Two gangs of cigarette smugglers were discovered by the Palermo Finance Police. 13 people in custody who, according to the investigators, would be part of a transnational network that operated between Tunisia and Sicily for the management of the trafficking of "blondes" from North Africa.
Telephone and environmental wiretapping, stalking, stalking and videotaping made it possible to discover the two organizations that were also in business with each other. The first had operational bases in Trapani and Tunisia, and was in charge of finding contraband cigarettes and organizing shipments by sea to Italy. The second, in the Palermo area, bought cigarettes in bulk and then destined them for retail sale in the Sicilian capital.
The transport took place through boats from North Africa, the so-called "mother ships": at the limit of the territorial waters they met with the "small boats" for the transfer of the crates.
Illicit shipments intercepted, in the two years of investigation, were numerous, 23 tons of cigarettes seized, in particular brands Oris, Royal, Pine, Time, which cannot be sold in Italy as they do not comply with the production parameters and marketing provided for by European legislation.
(Unioneonline / ss)
