MMA Fighter Pietro Menga Jailed Over 15 Years for Drug and Firearm Trafficking

Pietro Menga, a professional MMA fighter known as 'The Italian Stallion,' has been sentenced to over 15 years in prison after pleading guilty to conspiracy to supply cocaine and to sell or transfer prohibited weapons. Menga acted as a middleman within a major organized crime group, sourcing wholesale quantities of cocaine and trafficking firearms across Greater Manchester while earning commissions on drug deals. His criminal activities were uncovered during Operation Foam, when law enforcement infiltrated the encrypted messaging platform EncroChat and identified Menga by cross-referencing personal details he revealed in messages, such as references to his girlfriend, knee injuries, and home gym. Investigators estimated the street value of the drugs involved to be between £490,000 and £620,000, and found evidence linking Menga to a record-breaking firearms trafficking conspiracy. In intercepted messages, Menga described Skorpion machine guns as desirable weapons, further implicating him in arms trafficking. Authorities noted that despite maintaining a public image as a professional athlete, Menga was deeply involved in the criminal underworld and showed no sign of stopping his illicit activities.