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CRIME

Police catch mafia fugitive ‘Mamma’ in secret room in his own home

Italian police have arrested a mafia boss known as 'la mamma' (the mummy) who was hiding in a concealed room in the house he had lived in his whole life.

Police catch mafia fugitive 'Mamma' in secret room in his own home
Antonio Pelle, known as 'mamma', talks to police after his bunker is discovered. Photo: Polizia di Stato

Antonio Pelle had been on the run for five years after escaping from hospital in 2011 and was on the Interior Ministry's list of most dangerous mafia fugitives.

He was found on Wednesday in a secret room between the bathroom and his son's bedroom at his home.

Pelle had been serving a 20-year-prison sentence for mafia association and arms and drug trafficking when he escaped from the hospital in Locri, a town in Reggio Calabria, where he had been receiving urgent medical treatment for anorexia, Gazzetta del Sud reported. 

Fifty police searched the two-storey home, but police commander Francesco Ratta told Italian broadcasters ” it wasn't easy, it took a very attentive eye to discover his hiding place.”

A video distributed by police (below) shows Pelle peering out from behind a cupboard. He appears shocked by their discovery of his hideout, and after talking to police, he climbs down and does not attempt to resist arrest. The room contained a bed and some cash.

Pelle had first been arrested – in a different underground bunker – in 2008.

The 54-year-old fugitive is considered to be the head of the Pelle-Vottari clan, part of the 'Ndrangheta, the Calabrian mafia. A feud between the Pelle-Vottari clan and rival Nirta-Strangio clan put Italy's largest organized crime group in the global spotlight in 2007, when a feud left six dead in an Italian restaurant in Duisburg, a small town in western Germany. In total, the feud between the gangs has claimed at least 20 lives.

Hiding in plain sight

Domenico Mollica, another 'Ndrangheta boss, was found living in a hidden attic of his Rome home in January.

Other members of the southern Italian organized crime groups have been captured after letting their guard down on holiday; in August, one boss of a Camorra clan was caught unarmed while sunbathing on a beach near Rome.

The same month, police nabbed another wanted mafia boss on a family holiday in Benidorm. Officers gained access to the suite where Salvatore Mariano, a member of Naples' Camorra mafia, was staying with his wife and children, by posing as hotel staff bringing him room service. 

In other cases meanwhile, police just had to follow their noses.

One suspected member of the Camorra, Pasquale Brunese, was tracked down in a Spanish pizzeria last November, where he had been working as a waiter. And in May of this year, pizza led police to a member of the 'Ndrangheta, Rocco Gasperoni, who had made a name for himself as a star pizza-chef in a Dutch seaside town during his 15 years on the run.

TERRORISM

Terror alerts: Should I be worried about travelling to Italy?

Italy is on its highest-level terror alert and ministers have warned the public to be vigilant over the Easter holidays - so is there cause for concern if you're planning to travel in the country?

Terror alerts: Should I be worried about travelling to Italy?

Italian authorities agreed on Monday to increase anti-terrorism monitoring ahead of the Easter holidays, with more surveillance to be carried out at popular tourist spots and at “sensitive sites”.

Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani had stressed to the public on Sunday that Italy faced “no concrete risk” at the moment, and said the country’s security and law enforcement services were “always on the alert to prevent any attack.”

READ ALSO: Italy on maximum terror alert over Easter after Moscow attack

Nevertheless, he warned that “during the Easter holidays you will need to be very careful.”

Italy has been on its highest-level terror alert since October 2023 following the outbreak of the Israel-Hamas war, meaning the official alert level could not be raised any further on Monday.

The plan for increased surveillance and the warnings to the public in Italy came following the terrorist attack at a concert hall in Moscow on Friday where armed men opened fire and set the building ablaze, killing at least 133 people.

Ministers said that terror plots on this scale, organised by groups, “would be intercepted sooner in Italy” and said the main terror threat Italy faced at the moment was mainly from “lone wolves”.

He was referring to the fact that recent deadly attacks in Europe have often been carried out by a single perpetrator, not affiliated to a terrorist organisation. The profile of attackers is often isolated young men who have become radicalised.

Unlike most other major European countries, Italy has not so far suffered any deadly attacks at the hands of jihadist militants.

Experts have suggested that Italy has been able to prevent attacks partly due to lessons learned from anti-mafia policing, and that it also has a lower number of citizens at risk of radicalisation than countries like the UK or France – and therefore fewer suspects to watch.

The country arrests dozens of suspects every year on terrorism charges following surveillance operations. Earlier in March, three men of Palestinian origin were arrested in the Abruzzo town of l’Aquila, alleged to be involved in an organised terror plot.

In 2023, at least 56 foreign nationals were deported from Italy after facing terror-related charges.

Italy is generally seen as being at a lower risk of being hit by a major terror attack than some neighbouring countries. So what exactly does the raised alert level mean for people in the country?

Heightened security

While much of Italy’s counter-terrorism work goes on behind the scenes, there will be increased police and military patrols over Easter in busy public places deemed “sensitive”, including shopping centres and places of worship.

The most visible manifestation of the heightened security alert in Italy is the armed soldiers on patrol outside government buildings, tourist attractions, airports, train stations, central squares and in other busy public areas.

Unlike in some other European countries, Italy’s airports do not regularly experience bomb hoaxes and other threats. While no additional security checks for passengers are being introduced, security is likely to remain tight at Italian airports this Easter, as at all European transport hubs.

If you’re visiting a major tourist attraction over Easter or attending any type of large public event, expect a high level of security at the door.

Travel advice

So far, no country has warned its nationals against visiting Italy – the US State Department still lists the alert level for Italy as Level 2: Exercise Increased Caution, which has seen no change since July 2023. 

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