The intent of this article is to make known to the general public, through an in-depth analysis, a complex system of air and naval departments of the Guardia di Finanza (Italian Custom Police) that with their daily work, 365 days a year, they guarantee the economic and environmental protection of the great lakes of the north, in particular Lake Como, Iseo, Lugano, Garda and Lake Maggiore.
To date, the Guardia di Finanza is the only police force that guarantees on all freshwater basins just mentioned a permanent and constant monitoring system, this is done through the Sezione Aerea (Air Section) of Varese based in Venegono Superiore and the Stazione Navale (Naval Station) Lake Como with its subordinate Sezioni Operative Navali (Naval Operational Sections) of Lake Maggiore (Cannobio), Lake Garda (Salò) and Lake Lugano (Casamoro - Porto Ceresio).
The higher agency that oversees the operational activities of the Sezione Aerea and the Stazione Navale is the ROAN (Reparto Operativo Aeronavale or Naval Operations Department) of Como, hierarchically equal to a Comando Provinciale (Provincial Command) and directly dependent on the Lombardia Comando Regionale (Regional Command) of the Guardia di Finanza with headquarters in Milano.
The establishment of the ROAN of Como, also valid for the other 14 identical Commands located throughout the country, dates back to 1 January 2000. The year of profound reforms within the Guardia di Finanza that in addition to the establishment of the ROAN have seen transformed the then existing Comandi di Legione.
The headquarters of the ROAN of Como is located at the Casa del Fascio, building of rationalist style, donated to the citizens by the entrepreneur Rodolfo Bernocchi, the structure is located in the central Piazza del Popolo of the Lombardia capital, building also known as Palazzo Terragni (name of the designer - Giuseppe Terragni), completed in 1936 reflects a modern European architecture of that time, formed by very simple geometric surfaces has the shape of a large parallelepiped, the materials used for construction such as Botticino marble, Glass, glass and alloys are reflected in the Cathedral of Santa Maria Assunta on the other side of the Piazza del Popolo (former Piazza Impero).
The Reparto Operativo Aeronavale shares the premises of Palazzo Terragni with the Comando Provinciale, the latter until 31 December 1999 called Comando 6ª Legione (Legion Command) that included the Provinces of Como, Varese and Lecco).
The structure of the ROAN we depict in the following image and the following chapters will serve to detail also all subordinate Departments.
ROAN is governed by an officer, currently in the figure of Colonel t.ST Pil. Maurizio De Panfilis.
The structure of the Department consists of a Ufficio Comando (Command Office), an Sezione Personale e Affari Generali (Operations Section and a Personnel) and Sezione Personale e Affari Generali (General Affairs Section), the total number of staff in charge divided between: Officers, Inspectors, Superintendents and Pinned Financiers is 127 military, it should be borne in mind that the planned organic force should be about 150 military.
Obviously the main role of the ROAN is that to coordinate all the operating and logistic activities of the dependent Departments, and to cure the administrative management.
Generally speaking, we recall those tasks assigned by specific laws to the Guardia di Finanza Corps.
The services of the naval units are arranged from the command line and are aimed at the execution of the institutional tasks and the achievement of the objectives annually assigned to the Department by the Comando Generale (General Command) of the Corps.
During the execution of the institutional services, in case of distress requests, the naval and air units in navigation or in flight are alerted by the Operations Room of the Corps and employed by their command line.
If the competent authority deems it necessary, aircraft and ships may also be used for the execution of specific public order and security services ordered by the Public Security Authority in which, whereas the use of naval means and helicopters takes place on national territory, the military of the Corps continues to operate with the qualification of Public Security Officer therefore under the functional dependencies of the Public Security Authority.
The tasks assigned to the Guardia di Finanza in general, and consequently to the Air Naval Units is sanctioned by the Law of 23 April 1959 n.189 art. 1 laying down:
The Guardia di Finanza Corps is directly and fully dependent on the Minister of Economy and Finance.
It is an integral part of the Armed Forces of the State and the Public Force and has the task of:
• preventing, seeking and denouncing financial evasions and breaches;
• perform surveillance at sea for financial policing purposes and contribute to maritime police, assistance and reporting services;
• to monitor, within the limits established by individual laws, compliance with the provisions of political and economic interest;
• contribute to the political-military defence of borders and, in the event of war, to military operations;
• contribute to the maintenance of order and public security;
• to perform the other supervisory and protective services for which its intervention is required by law.
