Palermo, hashish escorted on a motorbike: 43-year-old lookout arrested

The State Police raid led to the arrest of TM, believed to be the "courier" of a shipment of over 10 kilos of drugs. He was placed under house arrest.

The State Police, through the staff of the "Brancaccio" Police Station, executed a house arrest warrant against TM, a 43-year-old from Palermo, held responsible – jointly – for the crime of transportation and possession of narcotics.

The order, issued by the investigating judge of the Palermo Court, stems from a thorough investigation launched after a drug operation on November 29th. On that occasion, officers from the Brancaccio Police Station arrested RFP, born in 1962, who was caught driving his car with a box containing 10.5 kg of hashish, divided into 100 blocks. Seven more blocks of the same drug were seized from a storage unit belonging to the arrested man.

The role of relay

The investigation led to the identification of 43-year-old TM as the person who, riding a moped, acted as a "courier" for the RFP service, preceding the car loaded with drugs by a few seconds, presumably to signal the presence of any roadblocks or checks.

The images extracted from the video surveillance systems present along the roads travelled by the car that day were decisive in this sense: the frames clearly show how the car was preceded by a motorbike registered to TM.

The evidence collected

The circumstantial evidence against the suspect was confirmed by a meticulous investigative effort, conducted using traditional and technological methods, which allowed the officers to gather evidence deemed serious, precise, and consistent.

Based on these findings, the Judicial Authority ordered the precautionary measure of house arrest for TM.

The investigation continues to reconstruct any further responsibilities and ramifications of drug trafficking in the Brancaccio neighborhood and other areas of the city.