52 personal precautionary measures and asset seizures carried out
The Messina State Police, with the use of about 350 operators, carried out a vast anti-crime action that led to the execution of 52 precautionary measures issued against as many people and the seizure of movable, immovable and other economic benefits . The precautionary measure provides for the extent of custody in prison for 26 suspects, that of house arrest for 13 subjects and that of the obligation to present to the PG for 9 people as well as the seizure of properties (apartments and garages-cellars), cars, motor vehicles and other economic benefits. The operation, called "Market Place", represents the epilogue of the most recent investigations conducted by the Mobile Squad and coordinated by the Messina Anti-Mafia District Directorate, on a large and very dangerous delinquent structure, made up of several cells, dedicated to drug trafficking narcotics.
The investigation activity arises from the investigations carried out following the ambush that took place on January 25, 2017 against two men, father and son, who were shot in the lower limbs. Days later, in the same area, a Smart used by his son was set on fire, while a few months earlier, in September 2016, a relative of the two men had been the victim of a similar attack. The episodes seemed to be connected to each other and have become the subject of in-depth analysis by the magistrates of the Messina District Anti-Mafia Directorate and the investigators of the Flying Squad. Right from the start, the investigations focused on the criminal components operating in the Giostra district and developed by probing the criminal dynamics, especially in the area of drug trafficking. In that area of Messina, another alarming episode had already been recorded in 2016; inside a bar gunshots had been fired against various subjects gathered there burdened by police precedents. All this suggested that, around the populous city district, the interests of several criminal cells revolved that, arms in hand, were facing each other to compete for supremacy over the territory and ensure the best proceeds deriving from illicit deals in the field of importation and marketing. drugs.
The investigation, conducted by the policemen of the Flying Squad, made it possible to shed light on the brutal injuries of the two relatives and returned many elements indicative of an intense drug trafficking, managed within a building area, residence of the family of two men. The telephone and environmental wiretapping, the vision of the images of the observation cameras, the many dynamic services on the territory and the countless feedbacks to the drug dealing activity have led to the emergence of an articulated criminal association, operating in the Messina district of Giostra, dedicated to the management of a massive trafficking of drugs of various types, destined to be placed on the Messina market through the creation of a real "dealing center".
This criminal structure was divided into many "points of sale" located in the various buildings of the complex, managed by various associates and used both for retail sale to drug addicts, and as a basis for the distribution of drugs to many pushers, usually also customers, who in turn provided retail sales to finance themselves, thus helping to increase the association's market. Within each apartment in charge of resale and managed by one of the associates (usually a member of the family structure concerned) the collaboration of the often enlarged family unit allowed the activity to continue day and night, without interruption.
The popular complex was structured as a real stronghold equipped with video surveillance systems that controlled access allowing, through screens placed inside the houses, the timely detection of the presence of the police. Furthermore, to integrate the technological systems for detecting "unwanted" presences, the "word of mouth" method was used, both among the "condominiums" and through customers ready to notify the dealers of any checks in progress as well as that of the lookouts. The association could make use of a wide network of suppliers essential to guarantee the constant flow of narcotic substances of various types (cocaine, marijuana, hashish, skunk), which allowed it to cope with an incessant demand for purchases.
To testify the grandeur of the criminal organization is the definition given by a collaborator of justice: "the Scampia of Messina". The investigation has brought to light a recurring modus operandi in the sale of the drug, carried out according to a fixed scheme that provided for the reception of the order at the front door, the waiting for the buyer on the landing and the delivery of the drug always outside the house. In case of temporary or permanent impediment of the "main contact", the distribution of drugs was managed by the other members of the family, always within the same building, or delegated to other subjects who managed the other sales squares attributable to the same criminal group .
The central position in the criminal group was held by the man injured in the ambush (the father) who, according to the findings, held important functions of coordination of the various dealing centers of the district and of management of the flourishing illicit traffic, taking care of the supply of the drugs, managing negotiations on quantities and prices, deciding whether and to whom to forgive a debt or grant a "discount" for the purchase of drugs and solving any other problems, mostly related to police controls (for example , with the frequent use of real "lookouts" who could promptly give notice of the arrival of "suspicious" people or cars). Each of the suspects was assisted in the drug dealing activity by other members of the family group: brother, wife, mother-in-law (sister of two collaborators of justice), brothers-in-law and others. All the subjects, like the numerous other recipients of the precautionary measures, provided their contribution to the association by directing customers, reporting any suspicious situations and becoming the protagonists of some sales episodes. Of no small importance was the "cover" given by a man, already a collaborator of justice and reached by the precautionary measure of the utmost rigor carried out in the context of the Anti-Mafia Operation called "Predominio". In addition, the investigations carried out highlighted the existence of another criminal organization, also operating in the Giostra district, dedicated to the purchase, possession and transfer of drugs of various kinds (cocaine, marijuana and hashish) as well as the sale to the minute of such substances.
Head promoter of this association was to be identified in a subject, and other subjects appointed to hold the drug of the group, as well as to carry out retail sales, collect the proceeds of the activity and clean up the places where bugs could be installed. An association, the latter, which, moreover, could count on the availability of weapons to be used to ensure effective control of the territory and the dealing market. An availability confirmed not only by the injuries from which the investigation drew inspiration, but also by the conversations captured, by the images collected and viewed. Elements to which must also be added, albeit at the expense of unknown persons, that of the discovery of ammunition on 23 June 2017, in a condominium space of the public housing under investigation. Sharing the impressive evidence collected by the investigators of the Flying Squad, the Public Prosecutor's Office at the Court of Messina - District Anti-Mafia Directorate, requested and obtained, the precautionary measure of maximum rigor for 26 suspects, that of house arrest for 13 subjects and that of the obligation of presentation to the Judicial Police for another 13 individuals. The reconstruction of the assets of some of the suspects and their families and the survey of the annual income earned by each of them made it possible to recognize a disproportion between the assets owned and their actual economic capacities.
Therefore, the GIP, in the precautionary measure in question, also ordered the preventive seizure of movable property (cars and motor vehicles), real estate (apartments, garages, cellars) and economic utilities present in current accounts referable to the recipients of the precautionary measure. All for a total value of over 300.000 Euros for the tracing and capture of the recipients of the restrictive measure, the investigators of the Flying Squad, together with the Central Operations Service, acted under the direct coordination of the Central Anti-Crime Directorate of the State Police which sent to Messina numerous crews of the Crime Prevention Departments from Sicily, Calabria, Campania, Lazio and the Mobile Teams of Palermo, Reggio Calabria, Catania, Caltanissetta, Syracuse, Ragusa and Enna. Personnel from the Detached and Sectional Public Security Commissariats of the Province of Messina, DIGOS, the General Prevention and Public Aid Office and any other branch of the local Police Headquarters as well as the Penitentiary Police operating in the Prisons where they were also collaborated in the activity some recipients of the precautionary measures issued have already been restricted.