On the morning of 7 November 2026, officers of the Squadra Mobile of Cosenza, the police mobile squad, carried out targeted patrols to prevent drug dealing.[1] During the operation a man was arrested in flagrante for possession of drugs with intent to sell and resistance to a public official.[1] In via Popilia the officers moved to check a car whose driver fled at the sight of the patrol, ramming the police car after throwing a large transparent bag from the window, which the officers recovered.[1] After a short pursuit through the city streets the car was stopped, and the driver was detained and subjected to a personal search.[1]

The recovered bag contained 600 grams of cocaine.[1] A search of the driver’s home found another 100 grams of cocaine and 80 grams of hashish, along with drugs already divided into doses and material for packaging and weighing them.[1]

The Cosenza prosecutor’s office asked for the arrest to be validated and for the man to be held in prison pending trial.[2] On 10 November 2026 the GIP, the judge for preliminary investigations at the Cosenza court, granted the requested measure.[3] The proceedings remain in the preliminary investigation phase.[1] The Cosenza police headquarters, the Questura, said the evidence gathered still requires verification in adversarial court proceedings with the defence.[1]