An international drug trafficking operation was based in the Lecco area and handled around 80 kilograms of cocaine per month. This emerges from the “Golden River” operation, which led to the arrest of 24 people, including two residents of the province of Lecco: Ardian Deliu, 40, born in Tirana and resident of Castello di Brianza, who according to investigators coordinated the logistics center of the Albanian network in the Lecco area, and Ervis Belshaku, 40, born in Albania and resident of Valmadrera, accused of possessing 23 kilograms of cocaine.
The operation, coordinated by the Brescia Anti-Mafia Prosecutor's Office and codenamed "Golden River", has dismantled an Albanian criminal organization capable of transporting over 1,300 kilograms of cocaine and heroin from 2020 to 2025. As BresciaToday.it colleagues report, the investigation represents one of the strongest blows ever struck against international drug trafficking circles operating in Italy.
Lecco operational base: 80 kg of drugs per month
Investigations have documented the existence of six logistical bases spread across Italian territory, one of which was located in the province of Lecco. According to the reconstruction made by the Guardia di Finanza through the decryption of encrypted conversations used by the organization, the Lecco center was run by Ardian Deliu, a resident of Castello di Brianza.
Analysis of communications between the organization's leaders, Denis Myftiu and Erion Kapidani, shows that Deliu was charged with about 80 kilograms of cocaine in just over a month. The 40-year-old received the drug directly from the leaders and, following their instructions, distributed it to clients throughout Northern Italy.
Starting on November 17, 2020, the interceptions documented the importation of a large quantity of cocaine, which Deliu immediately began distributing. Between November and December 2020, Deliu is attributed to at least ten episodes of drug sales: one kilogram in Padua on November 26, another in Pordenone on the same day, 1.5 kilograms in Casalpusterlengo on November 27, three kilograms in Turin on November 28, one kilogram in Zogno on November 28, one kilogram in Palazzolo sull'Oglio on November 30, three kilograms in Piossasso on December 5.
On December 1, 2020, Deliu received another shipment of 28 kilograms, which was then sold within a few days to a number of buyers, including a person in Torre Boldone and Lala Olt ion in Piossasso. In total, between December 2020 and the first days of January 2021, investigations document the passage of tens of kilograms of drugs through the network managed by the resident of Castello di Brianza.
Arrest in flagrante delicto at Bergamo toll booth
Deliu's activity ended on January 19, 2021, when the Carabinieri of Bergamo stopped him at a motorway toll booth while he was driving a Renault Maxity van with the license plate DR691TT. Hidden in the vehicle, the law enforcement forces found five kilograms of cocaine. The arrest in flagrante delicto confirmed what had already emerged from the wiretaps: Deliu was a key operational element of the distribution network in Northern Italy.
The role of Belshak
Ervis Belshaku, a resident of Valmadrera, is the subject of two separate charges. The first relates to the delivery of three kilograms of cocaine that he had received from the leaders of the organization. The second, even more serious episode, accuses him of having stored 23 kilograms of cocaine in Calusco d'Adda, in the province of Bergamo, between the end of December 2020 and January 2021.
According to the investigators' reconstruction, Belshaku was part of a larger group that had in custody a total of 30 kilograms of drugs. The 23 kilograms in the possession of the 40-year-old from Valmadrera were then transferred to the province of Turin for further distribution. The disputed events took place between Rosarno, Pero, Lecco, Piossasso, Calusco d'Adda and Beinasco, between December 30, 2020 and January 22, 2021.
Organizational structure
The investigations, carried out from 2020 to 2025 by the Economic and Financial Police Unit of Brescia and the Central Investigation Service for Organized Crime, have reconstructed the pyramidal structure of the criminal association. At the top, from the operational base in Albania, Denis Myftiu, Erion Kapidani and Elvis Doci gave orders and coordinated activities through conversations encrypted with advanced algorithms, which investigators managed to decipher thanks to international cooperation.
The network had six logistical bases on Italian territory: three in the province of Brescia (Rovato, managed by Arlin Buzali, Palazzolo sull'Oglio under the supervision of Eduart Leba, and one in the city of Brescia), one in the province of Lecco under the responsibility of Deli, a base in Puglia coordinated by Vincenzo Bruno and Altin Shehaj, and another in Northern Italy. In these operational centers, drugs coming from South America were stored and then distributed to customers.
All cocaine originated in South America, traveled through commercial shipping lines to the main ports of Northern Europe, and was then transferred to Italy hidden inside heavy-duty vehicles. After passing customs controls, the shipments were distributed to logistics bases.
The cash obtained from the sale was distributed to Albanian leaders through couriers called “money mules”: bus drivers on the Italy-Albania route who transported the sums during their regular trips. Also essential for the organization was the collaboration with a transport company managed by Giuseppe Iorio, 57, originally from Campania and resident in the province of Bergamo, which provided logistical cover for criminal activities by providing trucks for drug transport and protected trips. The collaboration between the Albanian organization and Apulian organized crime, in particular with Sacra Corona Unita, for the distribution of drugs in Southern Italy was also consolidated./Leccotoday.it
