Rome, five arrested for drug dealing in east periphery: cocaine in helmet and on benches
State Police flying squad officers arrested five drug dealers between Pietralata, Ponte di Nona and Centocelle. Three drug users reported to the Prefectural Authority.
Five drug dealers arrested between Pietralata and Centocelle
Cocaine doses hidden in the hollow of a motorcycle helmet, a dashboard converted into a mobile storage depot, benches used as delivery points: according to questure.poliziadistato.it, officers from the flying squad's VI section of Rome's Mobile Squad carried out five arrests in the eastern periphery of the capital for possession of narcotics with intent to distribute. Three drug users, apprehended during exchanges, were reported to the Prefectural Authority.
The vault on two wheels in Pietralata
The first operation took place in the Pietralata district. Officers observed a transaction completed in seconds: a banknote changing hands, a package travelling in the opposite direction. The subsequent check revealed the system adopted by the drug dealer to transport doses without arousing suspicion: inside the motorcycle helmet a cavity had been fashioned containing six doses of cocaine. The man, a 62-year-old Roman, was arrested. The buyer, identified on the spot, was reported to the Prefectural Authority.
Fifty-seven packages hidden in the dashboard
In Piazza Vincenzo Mengano the flying squad officers identified a second mobile depot, this time on four wheels. Behind the apparent stationing of a vehicle at the roadside, investigators reconstructed a scheme similar to the previous one: hidden in the dashboard panel, 57 packages of cocaine were found with a combined weight of 70 grammes, already prepared for retail sale.
Raid in Ponte di Nona against a pair of drug dealers
In Ponte di Nona, after hours of surveillance of a drug dealing square between Via Capitini and Via Luthuli, officers documented a continuous flow of buyers. Two drug dealers were operating as a pair, constantly changing position to evade checks. At the moment of the raid, the two attempted to separate to shake off the officers; one of them attempted to get rid of the dose he was holding in his hand. Both were stopped. In their possession 57 packages of cocaine already packaged were recovered.
Hashish in a cigarette packet in Centocelle
In Centocelle, a young man posed as a regular visitor to a green area, sitting on a bench. The flying squad officers reconstructed suspicious activity around him and, at the moment of the check, found several packages of hashish already packaged for customers in the cigarette packet. The man was arrested. The two buyers intercepted during the exchange were reported to the Prefectural Authority.
Arrests validated by judicial authority
All five arrests were validated by the judicial authority. The operation falls within the Mobile Squad's strategy aimed at striking both the supply and demand that fuels the narcotics market in Rome's eastern periphery.
The circumstances described relate to the preliminary investigation phase: for all those under investigation, the principle of presumption of innocence applies until possible final determination through an irrevocable conviction sentence.
Source: Google News IT — Crime (it)