Operation Icarus: 15 convictions for international cocaine trafficking in Brescia

A total of 15 convictions and about 100 years in prison were handed down in a shortened trial linked to “Operation Icaro,” an investigation by the Brescia Anti-Mafia District Directorate into an international cocaine trafficking network between the Brescia area and the Balkans. The sentence was delivered on July 21, 2026, following proceedings involving defendants investigated by Italy’s Central Operational Service of the State Police, Sisco, and the Brescia Mobile Squad.

Prosecutors said the group—mostly Albanian nationals—imported cocaine from South America and distributed it in Italy. Shipments coming mainly from Colombia and Ecuador were reportedly routed through the ports of Antwerp and Rotterdam before reaching Italy, with encrypted phones used to avoid interception. The heaviest sentences went to two brothers from Elbasan, identified as leaders in the Brescia area, who received roughly 14 and 15 years in prison, while an Albanian man was sentenced to eight years for a June 23 incident in Peschiera Borromeo that resulted in the death of Francesco Imprezzabile, a Milan local police officer.

The investigation covered multiple Italian provinces and involved cooperation between the Brescia Dda and Albania’s special prosecutor (SPAK), which enabled the arrest of one alleged leader in Albania and another in Madrid, before their extradition to Italy.
Italian Version