Subsequently, the Legislative Decree of 19 March 2001 n. 68 has adapted the tasks of the Police Force establishing that the Corps is entrusted with the tasks of prevention, research and repression in the field of:
• direct and indirect taxes, taxes, contributions, tax monopolies and any other tax, tax or local;
• customs duties, border duties and other own resources as well as expenditure of the EU budget;
• any other tax revenue, even of a sanctioning nature or of a different nature, of a fiscal or local nature;
• management activities carried out by private individuals in the concession regime, to carry out public functions inherent in the administrative power of taxation;
• public resources and financial resources used against public budget expenditure and public expenditure programmes;
• revenue and expenditure relating to separate management in the area of social security, care and other compulsory forms of public social security;
• State property and assets, including the net corporate value of production units being privatised or sold;
• national, European and foreign currencies, securities, securities and means of payment, as well as financial and capital movements;
• financial and securities markets, including the exercise of credit and the solicitation of public savings;
• copyright, know-how, patents, trademarks and other industrial property rights relating to their exercise and economic exploitation;
• any other national or European Union economic and financial interest;
The activities carried out by the Departments are aimed at safeguarding the interests of the State Heritage, the environment, the safety of navigation, and for the supervision of the suppression of smuggling, to verify any signs of recovery, or to monitor the proper discharge of customs obligations in the event of crossing the border.
For the purpose of border control, the Departments, with their staff at fixed posts, on fixed-wing aircraft or helicopters and, of course, with naval units, carry out the control and surveillance of Community and non-EU borders.
In particular, with regard to the naval units, these perform patrolling, stalking, restrained and controlled pendulums (ready to move) to the moorings of Department.
For the purpose of smuggling repression, naval units carry out surveillance cruises, especially near the border line. In the course of the anti-counterfeiting surveillance, any trespassing of vessels crossing the border to Italy are checked, avoiding the customs visit.
The tasks of the Economic Financial Police transpose the directives of the circular n.1340/ INCC of 2 July 2014 issued by the General Command where the assignment to the personnel of the Naval Aviation sector of wider tasks of Economic Financial Police is reiterated. These tasks are carried out through the development of the services deriving from the action carried out on the waters of competence and with the execution of operations inspecting against economic activities located along the coast for the "taxpayers of 1^st band".
The Departments use for these activities an Sezione Operativa within the Stazione Navale and an Squadra Operativa (Operational Team) in the sense of the Sezioni Operative Navali to which these specific tasks are assigned.

-Sezione Aerea of Varese
In 1958, following the commissioning of a new helicopter, the Agusta-Bell AB 47J, a natural replacement of the less powerful AB 47G and with a cabin that allowed the transport of any passengers, was formed the first "mountain" Sezione Elicotteri (Helicopter Section). The first operations of the newly constituted Sezione are carried out by the hydro-decline of Como, while in a few months the transfer takes place on the heliport built in Intimiano (Como).
In 1972 the Sezione Aerea of Intimiano was transferred to the airport of Calcinate del Pesce in the province of Varese, thus becoming the Sezione Aerea of Varese.
In January 1975 the AB 47J were replaced with the new Breda-Nardi NH 500M, while in 1982 the Sezione Aerea was closed. Some years later, July 14, 1988, is reactivated as Sezione Aerea of Como, the new "location" is on the airport of Venegono Inferiore (Varese), in one of the historic buildings of Aermacchi, structure that for many years had been the seat of the School dedicated to Ermanno Mantelli. Another important step took place on February 3, 1997 when the name of Sezione Aerea of Venegono was returned.
This is formalized in 2002 when the Department moved to the new structure located north of the airport, in the territory of Venegono Superiore, is now completely autonomous from the airfield operated by Aermacchi and the local Aero Club.
On August 1, 2012, the Department was renamed the Sezione Aerea Varese.
The current structure of Venegono is commanded by a Pilot Officer who makes use of a staff composed of a total of 39 military, divided into an Nucleo Operativo or Operational Nucleus (pilots and rescue swimmer) also directed by an Officer, an Nucleo Efficienza or Efficiency Nucleus (specialists with the duties of maintenance technicians and, during flight activities, rescue winch operators) and finally by a Squadra Comando (military office workers, supervision and control of the barracks).
