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CRIME

Italian police chief and ex-MP among 334 people arrested in major mafia bust

Police arrested 334 people in the operation against the southern Italian 'Ndrangheta mafia organisation, the biggest bust of its kind in years, prosecutors announced on Thursday.

Published: 19 December 2019 13:56 CET
Italian police chief and ex-MP among 334 people arrested in major mafia bust
Police and soldiers stand guard outside the Italian national Anti-mafia services headquarters in Rome. Photo: AFP

The major operation, targeting what is now considered to be Italy's most powerful mafia group, netted a former MP from Silvio Berlusconi's party and the head of the Calabrian mayors' association.

“This is the biggest sweep since the Palermo maxi-trial (475 suspects tried in 1986-87),” Cantanzo prosecutor Nicola Gratteri said in a statement.

READ ALSO: Meet the 'Ndrangheta: It's time to bust some myths about the calabrian mafia

Lawyers and accountants were also arrested, the renowned anti-mafia magistrate said.

The operation involving 2,500 police as well as army paratroopers targeted the 'Ndrangheta in Vibo Valentia – near the tip of Italy's boot – but also in regions farther north, including Veneto, Lombardy and Tuscany.

Some of those held were arrested in Germany, Switzerland and Bulgaria on European arrest warrants.

Including those already in prison, the vast operation targeted 416 people, crippling 'Ndrangheta's Vibo Valentia, Mancuso di Limbadi and Lo Bianco-Barba clans.

Police also seized property worth 15 million euros.

Those arrested include Giancarlo Pittelli, a renowned lawyer, and former MP and senator from ex-PM Berlusconi's Forza Italia party. Lawyers, accountants and other officials were also arrested.

Gratteri said that Pittelii helped the organised criminals gain access to “politicians, Freemasons and influential professionals”.

A colonel with the paramilitary carabinieri police force was arrested for allegedly passing privileged information to Pittelli.

“I was impressed by the degree of permeability that the 'Ndrangheta has had in the public administration and within State organs,” Gratteri said.

Tourism businesses

The investigation revealed the 'Ndrangheta's “consolidated capacity to infiltrate the business sector, operating with increasingly sophisticated mechanisms, thanks to the contribution of collusive professionals”.

The crime group is extensively involved in buying up tourism businesses including hotels, bars and restaurants to launder money, the prosecutor said.

They have bought land and luxury cars at auction and opened shoe shops in the capital, Rome. The group is also involved in providing funeral services.

Some of the 'Ndrangheta's businesses used to launder money were registered in Britain.

READ ALSO:

Police seized 11 sidearms, 12 rifles or machine guns, and “abundant ammunition of various calibres”.

Of Italy's three main mafia groups, the 'Ndrangheta is centred in the Calabria region, while the Camorra syndicate is based in and around Naples and the Costa Nostra Mafia is in Sicily.The municipal police chief in Vibo Valentia, Filippo Nesci, was also among those arrested.

he suspects face charges including criminal association, murder, extortion, loan sharking and money laundering.

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POLITICS

Italy’s Liguria regional president arrested in corruption probe

The president of Italy's northwest Liguria region and the ex-head of Genoa's port were among 10 arrested on Tuesday in a sweeping anti-corruption investigation which also targeted officials for alleged mafia ties.

Published: 7 May 2024 12:52 CEST
Italy's Liguria regional president arrested in corruption probe

Liguria President Giovanni Toti, a right-wing former MEP who was close to late prime minister Silvio Berlusconi but is no longer party aligned, was placed under house arrest, Genoa prosecutors said in a statement.

The 55-year-old is accused of having accepted 74,100 euros in funds for his election campaign between December 2021 and March 2023 from prominent local businessmen, Aldo Spinelli and his son Roberto Spinelli, in return for various favours.

These allegedly included seeking to privatise a public beach and speeding up the renewal for 30 years of the lease of a Genoa port terminal to a Spinelli family-controlled company, which was approved in December 2021.

A total of 10 people were targeted in the probe, also including Paolo Emilio Signorini, who stepped down last year as head of the Genoa Port Authority, one of the largest in Italy. He was being held in jail on Tuesday.

He is accused of having accepted from Aldo Spinelli benefits including cash, 22 stays in a luxury hotel in Monte Carlo – complete with casino chips, massages and beauty treatments – and luxury items including a 7,200-euro Cartier bracelet.

The ex-port boss, who went on to lead energy group Iren, was also promised a 300,000-euro-a-year job when his tenure expires, prosecutors said.

In return, Signorini was said to have granted Aldo Spinelli favours including also working to speed up the renewal of the family’s port concession.

The Spinellis are themselves accused of corruption, with Aldo – an ex-president of the Genoa and Livorno football clubs – placed under house arrest and his son Roberto temporarily banned from conducting business dealings.

In a separate strand of the investigation, Toti’s chief of staff, Matteo Cozzani, was placed under house arrest accused of “electoral corruption” which facilitated the activities of Sicily’s Cosa Nostra Mafia.

As regional coordinator during local elections in 2020, he was accused of promising jobs and public housing in return for the votes of at least 400 Sicilian residents of Genoa.

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