The now 31-year-old main defendant has an inconspicuous appearance: short dark hair, a little mustache, a discrete pair of glasses, and small earrings. Up until his arrest two and a half years ago, he had been dealing drugs for at least a decade. “He must have done a good job, otherwise you would have caught him sooner,” the judge told an investigator at the hearing.
The “Bari” case is named after the home of the main defendant and one of his co-conspirators. Both are from the Italian region of Puglia, of which Bari is the capital. They are said to have known each other for a long time. Although the second defendant, now 44-years-old, called the main defendant his “mate”, he also described him as the “boss” and said that he was taking orders from him. It seems to have been clear who was in charge.
In the summer of 2020, both went on holiday to Italy together. There was a discussion on the phone about taking between €40,000 and €50,000 in cash. One went ahead to make sure there were no border controls at the time. There also appears to have been a visit to Disneyland with the main defendant’s partner and child.
According to the investigator, the main defendant’s friend had been trafficking drugs for over six years. Officially, he had been living on unemployment benefits since 2013. However, he had allegedly gambled away thousands of euros over the years. At the time of the police intervention, his bank account was empty. But, an expensive car and almost €24,000 in cash were seized from his home.
It was also revealed on Wednesday that the main accused had a fictitious employment contract with two companies in order to receive a salary. How exactly did the money laundering from drug trafficking work? Three investigators from the anti-money laundering section of the police are expected to explain this in greater detail at the hearing on Thursday.