The current equipment of helicopters to the Department consists of two AB 412HP type B (mountain version), two AB 412HP type A (sea version) and one NH 500MD, to note that at the order level should be in service at the Sezione Aerea two AB 412 and two NH 500, this particular situation has been created by the availability of some AB 412 replaced in the southern departments with the new AW 139 recently delivered, which may remain unstable at least until the delivery of the new AW 169.
The main tasks carried out by the Sezione Aerea Varese are surely the aerial exploration, the transport and the competition in search and rescue operations.
The task of aerial exploration includes many of the main roles of the Armed Force: State Police, environmental protection, Controllo Economico del Territorio (CE.te or Economic Control of the Territory) and border control.
The competition in search and rescue operations is the historical role of the so-called "mountain" Sezione Aerea, the support to the SAGF (Soccorso Alpino Guardia di Finanza or Italian Custom Police Mountain Rescue) and the CNSAS (Corpo Nazionale Soccorso Alpino e Speleologico or National Alpine Rescue and Speleological Corps) are the "core” business" of the Fiamme Gialle (Yellow Flames) flying over the Alps.
These roles are carried out in a service district that includes Lombardia, Piemonte and Valle d'Aosta, excluding the provinces of Asti and Alessandria, the total area of the territory covered is 52,404 square kilometers, the border to be protected is of 1.237 km of which 780 km calculated as Extra European Union (Switzerland).
For the two-year period 2018-2019 the Sezione Aerea Varese has carried out a total of 898 sorties for a total of about 917 hours of flight, of these 388 training missions, 295 operational missions, 86 rescue missions, 114 sorties for test or technical flights and 15 sorties of various kinds. As you can see there is a large number of training missions carried out, but we must take into account that in these numbers are included the countless activities carried out in support of the ten SAGF Stations scattered throughout much of the Alpine territory of competence.
To give a value to the numbers listed above we highlight a remarkable activity of Environmental Police carried out in early 2019 in collaboration with the Comando Regionale Lombardia where numerous flight missions have allowed to discover four large areas classified as uncontrolled storage of waste, of which one in particular in which they were numerous cars in bad state and without the due protections of conservation.
Another large number of aerial observation missions allowed the discovery of two cannabis plantations.
To conclude worthily with the activities carried out, in this case of rescue, we consider the flight missions carried out last March for two consecutive days in Val Pogallo (Verbania) to look for two young people missing in the mountains, the guys who haven’t been in the news for three days have been spotted by an Sezione Aerea crew on the banks of a creek, fortunately alive and in good condition. Once the two missing were found, they were rescued.
As has been pointed out in the course of the text, the task that most engages the crews of the Sezione Aerea Varese is the contribution to the rescue operations in the mountains, this important role, played in favor of the community, is implemented by making the most of the synergies that are created between those who manage the conduct of helicopters, the winch operator and rescue teams, the latter use the means to move in harsh environments.
Synergy that is created only thanks to continuous training, in particular for the safe use of the rotating wing aircraft during the operations of embarkation and disembarkation of rescuers, or any dog teams, but especially for the use of the winch, essential equipment that allows you to disembark/embark rescuers where the helicopter can not land.
The Sezione Aerea Varese regularly guarantees this training activity in favor of all SAGF Stations located in the territory of competence, also the CNSAS by virtue of specific protocols takes part in some of these exercises.
In addition to these sessions are also held demonstrations of the regional and provincial summits of the Corps, after last year’s edition at the Torre di Fraele in Valdidentro, in 2019 this type of event was organized in the area Pontedilegno - Tonale, to be exact at Passo Paradiso (2,585 mt).
The main purpose of the event was to demonstrate to the intervening hierarchy the degree of cooperation achieved between the different departments and corps.
The novelty of this edition was the presentation by CNSAS of a mini drone (DJI Mavic Pro Platinum) which is used to search for any missing persons in highly inaccessible areas where the helicopter cannot reach and where sending research personnel creates potential risks for their safety, also the Guardia di Finanza is equipping itself with this type of mini drones that will soon enter service.

