordinated by the local Procunar:
Ferdinando SARAGO ', born in Rosarno (RC) on 12.05.1941, courier and trusted man of the' Ndrangheta who shuttled between South America and Calabria: the gangs addressed him for various operational needs and for the transport of secret documents. He met Carmelo AGLIOTI (one of 45 arrested in November) in Argentina on a trip aimed at resolving a failure to import drugs on behalf of the PESCE and BELLOCCO families;
Giovanni DI PIETRO, born in Rome on 24.06.1956, alias Massimo PERTINI, residing in Buenos Aires, was the front office between the Italian gangs and South American drug suppliers, also dealing directly with the export of narcotic substances. An interception showed that he informed AGLIOTI of an investigation against him by the Argentine judicial authority.
He had participated, in 1978, in the kidnapping of Franz Found in Acireale, the son of a local industrialist, which ended with the tragic killing of the boy after twenty-one days of captivity with sticks and with four pistol shots while trying to escape. In September 1979 Di Pietro was arrested in Argentina for robbery, theft and falsification of documents. The police seized him from a series of documents that brought up his involvement in the terrible story of Franz Found. Di Pietro did not act alone, although he admitted to Interpol who blocked him a second time in 1990 in Buenos Aires, that he was one of the promoters of the ten-person gang that conceived the kidnapping. Those people were all identified and arrested. On May 10, 1979 the sentence was sentenced, confirmed on appeal on May 6, 1981 and made final by the Cassation which on January 28, 1981 rejected the appeal of the accused. Two of them were sentenced to life imprisonment, the others sentenced to very heavy penalties. Among them was Di Pietro, found guilty in absentia. Once sentenced, however, the sentence was never served on him. Giovanni Di Pietro waited for time to pass in Buenos Aires. The 30 years within which the sentence was to be executed have passed.
Fabio POMPETTI, born in Argentina on 12.09.1966, was a privileged interlocutor of AGLIOTI himself and Francesco MORANO, called Gianfranco, who was also arrested in the November 2019 operation, because problem solving man: thanks to his network of on-site relations and anti-money laundering systems were circumvented and customs controls were evaded. For years he was the spokesman for South American suppliers towards the 'Ndrangheta.
With the collaboration of the OCN Interpol of San José in Costa Rica he was arrested in Jaco 'D'Agapiti Franco born in Velletri on 21/04/1946 co-owner of the Hotel Casino Amapola in San Josè de Costa Rica who had settled in the country South American and served as a reference point for exponents of the gang. His role was to facilitate the entry of cocaine into Italy, making the most of the dense network of contacts and knowledge from overseas and offering hospitality and logistical support to the 'Ndranghetisti, thanks to the availability of the hotel structure he owns.
Arrested under arrest in Albania Bujar SEJDINAJ, born there on 29.03.1959, called "the uncle", outpost of the 'Ndrangheta in that Balkan area, and in particular of the' Ndrina "Bellocco", taken under arrest in Tirana by the local Inteerpol and by the Albanian State Police. He participated with others in the organization of the purchase in Spain of about 20 kg of cocaine.
The five fugitives arrested follow the arrest of Adrian CEKINI, born in Albania on 17.03.1972 which took place in Elbasan in Albania already on 26 May, who also became unavailable following the Magma 2007 operation.
The operation, coordinated with the General Secretariat of the OIPC-INTRPOL, the police forces of Argentina, Albania and Costa Rica, testifies how the global approach to 'Ndrangheta, carried out through the I-CAN project and the international police cooperation, both the main road to combat a threat that has silently polluted the economy of over 30 countries in the world and which must be contrasted through powerful network action.