Sondrio: Major raid on international drug ring

Italy's State Police in Sondrio, acting on orders from the Sondrio public prosecutor's office, carried out a large operation against a criminal association linked to international drug trafficking. The package included ten precautionary measures: six pre-trial detentions, three house arrests, and one obligation to report to judicial police. In addition, 23 search warrants were executed against individuals of Italian, Tunisian, Venezuelan, and Colombian nationality. During the searches, eight further suspects were arrested in flagrante. Investigators from Sondrio's mobile squad had worked for months using extensive phone and IT surveillance, environmental listening, and a computer interceptor to map roles and structure inside the group.

The inquiry began in August 2024 and exposed a network rooted mainly in the Valtellina provincial capital, with support from contacts in other Lombard provinces, especially Milan and Varese. According to the findings, leaders in Spain coordinated the entire illicit chain: supply, import, transport, storage, preparation for sale, and finally retail distribution of narcotics, with proceeds shared among participants. Remote control from abroad relied in part on newer messaging apps that investigators describe as harder to capture with standard technical tools.

Structure, logistics, and local focus

Evaluations showed tight links between accomplices and a practiced division of labour. The main illegal activity developed in the province of Sondrio, where daily handovers of heterogeneous substances—including hashish, marijuana, and cocaine—took place between street-level sellers and end customers, sometimes as repeat clients. A strategic factor was a city-centre garage used as a stash, nominally registered to a dummy owner. In the basements it served as an operational hub for cutting, weighing, packaging, and selling, at varying times and through different channels.

Investigators also traced supply routes. Marijuana and hashish allegedly came from Spain, where couriers collected large quantities for import into Italy, then resale across Lombardy with a strong focus on the Valtellina. Police say the evidence matches intensive street-level dealing observed during the inquiry. The case also illustrates how urban infrastructure can bundle preparation steps close to handover activity while reducing visibility to outsiders.

Seizures and simultaneous raids

Overall, about 25 kilograms of hashish and marijuana were seized, broken down into roughly 6.8 kg of hashish and about 17.6 kg of marijuana, plus approximately 324 grams of cocaine. Additional in-flagrante arrests complemented the measures already in place. Executing the precautionary orders, parallel searches, and a European Arrest Warrant required about 90 judicial police officers from the State Police. Raids ran simultaneously across the Valtellina, greater Milan, and the Varese and Savona areas, supported by mobile squads from Milan, Varese, and Savona, Tirano border police, and Lombardy's crime-prevention unit.

The multi-territory coordination underlines the cross-border and inter-regional nature of the case. From a policing perspective, the operation blends traditional surveillance, modern communications monitoring, and simultaneous strike planning. The garage-as-hub narrative illustrates how organised groups can embed preparation close to retail activity, while courier-based imports and remote coordination from Spain show why investigations must connect evidence across jurisdictions.

Context

• Ten precautionary measures and 23 searches targeting members of a drug-trafficking organisation
• Coordination from Spain, courier imports, distribution across Lombardy
• Seizure of about 25 kg of hashish and marijuana and roughly 324 g of cocaine
• Simultaneous operations in the Valtellina, Milan, Varese, and Savona areas with ~90 officers

Further procedural steps are led by the judiciary; police emphasise organisational mapping, drug seizure, and enforcement of ordered measures. For the public, the case illustrates how international flows can mesh with local distribution networks and the effort required to penetrate them. It also shows how technical monitoring and classic fieldwork combine when a group must be documented over time before a wide-ranging strike closes the investigation phase.