52 men and 3 women of different nationalities being; Albanians, Nigerians, Italians and Gambians have been arrested by the police in Italy for being part of a drug dealing ring. The drug traffickers are said to have been peddling marijuana and having it trafficked by bus from Albania to Germany, among several other places.
The investigations in Rome announced on Tuesday that the 55 suspects were arrested in three countries. The arrested – 52 men and 3 women – were 27 Albanians, 23 Nigerians, four Italians and one Gambian.
According to the State Office of Criminal Investigation in Saxony-Anhalt, the suspects were arrested in Köthen in Saxony-Anhalt. An international arrest warrant had been issued against a couple who were arrested in Germany.
According to the investigators in Rome, Italy’s capital was one of the hubs of several cooperating gangs. The accused brought illegal drugs from the southern Albanian port city of Vlora to Italy, repackaged them and distributed them on trips in intercity buses and trains.
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“That was a measure in which we supported the Italian authorities,” explains Michael Klocke, spokesman for the State Criminal Police Office (LKA) Saxony-Anhalt. “The access took place on Tuesday in the early morning hours.” It is said to be a man and a woman. Initially, no further information was given on nationality said MZ-web.
“With the decision of the district court in Köthen, the two people were taken to two different prisons in the country,” continues Klocke. It has not yet been clarified whether they will then be transferred to Italy or whether the interrogations will take place on site. This is now the task of the judiciary.
The Italian investigators worked closely with the authorities in Germany and Albania. The current police operations were based on an earlier investigation from 2018/19 and at that time there were still dozens of arrests for drug dealing with connections to Germany.
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Source: Zeit.de, Afronews.de, Mz-web.de