- Stazione Navale Lake Como
The Naval Station Lake Como is located in the barracks "Alessandro Volta" in the way Giuseppe Parini, located in the urban fabric better defined "walled city", in a city of considerable value because of the walls and bastions of medieval manufacture, Naval units under the same Stazione Navale are located on the shore of the lake between the Seaplane International - Aero Club Como and the marina.
The establishment of the Department dates back to 1928 as Stazione Naviglio of Porlezza of the Regia Guardia di Finanza (Royal Italian Custom Police), on 20 August 1953 the Stazione was transferred to Carate Urio, and only a year later (28 August 1954) instead to Nobiallo where it shares the Barracks with the Compagnia of Menaggio and where it remains for more than fifty years. Since May 2, 2018, the Stazione Navale has been permanently moved to the current facility.
It should be noted that since 2012, the Stazione Navale, although still in Nobiallo, had already acquired the name of Stazione Navale Lake of Como.
The Stazione Navale is divided into a Sezione Comando (Command Section), a Sezione Tecnico Logistica (Logistics Technical Section), an Sezione Operativa (Operational Section) and a Sezione Unità Navali (Naval Unit Section).
The Department has expertise on inland waters and on the coastal municipalities of the shores of Lake Como and the "Lake Basin of Lake Como and Lakes Minor", in summary an area of 145 square kilometers and 170 km of coastal development.
The actual personnel in charge of the Stazione Navale is 27 military including an Officer as Commander of Department.
The naval units in endowment to the Department are two Vedette Costiere (Coastal Lookouts) Class V.3000 and a smaller unit Class BSO (Battello di Servizio Operativo or Boat of Operating Service).
Units V.3000 are fast boats designed and built by FB Design srl of Annone Brianza (Lecco), having a length of 11.43 m, a width of 3.24 m and a displacement of six tons, consist of a rigid hull with Structural Foam technology and lateral pneumatic stabilizers, driven by two engines four-stroke gasoline Mercury Verado 300 hp can reach a maximum speed of about 58 knots, with a speed of 35 knots can travel 210 nautical miles, the crew normally consists of four military.
The unit BSO is a unit with hull in Vetroresina (VTR) along 5,55 mt and wide approximately 2,25 mt is pushed by an outboard motor Mercury from 75 cv, the crew is composed of two military.
The composition of the crews of the class V.3000 naval units provides for a Commander, belonging to the category of Inspectors, who obtains a specific qualification upon obtaining a graduation at the Scuola Nautica (Nautical School) of the Guardia di Finanza of Gaeta. The course includes the acquisition of nautical knowledge, both technical and practical, to acquire the mastery of the vehicle in all conditions that may arise during the performance of its institutional tasks.
Another member of the crew of the class V.3000 is the Direttore Tecnico di Macchina (Technical Director of Machine), also comes from the category Inspectors and the same course performed by the Commanders, but with a specific technical and motoristic instruction in order to manage and to maintain efficient the propulsive apparatuses of the naval units. The last figure we examine is the Operatore ai Sistemi (System Operator), a military officer responsible for managing radio and radar equipment, as well as the on-board maps used during navigation.
The majority of the personnel embarked during the specialization courses, also achieves the patent of rescue in water of the Federazione Italiana Nuoto (FNI or Italian Swimming Federation) in addition to the specialisation qualifications obtained from time to time with a character of personality and specificity related to the category to which they belong.
The crews regularly carry out navigation from eight hours each for all types of institutional services, in the case of operational and rescue activities the duration is proportionate to the actual needs.
The activities carried out in the biennium 2018-2019 of the Stazione Navale of Como can be synthesized in 408 operating cruises, 2,093 hours of navigation with a distance of 16,546 nautical miles, during these operations 285 boats have been controlled, 300 people and 446 reports were taken.
Leaving aside the sterile numbers of statistics we see instead those that have been the operational results acquired during the performance of the missions.
In addition to navigations for the protection of order and public safety on the occasion of events and conferences that are periodically held on the Lario basin in the provinces of Como, Lecco and Sondrio, have been carried out activities of contrast to the irregular job with verifications of the working positions of the dependent subjects of commercial activities site in state-owned areas like bars, restaurants, lidos and other, but also in within yards, garages, or at rental companies.
The activities of Polizia Demaniale have had their focus on monitoring of illegal berths/ moorings in the marina of Dascio, Municipality of Sorico (Como), in particular on the right bank of the river Mera, in this context, the presence of 74 illegally moored boats has been ascertained, in addition three piers and an access ladder have been detected without the necessary permits.
