Guardia di Finanza

The Guardia di Finanza (GdF) (Italian pronunciation: [ˈɡwardja di fiˈnantsa]; English: Financial Guard) is an Italian law enforcement agency under the authority of the Minister of Economy and Finance and part of the Italian armed forces. It is essentially responsible for dealing with financial crime and smuggling; it has also evolved into Italy's primary agency for suppressing the drugs trade. As a military corps, it maintains over 600 boats and ships and more than 100 aircraft to serve in its mission of patrolling Italy's territorial waters.

Roles

The mission and institutional tasks of Guardia di Finanza are stated in the law 189 of April 23, 1959 and 68/2001 and are subdivided into priority ones (preventing, investigating and reporting financial evasions and violations, overseeing the compliance with the provisions of politico-economic interest and surveillance at sea for financial police purposes) and contribution ones (maintaining public order and safety and political-military defense of the borders).