NAME / Anti-drug operation in Italy: who was the Albanian leading the criminal group? The scheme that was used

Large quantities of cocaine were seized in Umbria, Italy, with 68 kg of drugs confiscated, 7 people arrested, and 3 others wanted.

Among those detained were 5 Albanians, who collaborated with locals and other criminal cells. The group used electronic devices to protect themselves from law enforcement.

Fatjon Cardaku, known as “Fabio,” is suspected of leading the criminal organization, which operated across Perugia, Corciano, and Passignano sul Trasimeno, with strong connections in Naples, Arezzo, and several northern Italian cities.

Investigations revealed that Cardaku had created a complex supply and distribution system, cooperating closely with other Albanian and Italian groups. Encrypted phones were used to monitor conversations and try to avoid detection. A “mutual aid” network among Albanian drug trafficking gangs helped the Perugia provincial command dismantle three criminal organizations in the past three years that had flooded cities across Italy with ultra-pure cocaine.

The operation began with arrests in Umbria in May 2022, which revealed that whenever there were problems in their supply chain, another compatriot—possibly part of a different criminal organization—would assist in maintaining the drug flow.

Between 2022 and 2023, after initial arrests by the financial police in Città di Castello, a second investigation was launched by Perugia’s DDA prosecutor Gennaro Iannarone. Cardaku, when needed, also helped other Italians from Upper Tiber, running a wide network across Umbria with links to Naples, Arezzo, and northern cities.

The investigation included sourcing large quantities of cocaine from the Netherlands, Belgium, Spain, Ecuador, Brazil, Switzerland, Albania, and Peru. In December of the previous year, four pre-trial arrests were executed: three Albanians and one Italian.

For 13 others involved but not charged with criminal conspiracy, preliminary questioning was necessary, and their outcomes are still pending. They could also face prison sentences as requested by the prosecutor.

During the second investigation, Perugia’s financial police monitored dealers selling kilograms of cocaine. They identified the repeated name of the suspected leader, closing in on the collaborators of Gianpaolo Coresi, the Foligno restaurant owner arrested in January 2025 with 65.5 kg of cocaine.

Investigations showed that the Foligno resident stored all drugs for his collaborators and may have produced approximately 283,000 doses. The network was not a single large organization but consisted of contacts between various groups, which led to several investigations.

Umbria is increasingly becoming a hub for large cocaine quantities. In April 2024, another Albanian was arrested near Torricella with drugs in his car. In his Salsomaggiore apartment, police found 40 kg of cocaine. He was sentenced to six years in prison, compared to 14 requested by prosecutors. Even while wanted, he continued to run a trafficking network from Tirana to Umbria.

Albanians involved in the latest investigation mainly sourced drugs from Spain and operated around Foligno, storing large quantities and reinvesting some illegal profits. They moved between Perugia, Corciano, and Passignano sul Trasimeno.

Over three years of investigation, financial police documented dozens of shipments. In some cases, they intervened to seize over 70 kg of cocaine, targeting the Albanian criminal gang controlling most of the cocaine market.

In other cases, they monitored transactions to reconstruct the supply network. Arrested individuals themselves revealed operational details:

“We must sell at least a kilogram per month, because if they catch it, they’ll let it go,” one dealer told a Neapolitan collaborator while awaiting 200 units of cocaine.

The Foligno restaurant owner, Coresi, who lost 65 kg of cocaine due to collaborators, said:

“We send eight kilos to one parking lot, five to another. Would you ruin your life for a thousand euros a month?”

This investigation exposes how Albanians led and coordinated a large-scale drug trafficking network in Italy, with multiple connections across regions and countries.

“KORÇA BOOM”