More than four kilograms of cocaine, 6.7 kilograms of marijuana, and 300 grams of hashish. That is the haul pulled from a Calabria drug ring anchored by a local Italian bar in Botricello, where patrons bought narcotics at the counter and retreated to the kitchen to consume them.
Operation Social Card Sweeps the Coast
Local media reported the arrest of the bar’s owner following a raid that shut down the premises. The enforcement action formed a central piece of Operation Social Card, a coordinated sweep directed by the District Anti-Mafia Directorate of Catanzaro. Police executed multiple arrests in flagrante delicto during the sweep, seizing significant quantities of drugs alongside the Botricello property itself.
From Calabria’s Interior to the Ionian Shore
Court documents and investigative reports trace the syndicate’s reach far beyond a single storefront. The criminal group stretched its operations from Calabria’s interior down to the Ionian coast, establishing logistical lifelines across a wide swath of the Catanzaro province.
Municipalities Tied to the Distribution Ring
Investigators tracked illicit activities through Girifalco, Amaroni, Vallefiorita, Squillace, and the urban center of Catanzaro. The trafficking ring also ran extensive operations throughout the Soverato area—incorporating Badolato, Davoli, and Sant’Andrea Apostolo dello Ionio—before terminating at the coastal town of Botricello and its implicated bar.
The Ongoing Antimafia Probe
The Direzione Distrettuale Antimafia di Catanzaro maintains its focus on the Catanzarese territory. Authorities are continuing their probe into the region’s broader distribution channels as they work to dismantle the remaining cells of the syndicate.
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