By the
A.M. Costa Rica staff
The report of the Agents of the
Finance Police (Guardia di
Finanza) and agents of the
Customs Agency (Agenzia delle
Dogane) of the port of Livorno*
in Tuscany, Italy, states that
cargo transshipped from the port
of Moín* in
Limón was seized and found to
contain 644 kilos of cocaine.
The agents report that the
seizure, which occurred on
January 15, was "the most
important cargo in the last ten
years."
"This container was investigated
because it had been loaded from
a country in Central America
which increases the level of
suspicion of loading,” said
Italians agents.
The investigation shows that the
container left Puerto Cortés*
in Honduras with cargo of coffee
beans, was transshipped in
Puerto Moín* in
Limón, and was supposed to
continue to the Port of
Barcelona in Spain. However, the
container was diverted to the
port of Algeciras*
in Spain and then sent to the
port of Livorno*
in Tuscany, Italy.
"The container was sent by a
Honduran coffee producer and
embarked in Puerto Cortes
(Honduras) and then transshipped
to another ship in the port of
Moín (Costa Rica), destined for
disembarkation in the port of
Barcelona, from where would have
to be picked up by a company in
Madrid, but the person
responsible for removing the
shipment never arrived, " said
the agents report.
With the authorization of
officers of the Central
Directorate of Anti-Drug
Services and the Department of
General Command of Italy, the
container was inspected and 644
kilos of cocaine were found
hidden in bags among the bags of
coffee.
"The shipment contained 644
kilograms of cocaine, divided
into 582 packages that were
hidden in 23 bags, and these
black bags were also hidden
among some of the coffee bean
bags," said the anti-drug
agents.
This is not the first time a
shipment of cocaine has been
found in Italy and linked to
Costa Rica.
In November 2018, as reported by
AM Costa Rica, the Italian
police seized a shipment of 245
kilos of cocaine.
The Italian police raided an
export company in Milan*,
seized 219 kilograms of cocaine
and arrested 29 people,
including a man surnamed Ponzo,
father of the 36-year-old man
killed in Costa Rica in May
2018.
According to the Italian police
report, this important operation
made it possible to define the
context in which an entrepreneur
businessman surnamed Ponzo was
killed outside the Italian
embassy* in San José, in
May 2018. At the time of his
death, Ponzo, aged 36, was the
owner of the export company in
Costa Rica.
The police have dismantled two
apparently criminal
organizations involved in
international drug trafficking.
They arrested 29 people, mainly
Italian although two were living
in Barcelona*,
Spain, three Maghrebians and one
Albanian.
They also seized 215 kilograms
of cocaine at the port of
Livorno, Italy. The men are
suspected of being part of two
criminal organizations, one
aimed at the international
trafficking of cocaine and the
other at storage of the drug in
Piazza, Italy.
The investigation began with the
street distribution of the drug
in Milan and was traced back to
the suppliers. Police then
identified the criminal
organization that imported the
drug from Costa Rica thus
breaking the entire
organization, from import to
distribution, said the report.
The initial investigation
focused on a criminal group
headed by three brothers and
originating in the province of Reggio*
Calabria. Police found that the
group was composed of suspects
bound by kinship ties.
They used an "entrepreneurial"
type structure and managed two
distinct "cocaine" shopping
plazas which they controlled as
monopolies. These
guaranteed cocaine users
“uninterrupted service” seven
days a week, including holidays.
Operations were carried out in
the Bonola district of Milan and
an area adjacent to the town of
Robbio, a small town in the
province of Pavia with just over
5,000 inhabitants.
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Guardia di
Finanza Livorno courtesy
photo
The
container was
inspected and 644
kilos of cocaine
were found hidden in
bags among the bags of
coffee.
According to Italian
police, the criminal
organization has been
virtually dismantled
by the series of
arrests of both street
level pushers and
suppliers. The early
operations resulted in
nine arrests and the
seizure of four
kilograms of cocaine.
One of the most
important people in
any criminal
organization is the
mass supplier
responsible for
importing large
quantities from South
America. The
investigation alleges
that two Italians
residing in Spain,
identified as Ponzo
and Cademartori, were
owners of a
company were
responsible for the
importation of the
drug from Latin
America along with
Italian man also
surnamed Ponzo, the
father of the man
killed in Costa Rica.
On March 2018, at the
Darsena Toscana Ovest
dock in the port area
of Livorno, the
investigation against
Ponzo and Cademartori
led to the seizure of
a total of 215
kilograms of cocaine
hidden inside some
pineapple cases
carried in two
different containers.
The Livorno Customs
Office took part in
the seizure.
On May 2018, Ponzo
(the son) was shot and
killed while he and
his partner were near
the Italian embassy in
Costa Rica. The
investigation made it
possible to ascertain
that there were least
two other imports of a
narcotic substance, of
an unspecified
quantity, from October
2017 to March 2018.
One of those imports
was probably
successful.
During the
investigation,
numerous searches were
carried out both of
direct suspects and of
people connected to
them in various ways.
Investigator stated
that a man already
being held is
considered one of the
leaders of the
"Cursoti milanesi"
clan. Police report
that he already had
arrests for criminal
association,
associations for drug
trafficking, is
alleged to have
committed multiple
homicides, robbery,
and dealing in stolen
goods. He was found in
possession of about 28
kilograms of hashish,
about 1.7 kilograms of
cocaine, two
clandestine guns, a
short weapon silencer
and 18 cartridges.
In total, the overall
investigative activity
involved the seizure
of approximately 219
kilograms of cocaine
(of which 215 were
seized at the port of
Livorno in two
containers) and a
weapon.
This report was made
by Polizia di Stato
one of the national
police forces of
Italy. It is the main
police force for
providing police
duties and it is also
responsible for
highway patrol,
railways, airports,
customs (together with
the Guardia di
Finanza) as well as
certain waterways, and
assisting the local
police forces.
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Should the customs police be more
thorough with
their
inspections
when
containers are
transshipped
through Costa
Rica?
We would like to know
your thoughts on this
story. Send your
comments to: news@amcostarica.com
*Reach
the place on google
maps.
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