A major investigation involving several public prosecutors' offices led yesterday in Olbia to the arrest of four people accused of criminal conspiracy aimed at "granting unauthorized access to communication devices by detainees" and "introducing drugs into prisons" .

According to investigators, the group had already operated successfully in other prisons in central Italy and was moving to Sardinia . The investigation involves highly criminal individuals, capable of flying drones over prisons. They also include individuals with connections to high-profile criminal figures , held in high-security institutions on the island and in central Italy.

Those arrested are Vanessa Spadaro from Messina, Luigi Tonti and Marco D'Avolio from Foggia, and Mirko Forcelli from San Giovanni Rotondo , also in the Foggia area. Yesterday, they remained silent before investigating judge Federica Di Stefano, who ordered all four suspects to be jailed .

The woman was the first to be arrested in Olbia and questioned at length. Then the financial police awaited the arrival of the alleged accomplices at the Isola Bianca port : there, the Guardia di Finanza, on the Tirrenia ferry departing from Civitavecchia, detained the three Foggia natives. They found a drone, a dozen smartphones, including several 6 cm-long microphones, numerous SIM cards, and almost a kilo of drugs —900 grams of hashish and 20 grams of marijuana.

In the past , phones were seized in the Nuchis prison , which houses high-security inmates. Investigators are examining any possible connections between the current investigation and that discovery.

Defense attorney Pietro Cherchi attended the arrest validation hearing yesterday, after which he declined to make any statements.