A major international operation has been launched by the Anti-Mafia Investigation Directorate of Bari, in collaboration with SPAK and the State Police, against a vast criminal network involved in international drug trafficking, money laundering and abuse of office.
The operation, called 'Ura', involves the execution of asset seizure orders in Albania and Italy, relating to movable and immovable assets, for a value of several million euros and two preliminary preservation orders, issued by the Bari Preliminary Investigations Judge and by the Judge at the Special Court of First Instance Against Corruption and Organized Crime of Tirana against 52 persons responsible, in various capacities, for international trafficking of large quantities of narcotics, money laundering and abuse of office.
The investigative activity is part of the broader investigative project of the DDA of Bari and SPAK of Tirana that aims to combat the uninterrupted international trafficking of cocaine and heroin, managed by Albanian criminal organizations, which move large quantities of heroin and cocaine between the Balkans, Northern Europe and Puglia.
Further details on the operation will be provided during an online press conference at 10:30 am, which will be attended by Altin Dumani - Special Prosecutor for Anti-Corruption and Organized Crime of Tirana, Roberto ROSSI - Public Prosecutor of Bari, Prosecutor General Michele Carbone - Director of DIA and Gianluca Forlani - Member for Italy of Eurojust.
According to investigators, the criminal activity was part of a consolidated cocaine and heroin trafficking system, with routes connecting the Balkans, Puglia and Northern Europe. The investigations are part of a wider joint investigative project by the DDA of Bari and SPAK of Tirana, which aims to dismantle Albanian mafia organizations, which have been protagonists in controlling international drug trafficking for years.
Further details on the operation will be announced in the coming hours.