According to a recent investigative report, Russia is allegedly using mafia networks to smuggle weapons and ammunition into Italy. The report suggests that officials in Rome are concerned about Vladimir Putin‘s attempts to destabilize Europe through these illicit shipments.
The suspicion is that the Russian leader may be trying to incite armed conflict either within Italy or elsewhere in Europe. The smuggled goods reportedly include unmarked Kalashnikovs, modern assault and sniper systems, and ammunition produced between 2010 and 2020.
These illegal shipments are said to enter Italy via Sicilian ports, including Catania, and through border crossings in Friuli Venezia Giulia.
The Italian online newspaper Linkiesta conducted the investigation into the alleged Russian arms smuggling. It was reported that Russia‘s so-called shadow fleet has been instrumental in transporting the munitions to Italian ports.
To avoid inspections and protect the weapons from corrosion, they are disassembled and concealed in barrels of oil, fuel, or lubricants. Their subsequent distribution follows established drug trafficking routes.
Catania seems to have become a major hub for this trade.
In March 2022, shortly after Russia‘s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, police seized weapons caches linked to the Santapaola-Ercolano clan’s Nizza group. At the time, police recovered nine firearms, including two AK-47s described as Soviet-made, and nearly 900 rounds.
New shipments are said to be making rounds in the San Giovanni Galermo and Librino districts, stashed away in ready warehouses.
Insiders informed Linkiesta that a state-owned company in Tula, Russia, manufactured at least some of these weapons.
The absence of serial numbers on these weapons hints at potential involvement by the Russian state in these dealings.
Analyses from European and UN sources have cautioned that “new” weapons without any serial numbers suggest possible para-state participation.