Children used in Naples drug deals, police discover

(Il Fatto Quotidiano)

NAPLES – Children under the age of 14 were used to hide cocaine and deliver it to customers as part of a “family company,” police sources have reported.

 Carabinieri in Naples have arrested 12 people allegedly involved in the trafficking and dealing of cocaine, unearthing a criminal organisation based predominantly out of a family home.

 Giovanni Gravino, 39, and Maria Pina Sartori are alleged to have used their house as a cocaine store, where customers came to purchase drugs. They reportedly also involved their children in the business, tasking them with concealing the cocaine around the house and selling it to buyers.

 Police caught wind of the couple’s activities after Gravino was placed under house arrest in the aftermath of the murder of Mariano Bottari in 2014, in which Gravino himself was a suspect.

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