The transaction allowed to raise fines for €. 9,000 and the recovery of royalties evaded for €. 18,369.
In matter of Polizia Marittima they are carried out 266 controls with a result of five seized boats and elevated endorsements for €. 28.504.
Another very particular type of activity, which finds its scope in the new forms of hotel accommodation, is based on investigative activities carried out through the control of online booking platforms. This new form of tourism is commonly called Boat & Breakfast, a practice already widespread in France, the Netherlands and the United States, where customers are accommodated aboard boats adapted to real floating hotels, the rate often includes breakfast to be consumed in a partner bar. Normally it is possible to rent any type of boat, based on the desired size and economic availability, but in fact it is a receptive hotels that are completely abusive and do not comply with the rules of rental, much less those of environmental protection.
With regard to environmental protection, which is a very important area for society, recently a landscape-protected area has been identified, as well as a deposit of waste of various kinds, including lead-acid batteries, fuel drums and various other hazardous waste. The Public Prosecutor’s Office was immediately informed of the incident and was responsible for the uncontrolled dumping of waste and defacing of natural beauty.
Now we see in detail the Sezioni Operative Navali of Porto Ceresio, Cannobio and Salò.
The Sezioni Operative are all structured with a Squadra Comando, a Squadra Operativa (Operations Team) and a Squadra Unità Navali (Naval Unit Team).
The Sezioni depend on the Stazione Navale of Como which in turn is organically ordered within the Reparto Operativo Aeronavale of Como.

-Sezione Operativa Navale Lake Lugano
The Sezione Operativa Navale of Lake Lugano is located in Casamoro, a fraction of the small town of Porto Ceresio in the Province of Varese, the barrack dedicated to the Finanziere Casalino is located on the Provincial Road that from Porto Ceresio continues north along the west shore of the lake.
The need to watch over the Italian - Swiss border has its origin immediately after the end of the Second World War, in fact in 1945 was established in Porto Ceresio a "Squadriglie of Motolancie" based at the current barracks, whose main activity was to combat the phenomenon of smuggling both by lake and on the land border line, a border line with unique features that we will see later.
The Sezione Operativa Navale of Lake Lugano has competence over the waters and the Municipalities on the Italian shores of Lake Lugano and the Lake Basin of Ceresio, as well as the Lakes of Varese, Comabbio and Monate, also for the summer period, the Department supplies its BSO dinghy to the Sezione Operativa Navale Lake Garda to use it on Lake Iseo.
The actual staff of the Sezione consists of 15 military, against the 18 expected, framed in the roles of Inspector Nocchiere, Superintendent and Pinned Financier.
The equipment in service in Porto Ceresio is a Vedetta Costiera (Coastal Patrol) V.3000 and a BSO (Dinghy).
The BSO is a unit with fiberglass hull (VTR) with tubular neoprene and Roll-Bar steel, five meters long and just over two meters wide is propelled by an outboard engine Mercury model F 100 from 100 hp ELTP Four Stroke, is also equipped with a 9.9 hp Suzuki auxiliary engine.
The maximum speed it can reach is 38 knots with a maximum range of 500 nautical miles, the crew is usually composed of two military. The vessel was put into service in October 2004, the result of a seizure for illegal immigration.
Now we see some activities carried out on Lake Lugano and on the inland lakes.
In the waters of Lake Lugano, precisely in the territory of Porlezza (Como), a state-owned activity has led to the drafting of Comunicazione Notizia di Reato (CNR or Communication News Crime) the competent Judicial Authority charged to the legal representative of a srl for the offences of illegal occupation in state property for 7,500 square meters, invasion of land or buildings, alteration of natural beauty, works in the absence of landscape authorizations, interventions carried out in the absence of permission to build and squatting.
Such control has led to the ascertainment of €. 1.237.000 approximately of not paid grantings burdens to the treasury beyond to as many €. 393.000 of administrative penalties.
Always in within state property investigations have been carried out in the smaller lakes (Varese, Monate and Comabbio) in order to verify the correct occupation of state property areas and to identify possible abusive occupations, the inspection activities were carried out against three Sports Associations operating on these lakes and a local authority.
