Dominican father and son arrested in Dominican Republic for Italian drug trafficking

Italian authorities have arrested a Dominican father and son in the Dominican Republic following an international manhunt. The two individuals, residents of Lugo in the province of Ravenna, had fled Italy to avoid precautionary measures related to a large-scale drug trafficking investigation.

The investigation, known as ‘Focus23’, was launched in June 2023 by the Treviso Mobile Squad after the suspicious movement of a Ford Focus was detected. Surveillance of the vehicle between the provinces of Treviso and Ravenna led to the seizure of 1.5 kilograms of cocaine, as well as hashish, marijuana, and 32,000 euros in cash.

The operation uncovered a distribution network operating between the Veneto and Emilia-Romagna regions. The group used Ravenna as an operational base to package cocaine arriving from Spain for distribution throughout Italy. In total, the investigation has implicated 23 people of various nationalities, including Dominican, Italian, Moroccan, Cuban, and Ecuadorian citizens.