Neapolitan restaurateur was Malta contact for marijuana trail from Colombia to Valletta

A Neapolitan man who owned restaurants in Birgu and Marsaskala was the distributor in Malta of marijuana peddled by mafia clans from Naples and Catania.

Geremia Esposito, 61, was arrested last week as part of a major anti-mafia operation carried out by the Italian police that targeted three drug trafficking organisations.

Research carried out by MaltaToday shows that Esposito lived in Xgħajra and Marsaskala. He also has family in Malta.

Court documents show that Esposito ran a restaurant on the Birgu waterfront around 11 years ago but had to vacate it after failing to pay €15,000 due in rent. Before that he owned a restaurant in Marsaskala.

According to Italian investigators the drugs would originate in the port of Buenaventura in Colombia from where the Italian police operation that routed three criminal organisations last week, got its name. The drugs would then make their way to Spain and onto Italy.

The drugs destined for Malta would be transferred to Sicily from where they would eventually be transported via the catamaran service to Valletta.

One of the Camorra groups targeted by the Italian police was the Genovese family that operates on behalf of the Gallo-Cavalieri clan in Torre Annunziata, near Naples.

The investigation revealed how a senior exponent of this clan, Franco Genovese, 59, bought two consignments of more than 100kg of marijuana. The drugs were transported to a storage site in Sicily.

Agatino Bonaccorsi, 63, from the mafioso Cappello clan of Catania, was tasked with the temporary storage of the marijuana pending its transfer to Malta. Bonaccorsi was also tasked with finding new buyers in Sicily.

Social media exchanges analysed by MaltaToday show that Bonaccorsi and Esposito know each other.

The drugs would be shipped from Pozzallo and Esposito would be tasked with distribution in the Maltese market.

Geremia Esposito’s son, Vincenzo Esposito, 35, was also arrested by the Italian police. Like his father, Vincenzo’s role was to maintain contacts with Sicilian and Maltese operatives who would distribute the drugs in the respective markets.

A second consignment of 40kg of marijuana destined to Malta was also seized from the Genovese clan.

The drugs, €166,000 in cash, an unregistered Beretta pistol and ammunition were intercepted by the police at Villa San Giovanni in Calabria. The town serves as the main transit point between the Italian mainland and Sicily.

Geremia and Vincenzo Esposito, Genovese and Bonaccorsi were among 10 men arrested in Operation Buenaventura and are being held in jail under preventive custody.

Another 10 individuals are under house arrest, pending judicial proceedings against them.

The Italian police said that the drugs seized from all three organisations had a street value of €8 million.