The State Police, with the assistance of the Economic-Financial Police Unit of the Financial Police of Pistoia, carried out 9 orders for precautionary custody in prison and 3 for house arrest issued by the GIP of the local Court at the request of the Public Prosecutor's Office at the Court of Pistoia.
The suspects, of Italian and Chinese nationality, are accused in various capacities of extortion crimes continued in competition, Criminal conspiracy aimed at the abusive exercise of the collection of games and bets, Forgery of public documents, Trafficking and possession of narcotic substances, Fraudulent evasion of the payment of taxes.
Sums of money and properties with a total value of approximately 1.184.000 euros were seized.
The preventive seizure was also ordered against 3 gaming and betting halls, 5 companies and 1 car.
Together with the restrictive measures, local, home and personal searches were carried out, which also took place with the operational assistance of the Central Unit of the Gaming and Betting Police of the Central Operational Service (SCO) of the Central Anti-Crime Directorate and the Technical Means Group of the Central Service Organized Crime Investigation (SCICO) of Rome.
The precautionary measures represent the acceptance of the evidentiary framework put forward by the Flying Squad of the Pistoia Police Headquarters and by the Pistoia Criminal Police Section - Aliquota Guardia di Finanza, following a detailed investigative activity, which lasted over a year, which made it possible to reconstruct the existence of a stubborn extortion phenomenon and of a real "system" of illegal and clandestine betting.
