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At one point in the evening, the defendants testified, they sought to buy cocaine. After being put into contact by a go-between with a dealer, they paid 80 euros , but instead of cocaine they received an aspirin-like tablet. Before Natale-Hjorth, who speaks Italian, could confront the dealer, a separate Carabinieri patrol intervened, and those on the scene scattered.
When the cocaine transaction was botched, the Americans snatched the go-between’s knapsack in reprisal. Inside was the man’s cellphone, and Natale-Hjorth testified that he spoke with the man by phone, setting up a rendezvous to exchange the bag and phone in exchange for the cash they lost in the drug deal.The defendants have insisted that they expected the go-between to show up outside their hotel. Instead, two men — the plainclothes officers — appeared without the go-between, they said.
A lot to unpack here.