Italian police have dismantled an international drug trafficking criminal organization operating on the Spain-Albania-Italy axis, finalizing 9 arrests and seizing over 110 kilograms of cocaine and cannabis.
The operation was carried out by the Guardia di Finanza of Lecce, which announced the conclusion of preliminary investigations against nine people, two of them originally from Salento and seven Moroccan nationals, located in the provinces of Lecce, Bologna and Modena.
According to investigations by GICO and the PEF unit of Lecce, the criminal group is suspected of being involved in the international trafficking and distribution of narcotics, with a network that also extended to the Naples area. The drugs, according to the authorities, were transported from Spain through Albania and then arrived in Salento.
During the operation in the province of Lecce, over 110 kilograms of drugs, including cocaine and cannabis, were seized, as well as four vehicles. Seven people were arrested in flagrante delicto while transporting the narcotics, while they are not included in the list of people against whom the investigations have been closed.
Italian authorities say that the seized drugs, if released on the market, would bring illegal profits of around 500,000 euros to criminal groups.
According to the Guardia di Finanza, this is not an isolated case, as in October 2025, during Operation "Gioele", the authorities had previously hit the same international drug trafficking route.