Following several on-the-spot inspections, a careful documentary analysis and feedback carried out at the offices of the department responsible for managing the lake state property, as well as through a thorough consultation of satellite images, the maps and plans of the area showed that these dealers occupied much larger areas of space on water and the coast than in reality authorized and for periods of time exceeding what was granted.
Specifically, these were state-owned areas occupied illegally with equipment for their sport, the total areas occupied were 1,400 square meters in addition to those regularly declared, in addition, it has been found that employment has continued uninterruptedly throughout the year over the past 10 years, instead of the regular 10-day period.
On the basis of the findings, a penalty of approximately €. 140,000 was imposed (taking into account only the last five years) plus some administrative minutes, the same concessionaires have been invited to regularize their position at the department that manages the lake basin, under penalty of the removal of abusive structures at their own expense and the restoration of the state of the place.
In the matter of rental and rental, tax checks were carried out on rental and rental operators, which led to the finding of a breach for failure to account for a higher taxable amount and subsequent non-payment of IRAP and VAT, 651 failed to issue receipts/receipts for a penalty of €. 328,000.
In environmental matters, at the conclusion of a service of Judicial Police started in 2016 in the Municipality of Brebbia (Varese), was identified a company that on an agricultural area had stored many hazardous waste, about 120 vehicles crashed, 80 cubic meters of tyres, plastic materials, batteries and much more, for the crimes of abandonment and uncontrolled storage of waste and unauthorized waste management was issued a sanction of €. 13,000.
During a service of Polizia Doganale (Customs Police) at a shipyard was found the presence of a recreational vessel without registration to nautical list, subsequent investigations have found that it was a property unlawfully introduced on Italian soil from neighboring Switzerland, the boat was seized.
But surely the activity that has aroused more clamor for the Fiamme Gialle of Porto Ceresio, unique in its kind, is the one that led to the discovery of a real Aero Taxi service carried out with an Amphibious Seaplane for Leisure or Sports Flight (VDS) during an event aimed at promoting flight. The owner of the Ultralight offered for a fee flights of 15 minutes without the Associazione Sportiva Dilettantistica (ASD or Amateur Sports Association) organizer was aware of this and against all applicable aviation regulations, as the advanced VDS can be used only for recreational and sporting purposes certainly not for the operation of air transport of people, especially for the lack of technical requirements, maintenance and insurance and the lack of the Certificato di Operatore Aeronautico (COA or Certificate of Aeronautical Operator) of the pilot and/or the Company. Although there is no tax crime, because the owner issued a regular receipt with a VAT number subject to him, was forwarded to the Public Prosecutor’s Office at the Court of Varese a Comunicazione Notizia di Reato (CNR) for violation of the Air Navigation Code at the expense of the pilot/ owner.
As we mentioned at the beginning of the chapter, Lake Lugano is the subject of an interesting detail, the Italian - Swiss political border follows a different trend wedging deep into our territory by cutting Lake Maggiore and precisely Lake Lugano.
The current borders took shape in the early 1500s, especially in 1515 with the defeat of the Swiss in Melegnano, in 1512 with the oath of the Luganese to the XII Cantons, and again in 1513 and 1521 with the spontaneous accession of Locarno, Vallemaggia, Mendrisio and Balerna always to the XII Cantons, these annexations have in fact shaped a lot the conformation of the Italian - Swiss border.
The Ceresio Basin suffers a lot because as you can see in the following map is divided by the border line that goes from the Municipality of Ponte Tresa to the Municipality of Porto Ceresio, a line that divides the Italian political territory with that of Switzerland. This division is only political, the lacual territory included in it does not constitute customs territory in fact is considered extracustoms, since the customs line follows the national shores of Lake Lugano between Ponte Tresa (VA) and Porto Ceresio (VA).
The Porlezza Basin is separated from Swiss waters by the political and customs border line that goes from the "n.8A" marker in the locality of Santa Margherita di Valsolda (CO) to the "n.8" marker of the customs crossing of Valsolda (CO).
The Sezione Operativa Navale, in implementation of the provisions of art.17 of the Italian-Swiss Convention, approved by Law n.19 of 20/01/1997, can navigate the waters of the Swiss basin of Lake Lugano, in accordance with the procedures laid down therein, to reach the Italian territories of Campione d'Italia (CO) and the Porlezza Basin in the province of Como. In collaboration with the Agenzia delle Dogane (Customs Agency), dynamic supervision is carried out at the lake pass of Oria Valsolda. The Zona di Vigilanza Doganale Terrestre (Terrestrial Customs Surveillance Area), regulated by the D.P.R. December 23, 1962 n. 2074, includes the banks of the waters of the entire Lake of Lugano - Ceresio Basin.
