A major anti-drug operation by the State Police of Piacenza, coordinated by the local Public Prosecutor's Office, led to the arrest of 20 individuals and an investigation into 19 others. The investigations uncovered a massive cocaine trafficking network in Piacenza, led by Albanian nationals with the support of Italian citizens and call centers and money transfer services that comply with legal requirements.
"The suspects were charged with various offenses related to cocaine trafficking, money laundering, self-laundering of drug proceeds, as well as forgery of payment instruments, identity impersonation, and aiding and abetting. The investigation is the culmination of inquiries conducted by the Piacenza Flying Squad between 2021 and 2025 into a broad criminal network involved in the retail distribution of cocaine in the city," authorities reported.
The criminal enterprise under investigation had devised an especially clever tactic to protect itself. The dealers moved around as simple passersby or tourists who had recently been in the city, while buyers made drug requests via WhatsApp messages sent to various Italian mobile numbers.
The operator managing that number, after receiving the request and a brief physical description from the buyer, would contact the dealer currently active in the area via another number, ensuring that the consumer and dealer would meet and the transfer would take place immediately, without the need for introductions or lengthy negotiations. Therefore, this was a transaction method that preserved both the dealer's identity and the real-time dynamics of how the transfer occurred.
The dealer responsible for distribution moved throughout the city, frequenting bars, public places, and parks, staying in accommodations, or even renting a property.
Thus, not in the typical manner where they wait for the client, as in a village or hidden in old abandoned rural houses, nor in the premises where they live permanently and can be reached by users, nor even in the vehicles at their disposal for traveling and reaching clients (with the exception of bicycles or scooters, used only for speed).
On the other hand, it was observed and learned how the drug seller responsible for the order, starting from their location, would arrive at the predetermined location and there identify the client also based on information received from the call center operator, who in turn confirmed the presence at the location.
Drug dealers found shelter in hotels, cottages, or cooperating residents. Various administrative fines were imposed on accommodation facilities for failing to provide required information, as well as various administrative fines on private individuals for failing to submit hospitality declarations.
During the operation, 20 individuals were arrested in flagrante delicto: 19 Albanian nationals and one Italian national, all without criminal records, who were involved in supplying buyers from all social classes. A total of 40 drug users were identified, all from Piacenza, aged between 25 and 60.
Foreign dealers, after being released from prison, were continuously deported from the country and escorted back to Albania by air or sea, and none of them ever returned. During the investigation, police seized 38,376 euros and reconstructed the transfer abroad, specifically to Albania, of another 61,451 euros. The arrested drug traffickers are young individuals aged 20 to 30, all without criminal records in Italy and without ties to the area, recruited exclusively to sell drugs in Piacenza until stopped by the police.