Carabinieri have dismantled a structured drug trafficking network operating in the towns of Carpineto Romano, Segni, and Montelanico, with operations extending to Artena and Valmontone on the outskirts of Rome. The organization, run by young individuals, had established a virtual drug marketplace. They used social media and instant messaging applications to arrange meets—employing cryptic language—at common gathering spots in the small towns to sell doses of hashish, cocaine, and marijuana.
Nine individuals have been arrested; six are in jail and three are under house arrest. The suspects include a 53-year-old man and several younger individuals, aged between 20 and 25, residing in the municipalities of Artena, Valmontone, Carpineto Romano, and Segni. They are strongly suspected, on various charges, of possession and trafficking of narcotic substances, primarily hashish, marijuana, and cocaine. They also face 15 additional charges, with the aggravating circumstance of having sold drug doses to minors.
From the early hours of the morning, Carabinieri from the Colleferro Company, with support from their colleagues in the Frascati Group and the Dog Unit of Santa Maria di Galeria, are executing an order issued by the Judge for Preliminary Investigations (GIP) of the Velletri Court, at the request of the local Public Prosecutor’s Office.
Today’s operation also included 11 house searches, targeting two further individuals under investigation but not subject to restrictive measures.
The investigation, which began in June 2023, revealed that on some occasions, young buyers, due to their limited financial means, organized collections among themselves to pool money to purchase the narcotics. The investigation was decisive, relying on surveillance, tailing, wiretaps, and environmental interceptions. This work enabled Carabinieri from the Colleferro Operational and Radio Mobile Unit and the Carpineto Romano Station to make three arrests in the act, document the entire trafficking network, identify numerous young buyers—later reported to the Rome Prefecture—and seize over 3 kg of hashish, approximately 10 grams of cocaine, and 40 grams of marijuana.