Another peculiarity is in the Lavena Ponte Tresa strait, in its 18 meters wide, to comply with the navigation code, the boats pass on the right of the channel sailing from east to west, then in Switzerland, sailing on the right from west to east pass into Italian territory.
In January 2020 there will be a profound review of this situation, as the customs border, now indicated with the border of the coast will be moved to the current political border, then in the middle of the basin.

-Sezione Operativa Navale Lake Maggiore Cannobio
The Sezione Operativa Navale of Lake Maggiore is located in the small town of Cannobio, located on the Piemonte shore of Lake Maggiore, is part of the Province of Verbano-Cusio-Ossola (VCO).
The history of the Department dates back to 1816 when the then Lieutenant of Cannobio had a Lake Brigata (Brigade) called "boat", composed of officers belonging to the Servizio di Marineria (Marine Service), the Brigata used a "scorridora", practically a rowboat, the roles performed were those of Public Security, Health Service and Financial Control.
The Sezione Operativa Navale of Cannobio has occupied the current space since 1987.
The Sezione Operativa Navale of Lake Maggiore has jurisdiction over the Lake Basin of Maggiore-Verbano Cusio Ossola which includes 169 square kilometers (out of a total of 212 square kilometers) of surface and 170 km of coastline.
The staff of the Department is very undersized compared to the standard, 16 against the 26 expected, as for the other Sezione the military are all classified in the roles Inspectors, Superintendents and Pinned/Financiers.
In Cannobio are located two Vedette V.3000 and two V.600, is scheduled for late 2020 the disposal of a Vedetta V.600 from the Department, the moorings are located in the dock adjacent to the barracks.
The V.600 is a Vedetta Costiera built by FB Design srl, the hull consists of a rigid hull in Kevlar and ten tubular sections in Hypalon, is 10.3 meters long, 2.8 meters wide and the displacement is 4.3 tn, can reach a maximum speed of 54 knots, while at a speed of 35 knots it can sail for 280 nautical miles. It is powered by two diesel engines VM type MD706LH 300 hp, the crew of the V.600 is three military.
The main operations carried out by the Department for 2018-2019 were the following:
Polizia Marittima: performed approximately 425 operating cruises for a total of approximately 300 controls executed to boats and boats with beyond 20 seizures effected on boats lacking insurance coverage.
Polizia Demaniale: performed about 50 controls to entrepreneurial activities present on the State-owned territories bordering Lake Maggiore, during these services were found state property fees evaded for over €. 400,000.
Polizia Doganale: carried out about 300 checks where evasion of customs duties was found for about €. 15,000.
Rent and Rental Control: carried out checks on six activities in the territory of competence, among these was a total evader with €. 18,500 of unpaid taxes.
In addition to the performance of the purely institutional tasks, the crews of the Sezione Operativa Navale of Cannobio periodically carry out public order services during the events that regularly take place on Lake Maggiore, in fact, swimming crossings, sailing regattas and the stages of the world championship of motorboating category "X-CAT" are a constant.
Another aspect of pride for the military of Cannobio are the activities of safeguarding human life in the waters of Lake Maggiore, the rescue interventions in 2018 saw the rescue of 18 people, while in 2019 we are, fortunately, stopped at six rescues.
Finally, Lake Maggiore in its northernmost part is Swiss territory, a situation less particular than Lake Lugano, but also in this context there are certainly crimes of contraband perpetrated by lake, such as that of a ship imported illegally by a German citizen for an estimated value of over €. 250,000, which translates into evaded border duties for about €. 7,000 and a evasion of VAT charges for over €. 55,000.

-Sezione Operativa Navale Lake Garda Salò
The Sezione Operativa Navale of Lake Garda is located in the town of Salò, a small town that rose to the dawn during the end of World War II with the establishment of the Repubblica Sociale Italiana (Italian Social Republic) of Salò.
Since 25 October 2010 the barracks is located at the Palazzo ex Arsenale, a few meters from the port of Salò, where there are moorings for boats of the Department, central place of the town overlooking the Gulf of Salò.
