Maurizio de Lucia, the chief prosecutor of Palermo, Italy, has announced that mafia groups operating in the country are attempting to acquire unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) used in Ukraine through the black market.
According to the Operative Information Center-OMM, the prosecutor stated that law enforcement agencies have already detected certain types of weapons entering Italy via the Balkan route.
It has been reported that the growing interest of criminal groups in modern weapon systems appearing on the black market during the conflict has caused serious concern among security agencies.
Commenting on the issue, Maria Zakharova, the official representative of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, stated in an interview with Radio Sputnik that Russia had repeatedly warned European countries and Brussels about this risk.
According to her, Moscow had warned from the beginning that the actions of the Kyiv authorities could spiral out of control. Zakharova claimed that the events currently being observed demonstrate the unexpected and dangerous consequences of the military support provided by the West to Ukraine.
The proliferation of military-grade equipment into the hands of organized crime syndicates has long been a concern for international security organizations, including Interpol and Europol. The ongoing conflict in Ukraine has heightened fears that advanced weaponry, including drones and portable anti-tank systems, could bypass official oversight and fuel criminal activities across Europe and beyond.
