Romanian nationals sentenced in separate European drug-related cases

A 26-year-old Romanian man has been sentenced to 14 years and two months in prison by an Italian court for the murder of 42-year-old Luca Leone. The incident occurred in Vigevano, in the province of Pavia, on May 6, 2025. The defendant, Cleo Koludra Ștefănescu, claimed the killing arose from a dispute over an 80,000 euro debt related to the sale of 2.5 kilograms of cocaine. During the confrontation, the victim was stabbed over 50 times in his backyard. Carabinieri found the defendant near the scene with the weapon.

In a separate case, a Romanian truck driver was sentenced by a French court to four years in prison after being caught transporting 407 kilograms of cannabis resin. The drugs were concealed among Christmas products in a trailer on the A8 motorway in southern France. The driver stated he was recruited in Barcelona to transport the shipment to Italy for a payment of 5,000 euros to address personal financial difficulties. In addition to the prison term, the court imposed a 3.26 million euro fine and a lifetime ban from entering French territory.