Translated automatically by AI from the Italian original.
CATANIA – 100 grams of hashish disguised as soft tiramisu brioche, €500 in €20 notes stuffed in a pocket, and a supermarket car park in viale Librino turned into the logistics base for wholesale drug dealing.
A carefully planned operation using coded messages, intended to supply the Ionian Riviera and shut down on the spot by the Carabinieri’s Radiomobile unit, who arrested three people in the act.
The exchange in the car park and the ingenious concealment
The operation began during routine patrols in the outer district of Librino. The officers noticed a white estate car carrying two young men, from Sant’Alessio Siculo and Santa Teresa di Riva respectively, pull up alongside another parked car driven by a 39-year-old from Catania, believed to be the supplier.
Suspicious of their cautious behaviour and the swift exchange of items between the vehicles, the Carabinieri intervened and stopped the three men. A search of the vehicles and the individuals revealed the ingenious ruse: the roughly 100-gram block of hashish had been handcrafted to mimic the packaging of a bakery product, while the supplier was found with the €500 in cash just agreed for the deal.
The three arrested were placed at the disposal of the judicial authorities pending a fast-track trial, while the drugs and the money were seized.
