Translated automatically by AI from the Italian original.
PALERMO / NEWS – A set of keys thrown from a window during house arrest to let an accomplice access a clandestine drug and ammunition store. This was the scene the National Police (Polizia di Stato) in Palermo’s Cala district witnessed live, leading to the joint arrest of two Palermo cousins, aged 50 and 35, accused of possession with intent to supply drugs and possession of an illegal firearm.
The investigation began as part of territorial control operations in the city’s historic centre, when officers noticed the two men talking suspiciously in an alley and decided to start discreet surveillance from a distance.
The raid between the alley and the warehouse on via Tavola Tonda
Shortly after the surveillance began, the 50-year-old – already under house arrest – leaned out of his window and dropped a key to his 35-year-old cousin on the street below. The younger man picked it up and quickly went to a warehouse on nearby via Tavola Tonda, returning within minutes.
Suspecting he had just collected drugs, the officers moved in, stopping him and conducting a personal search. On the 35-year-old they found the key he had just received, 13 doses of cocaine (6.5 grams) and 10 doses of hashish (25 grams).
The seizure of half a kilo of hashish and a pistol with a defaced serial number
The search was then extended to the warehouse on via Tavola Tonda, which had been turned into an illegal storage facility. Inside, investigators discovered and seized:
- Drugs: 5 blocks of hashish with a total weight of 500 grams, plus a further 2 doses of the same substance (13 grams).
- Weapons and ammunition: a revolver with a partially defaced serial number, already loaded with 6 calibre 6 cartridges, and another 65 cartridges of the same calibre.
All the material found was seized, and ballistic and forensic tests are now under way on the firearm. After the formalities, the 50-year-old was returned to house arrest, while the 35-year-old was transferred to the Lorusso prison in Pagliarelli.
