"Certainly IS controls the Libya route; it controls the coast along
the Gulf of Sirte," said Roberti in his frescoed office in the 17th
century building that once served as the Vatican prison.
Decriminalising cannabis would hurt Islamic State, mafia: Italy prosecutor(Reuters)
Decriminalising cannabis sales would strike a blow against Islamic State militants and Italian mobsters who, according to ongoing investigations, are smuggling hashish together, Italy's top prosecutor told Reuters.
The main smuggling route for North African hash - compressed cannabis resin - now runs from Casablanca, Morocco, through Algeria, Tunisia to Tobruk in eastern Libya, said national anti-mafia and anti-terrorism chief Franco Roberti.
Along
that route is the seaside city of Sirte, which now serves as a
Mediterranean base for the most powerful Islamic State (IS) branch
outside Syria and Iraq.
"Certainly IS controls the Libya route; it controls the coast along the Gulf of Sirte," said Roberti in his frescoed office in the 17th century building that once served as the Vatican prison.
In
investigations whose details have not yet been made public, police have
found evidence that Italian organised crime, which has long controlled
most of the country's illegal drug supplies, and "suspected terrorists"
in North Africa are trafficking hash together, Roberti said.
"Decriminalisation
or even legalisation would definitely be a weapon against traffickers,
among whom there could be terrorists who make money off of it," he told Reuters.
Citing
estimates by the United Nations Office on Narcotics and Crime, Roberti
said that the illegal drugs trade, which includes cannabis and hash,
earns more than 32 billion euros ($36.10 billion) annually for Italian
organised crime.
Islamic State controls just a
part of the North African route, but the narcotics trade as a whole
provides just under seven percent of the group's funding, according to a
report by analysis company IHS published on Monday.
In
his new book "Il contrario della paura" or "The opposite of fear", the
68-year-old Roberti writes at length about the similarities between
Islamic militant groups and Italy's mafias, and he reflects on ways to
improve the fight against both.
Italy has not been
attacked by Islamist militants, but IS propaganda films regularly
mention Rome and the Vatican as possible targets. Many Italian sites are
considered at high risk of attacks, Roberti said.
Prime Minister Matteo Renzi's
government gave Roberti's office, which has coordinated the national
fight against organised crime since the early 1990s, the job of
overseeing investigations into terrorism in February last year.
Since
then, Roberti and his team of experienced mob prosecutors have begun to
add terror cases to a national database previously dedicated only to
organised crime, he said.
COSA NOSTRA
One
reason it makes sense for his office to coordinate anti-terror
investigations is that Islamist militants and traditional mafias - like
Sicily's Cosa Nostra - commit similar crimes, Roberti said.
"International
terrorism finances itself with criminal activities that are typical of
the mafia, like drug trafficking, smuggling commercial goods, smuggling
oil, smuggling archaeological relics and art, kidnapping for ransom, and
extortion," he said.
Facing the huge
challenges of fighting people smuggling, cocaine trafficking, and
international terrorism, investigators are spending too much time and
energy to combat cannabis dealers, and to little effect, said Roberti.
"We
spend a lot of resources uselessly. We have not succeeded in reducing
cannabinoid trafficking. On the contrary, it's increasing," said Roberti, who has been combating the mafia for more than three decades.
"Is it worth using investigative energy to fight street sales of soft drugs?"
he asks. According to the most recent government data, about 3.5
million Italians between the ages of 15-64 used cannabis in 2014.
Cannabis
is much less damaging than hard or synthetic drugs, which should not be
decriminalised, he said. But Italy's laws against selling or growing
cannabis are severe and can lead to imprisonment.
A
bipartisan group of lawmakers proposed legalising cannabis possession
and cultivation earlier this year, but it is not supported by the
leaders of any major parties.
In his book Roberti
suggests that all of Europe, and not just Italy, should be considering a
better use of investigative resources: "On decriminalisation (of
cannabis), there should be an Italian domestic debate, but also a
European one."
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