International Drug Trafficking: The Extradition of Santos Medina Familia

A complex extradition process, initiated by Italy against the Dominican Republic. Thus, Santos Medina Familia, a former police officer and fugitive listed since 2021 among the 100 most dangerous, recipient since 2017 of the pre-trial detention order issued by the Rome court at the end of the investigations conducted at the time by the Gico and the Mobile Squad, arrived at Fiumicino airport, escorted by Interpol personnel. The 53-year-old was taken into custody by the military of the Guardia di Finanza and the Border Police of Fiumicino airport. Rome, at Eur drugs and laundered money. "Seizures for 4.5 million": the empire of the clan that wanted to annihilate the Casamonica. Santos Medina Familia, the narcos organization A goal achieved at the end of the investigations carried out by the Economic Financial Police Unit and the Rome Police Headquarters, which had led to the identification of a drug trafficking organization based in Rome with branches abroad that, "also strong of the co-interests with criminal realities of 'Ndrangheta matrix, was dedicated to the importation of large shipments of cocaine from the mentioned Caribbean country", reads a note from the Police Headquarters. The investigations revealed that the suspects made use of "safe exit channels" at the port of Cagliari and Milan Malpensa airport, where the drugs arrived concealed inside commercial containers or loaded on aircraft coming from the Dominican airport "La Romana". In that context, the main supplier of the criminal group was identified in a high officer of the Dominican National Police, Santos Medina Familia, who, using additional accomplices, was able to procure large shipments of cocaine, of which he organized the loading and shipment, evading police controls. He also maintained close contacts with the associates operating in Rome, through his compatriots settled in Veneto, who ensured a constant information link, facilitating the planning and subsequent completion of illegal traffics. Money laundering, from bitcoins to scratch cards: this is how clans in Rome launder money Santos Medina Familia, the fugitive and the arrest During the investigations, more than 500 kilograms of cocaine were seized and, in October 2017, based on the serious evidentiary framework reconstructed, the Rome court issued a pre-trial detention order in prison against the members of the organization. The Dominican police officer, permanently residing in the Caribbean country, managed to evade capture, which was instead executed against 19 suspects, later sentenced in the first instance to up to 20 years in prison. The search activities - never interrupted - allowed, in April 2023, to arrest the subject thanks to the fruitful collaboration between the Anti-Mafia District Directorate, Interpol, and the Central Directorate for Anti-Drug Services, aimed at providing the authorities of the Caribbean country with adequate documentary and informational support.