Carabinieri of the Fontanarossa company operational unit and the Nesima station, supported by the Cacciatori Sicilia and the Nicolosi dog unit, arrested three Catania residents aged 25, 23 and 22 during an extraordinary patrol between the Nesima and Trappeto neighbourhoods.[1] The three were accused of holding drugs for the purpose of dealing.[1] The patrol focused on suspicious movements between via Capo Passero and via Pantelleria, streets long used as Catania dealing spots.[1]

A 25-year-old was seen leaving his home on a scooter toward via Capo Passero, where he hid something in the vegetation and then drove on.[1] When he noticed the Carabinieri he tried to get away, but he was stopped, and another team recovered several drug doses hidden in the brush.[1] From that stop officers seized 19.3 grams of cocaine, 14.8 grams of crack, 21.25 grams of hashish and 46 grams of marijuana, some already wrapped as doses.[1] The 25-year-old was arrested and taken to prison.[1] By order of the judicial authority he was held at Catania’s Piazza Lanza prison.[2]

On via Pantelleria, officers saw a 22-year-old enter a home, leave, go to another building on the same street and ride a scooter toward via Capo Passero.[1] They caught him after he abandoned the scooter and hid a bag in the vegetation, and the bag contained more drugs.[1] A search of the home of the 23-year-old who was with him, helped by the dog unit, found more than one kilogram of marijuana, some already divided into doses and some kept in larger packs, plus seven precision scales, two digital scales, a vacuum-sealing machine and packaging material, all of which were seized.[1] The 22-year-old and the 23-year-old were arrested in the act for holding drugs for sale and, by order of the judicial authority, placed under house arrest at their homes.[2]

During the same service the Carabinieri identified 22 people, checked 16 vehicles, issued six traffic-code fines totalling 10,098 euros, withdrew two circulation documents and seized two vehicles.[1] The three remain presumed innocent until any final conviction.[2]