The Camorra's footprint in Barcelona: gang that smuggled drugs in Naples is busted
The Mossos d'Esquadra (Catalan police) arrested ten people and seized large quantities of cocaine and hashish, which they were transporting in trucks.
BarcelonaFew mafias are as old as the Camorra, born in the 19th century on the streets of Naples. Despite its long history and the extensive coverage it has received—from Roberto Saviano's books to dozens of films—the Camorra remains one of the most active mafias in international drug trafficking. This is confirmed, for example, by the latest anti-drug report from the Italian Ministry of the Interior, which states that it imports hashish and cocaine from Spain, South America, Africa, and the Arabian Peninsula. Now, it has been shown that the Camorra's relationship with Catalonia is also close.
The Mossos d'Esquadra (Catalan police) have arrested ten people for moving cocaine from Barcelona to Italy and have dismantled a criminal organization with direct links to the Camorra. In fact, the core of the organization was made up of Neapolitans based in Catalonia. The relationship with the Camorra was so close that members of the Italian mafia had come to Barcelona to meet with that gang and negotiate drug transactions. The Mossos d'Esquadra (Catalan police) dismantled this organization on February 3rd. And this Tuesday they released a statement providing further information.
Like many police investigations, it all began with a coincidence. A year ago, on February 7th of last year, the Cornellà de Llobregat Municipal Police detected a suspicious meeting on the street between a truck driver and the driver of a car. The suspicions were justified because they discovered that the car was transporting 70 kilograms of cocaine distributed among three backpacks. Following this intervention, the Criminal Investigation Division (DIC) of the Mossos d'Esquadra (Catalan Police) investigated further to find out who was behind it and ended up uncovering a gang that bought cocaine and hashish from other Catalan suppliers and hid it among legal merchandise—usually in trucks—and shipped it to Italy. Sometimes, they also smuggled the drugs on ferries departing from Barcelona and heading to Italy, specifically to the port of Civitavecchia, near Rome.
If the quantities of drugs to be transported were large, the transactions took place in an industrial warehouse in Montcada i Reixac, where they were hidden among the legitimate cargo, very often fruit and chickens. If the quantities were smaller, however, the meetings occurred in industrial areas of Cornellà and the Zona Franca, in the middle of public roads, places where the bags of drugs were transferred directly to the cabs of the trucks. This is precisely one of the exchanges detected by the Cornellà Municipal Police.
The leader of the gang
When the Mossos d'Esquadra (Catalan police) launched the operation on February 3rd, with over 150 officers on the streets, they had one main objective: to arrest the gang leader, a man who traveled frequently between Italy and Barcelona and was difficult to locate. He was also originally from Naples and had close ties to the Camorra. They finally arrested him at his home, a luxury apartment in the Diagonal Mar neighborhood. His partner also played an active role in the organization. In addition to the arrests, the Mossos also seized large quantities of drugs during the investigation: besides the initial 70 kg, they found 180 kg of cocaine, 200 kg of hashish, and 10 kg of marijuana in Borrassà, aboard a transport truck. They also located drugs in Riudellots de la Selva, in another truck bound for Italy, this time transporting chickens. 49 kg of cocaine and 307 kg of hashish were seized. The Mossos d'Esquadra (Catalan police) estimate that the organization made approximately fifteen shipments of this type. The investigation remains open, and further arrests are possible.
This is not the first time the Neapolitan mafia has appeared in Catalan investigations. For example, in June 2024, the National Police dismantled a mafia linked to the Camorra that trafficked migrants from Girona. Or this September, when they arrested Vittorio Raiola near Figueres, identified as the leader of a clan linked to the Camorra and sentenced to more than 30 years in prison in Italy for drug trafficking and organized crime.
