The substance was detected after tests carried out by the Higher Health Institute (ISS) and is the first time this has happened in Italy,
In liaison with Cabinet Secretary Alfredo Mantovano, the National Prevention Plan against the Misuse of Fentanyl was therefore activated, which provides for the alert to be sent to all police forces and administrations.
The Calabria-based ‘Ndrangheta, Italy’s biggest, richest and most powerful mafia due to its control of the European cocaine market, is now interested in getting into the fentanyl trade, Mantovano said as part of his intelligence service oversight brief last month.
“Fentanyl trafficking is not limited to the US,” said Mantovano.
His comments came during a presentation at the prime minister’s office at Palazzo Chigi of the ‘National Plan of prevention against the improper use of fentanyl and other synthetic opiates’.
“In the EU, there are signs in Portugal and the UK,” he continued.
“Our intelligence signals an interest of ‘Ndrangheta, even if they are [just] testing the market to verify the advantages of inserting themselves into the market.”
Mantovano described fentanyl, which has ravaged the USA and is gaining a foothold in Europe, as “the zombie drug, with as little as 1-2 milligrams potentially being lethal”.
ANSA
