Some doses were hidden under the counter of his chicken stall at the temporary market in Piazza Nazzari. They were found by Guardia di Finanza officers: but the troubles for Pierluigi Masella, 65, didn't end with this initial check.
At his home, finance officers from the second Metropolitan Operational Unit of Cagliari found more drugs. At the end of the operation, according to the charges, they seized 37 grams of heroin and 16 grams of cocaine, as well as precision scales, packaging materials, a cell phone, and €3,500. Masella was placed under house arrest. Later, during the summary trial, the judge upheld the arrest, and the 65-year-old, represented by lawyer Antonello Renato Obinu, was granted time for his defense. The next hearing is March 26th to decide the trial procedure. Meanwhile, the butcher will remain under house arrest.
The suspects
The activity of the Metropolitan Unit's finance police, coordinated by the provincial command and the Cagliari group, focused on the market operator based on some information gathered but also on his previous convictions: an arrest for possession of heroin in 2003 and a second in 2006 with the same substance (six hundred grams) hidden in his stall among chicken and turkey meat.
Thus, in recent days, the finance police, including drug-sniffing dogs, revisited Masella's shop and found several doses of heroin under the countertop. The money the officers suspect was earned through drug dealing was actually hidden in a hoodie. Then, at home, they discovered the rest of the drugs and made the arrest.
Matthew Vercelli
