Operation "Criminal Drinks": Massive Transnational Alcohol Excise Tax Fraud, Arrests in Cassino Area

The operation "Criminal Drinks" has dismantled a vast criminal network dedicated to excise tax fraud on alcoholic beverages through false deposits.

The Intervention of the Guardia di Finanza

The operation, coordinated by the Public Prosecutor's Office of Agrigento and conducted in synergy with the military personnel of the Guardia di Finanza Group of Cassino, was launched in the early hours of the morning. The most emblematic intervention occurred around 4:00 AM inside a hotel in the Cassino area, where agents notified a foreign resident entrepreneur of his arrest, just hours before the conclusion of his wedding celebrations.

Along with the groom, law enforcement officers arrested five other individuals residing in various municipalities in the surrounding area (including Cervaro, Sant'Andrea del Garigliano, and Aquino). Three of these individuals are currently assisted and legally represented by lawyer Roberto Catanzariti. Three other individuals residing in the Frosinone area are also under investigation but not detained. In total, the investigation involves approximately fifty people nationwide.

The Modus Operandi and the Accusations

The investigation, named "Criminal drinks" and signed by prosecutor Renato Di Natale along with deputy prosecutors Ignazio Fonzo and Andrea Maggioni, aims to target an elaborate tax evasion system. According to the investigators' reconstruction, the suspects allegedly implemented a structured fraud by illicitly using the Emcs (the computerized community system for controlling products under excise duty suspension).

The organization allegedly created fictitious tax warehouses distributed among various Italian provinces (including Agrigento, Milan, Turin, Voghera, Alessandria, and the Cassino area). By compiling false electronic administrative documents, the group allegedly simulated the material receipt of alcoholic products in the various warehouses under excise duty suspension, certifying transfers of goods that, in reality, never reached their destination.

Roles within the Network

The illicit infrastructure relied on various professional figures. Among those involved in the Cassino area were accountants, IT experts, administrators, and intermediaries. According to the investigations, two of the arrested suspects allegedly had the material role of compiling and completing the falsified electronic administrative documents, allowing the system to evade fiscal controls for a multi-million euro business. Authorities are currently awaiting the completion of investigative activities to define further details of the operation.