The former Palazzo Arsenale is shared by the Guardia di Finanza with the headquarters of the Agenzia delle Entrate, the marina is also home to the Associazione Canottieri Garda Salò.
With 368 square kilometers of surface and 158 of coastal development, Lake Garda is the largest Italian lake.
The staff of the Sezione Operativa Navale is 18 military against the 27 from the table, also in this case it is evident an undersized staff, the classifications are all within the roles Inspectors, Superintendents, Pinned Financiers as for the other Sezioni Operative Navali.
The Sezione Operativa Navale of Salò has three Vedette Costiere V.3000 series.
In the biennium 2018-2019 the Department has carried out on Lake Garda or Benaco 384 cruises for a total of 2,355 hours of navigation, the data are updated to 30 September, in this mount hours have been carried out most of the institutional roles assigned to the Sezione.
Five rescue missions were carried out to save human life, rescuing six people.
To the aims of the control on the Imposta Municipale Propria (IMU or Tax Municipal Own) for the ascertainment of the corrected stacking of the ports of Lake Garda and of Iseo, nine controls are carried out that have carried out to a recovery of evaded tributes for almost a million Euro, due to the lack of stockpiling of structures in the relevant municipalities.
An investigation in the matter of undeclared work carried out against a company that carries out repairs and maintenance of commercial and recreational vessels has revealed the presence of a worker of irregular non-EU origin, the person responsible has been reported to the Public Prosecutor’s Office.
In the hundreds of hours of navigation an important role has been played by the control of the boats, the verifications have involved 257 boats that have led to the ascertainment of 266 violations.
Another important data can be seen from the Polizia Demaniale controls, 130 checks were carried out with 128 penalties imposed.
Finally, I can not mention an activity that involved me directly, concerns a service carried out on 5 and 6 last October to protect the Public Order, carried out by the Sezione Operativa Navale Lake Garda during the air show "Ali sul Garda 2019" organized by the Municipality of Desenzano. A crew of the Department has guaranteed this service in the waters in front of the coast of Desenzano for both days watching over the respect of the area forbidden to navigation and ready to intervene for any need. The event saw the participation of the Aeronautica Militare (Italian Air Force) with the Pattuglia Acrobatica Nazionale of the Frecce Tricolori (Aerobatic Team) and a pair of Tornado IDS of the 6° Stormo (Wing) coming from the nearby air base of Ghedi.
The Guardia di Finanza, in addition to the planned service, also performed a short exhibition with a helicopter AB 412 of the Sezione Aerea Varese and precisely the Vedetta V.3000, in the ten minutes of flight, a cooperation operation was simulated between the helicopter and the boat and then a similar simulation of pursuit of the AB 412 on the motorboat.
At the end of the ten minutes of the exhibition, the Vedetta was back on regular duty.
To close the report we dedicate a small appendix to Lake Iseo where at the moment there is no stable presence of the Fiamme Gialle, it must be said that the General Command of Rome is seriously considering to remedy this by placing on this lake a permanent Department, In fact, assessments are in progress for the acquisition of a boat suitable for this type of lake basin that can replace the seasonal use of the BSO.
The beginning of the use of the BSO on Lake Iseo, as previously provided by the Sezione Operativa Navale Lake Lugano, dates back to last year (2018), and confirmed for the year now towards the end, while for reasons of geographical proximity, the personnel employed was made available by the Sezione Operativa Navale of Lake Garda.
Not yet having their own barracks on site the crew and the BSO were hosted at the facilities of the Associazione Sportiva Dilettantistica Nautica Sebina Nautical in the Municipality of Sulzano (Brescia).
Obviously the operating activities have been very limited and concentrated in the year in course, in particular we see the participation of the naval unit and its crew for the 17 certain Memorial Mario Stoppani carried out to Lovere (Bergamo) 8th September, where there was also the overflight of the Frecce Tricolori.
In the same period a support activity was carried out to the Judicial Authority in the waters in front of the Municipality of Tavernola Bergamasca (Bergamo) for the discovery and subsequent recovery of a corpse.
And to finish we bring back the development of 25 cruises of Polizia Economico Finanziaria lacuale and ittica for 131 hours of navigation with a distance of approximately 470 nautical miles.