FBIS3-41348 "jptdd008__l94056"
JPRS-TDD-94-008-L Document Type:JPRS Document Title:Narcotics 23 February 1994
LATIN AMERICA PERU

Italian Prosecutors Investigating Peruvian Drug Gangs' Links to `Camorra'

PY1202191094 Lima EL COMERCIO in Spanish 2 Feb 94 p A2 PY1202191094 Lima EL COMERCIO Language: Spanish Article Type:BFN [Editorial: "Drug Enforcement and International Cooperation"] [Text] An important piece of news connected with drug enforcement has recently been revealed by our investigative unit, which has patiently matched information coming from the Attorney General's Office and the Foreign Ministry. It is about the presence in Lima last December of three prosecutors from Naples, who came to our country to investigate alleged links between Peruvian drug trafficking gangs and criminals belonging to the sadly renowned "Camorra" of Naples. Italian prosecutors Salvatore Sbrizzi, Guglielmo Palmieri, and Paolo Mancuso came to Peru exclusively to carry out an investigation that has no relation to other events of public domain [alleged bribes accepted by former President Alan Garcia from Italian companies to build a subway line in Lima] that also are being investigated by Peruvian and Italian courts. The Italian attorneys, who are confronting an age-old criminal organization, are prosecuting a hundred criminals in Naples for crimes like "vendettas," murders, and, of course, drug trafficking committed on an international scale between 1983 and 1990. According to the information obtained by our newspaper, these criminal Italian organizations have contacted their Peruvian counterparts, which apparently include the gang headed by drug trafficker Reynaldo Rodriguez Lopez, known by police as "El Padrino." The visiting prosecutors also are interested in the mysterious death some years ago of some Italian citizens in Lima. The local investigations have not found out their identity yet, the reason for their presence in Peru, the reason they were killed, or who killed them. As is known, nothing concrete was found out in the official investigation. However, it is a well-known rumor that the murders were the result of a "settling of accounts" among drug traffickers; a rumor that no longer seems to be groundless. An important detail that cannot be left out about these Italian prosecutors' trip to Peru is that they are here because they have never received a reply to rogatory letters they sent at the beginning of November requesting specific information about the crimes they are investigating. Fortunately, the Peruvian Attorney General's Office seems to be more willing to help in the case. The Peruvian prosecutor assigned to the case not only accompanied them during their investigation but she also has prepared a long report with all the information requested by the visiting prosecutors. It is significant to point out this aspect because determined cooperation among the police and judicial officials of the several countries involved in drug trafficking is an indispensable condition so that the struggle against these powerful criminal organizations that move vast resources with a major power of corruption will have positive and permanent results. Our country, which for well-known reasons is assailed by that scourge in all its aspects, must be exemplary in helping and using this kind of cooperation.