News from Italy

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Net closing on Mafia boss Messina Denaro with arrests
Fugitive Cosa Nostra head used code, messages to communicate

(ANSA) - Rome, August 3 - With Monday's arrests of 11 of his key supporters, the net is closing on fugitive Cosa Nostra Mafia boss Matteo Messina Denaro, police said after dawn raids in Sicily.
They revealed that Messina Denaro, on the run since 1993, used the same sort of coded message system as his predecessor Bernardo Provenzano.
The messages, written on tiny scraps of paper called 'pizzini', used codes that referred to various farm practices and animals for communications among Denaro and his lieutenants, police said Monday.
They added this was the same sort of the 'pizzini' method used by Cosa Nostra's Provenzano before his arrest in 2006 and suspected subsequent hand-off to Messina Denaro. The messages, with references to "pigs", "fertilizer" and "beans" were bound with Scotch tape, to be read and destroyed within a defined period.
Farmers Vito Gondola, 77, and Michele Terranova, among the 11 arrested on Monday, were key to ensuring messages were transmitted, police allege. Meetings among Mafia members were held only on farms, making it much more difficult to eavesdrop on conversations, said police.
Messina Denaro, 53, has not been publicly seen in more than 20 years, but an informant last year helped Italian authorities to update their ideas of the Mafia boss's appearance, including the fact he no longer wears eyeglasses and his dark hair has receded.
Premier Matteo Renzi cheered the arrests in a Facebook post and urged fast action in capturing Messina Denaro himself.
"I am grateful to the investigators...now, full speed ahead to capture the fugitive boss," Renzi wrote of Messina Denaro. "Italy is...united against organized crime". The arrests were made in a dawn operation between Palermo and Trapani, with suspects ranging in age from 27 to 77.
The work demanded well-coordinated action by various police and security experts as "the Mafia remains one unified organization," Palermo's Chief Prosecutor Francesco Lo Voi said at a news conference.
Messina Denaro also enjoys "a high degree of protection" in Sicily, proven by the fact he has been so well hidden since 1993, authorities added.
That unity is based on greed, added prosecutor Teresa Principato.
"Matteo Messina Denaro is a kind of parasite that does not take into account family ties, but makes use of the money that the members of his family and the clan can get him". Added Interior Minister Angelino Alfano in a post on his Twitter feed: "The State wins, the Mafia loses".
He alleged the 11 arrested had "aided and abetted" Messina Denaro.
Rosy Bindi, head of the parliamentary anti-mafia commission, called Monday's arrests a "significant success".
"The operation that led to the dismantling, with 11 arrests, of the network of loyal (Mafia) men who helped the boss of Cosa Nostra to exercise the role of command and preserve its economic power is a significant success...demonstrating the determination of the institutions in the fight against the Mafia," said Bindi.

http://www.ansa.it/english/news/2015/08 ... bd81c.html

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Mafia attacks on journalists on the rise
Anti-mafia commission releases alarming report

(ANSA) - Rome, August 5 - Organized crime attacks and intimidation against journalists have been rising steadily between 2006 and 2014, the parliamentary anti-mafia commission said Wednesday in a report on the condition of journalists threatened by the mafia.
"The increase in acts of hostility against journalists is alarming," said commission chair Rosy Bindi and deputy chair Claudio Fava.
"There were 2,060 such attacks between 2006 and October 31 2014, with a steady increase that peaked in the first 10 months of 2014 when 421 acts of violence and intimidation took place - almost three incidents every two days," Bindi said.
Currently in Italy, 20 journalists live under armed guard and 11 have been killed by various mafia organizations, according to the report.
Calabria and Sicily are the two regions most dangerous for journalists.
The report said such acts of intimidation go almost totally unpunished since "there are very few incidents in which the perpetrators have been identified, tried, and convicted".
The report also pointed to the "unscrupulous and intimidatory" use of lawsuits in order to induce journalists to tone down their investigative reports.
TV journalist Milena Gabanelli, for example, has been sued for over 250 million euros by various disgruntled subjects in the course of her career as a hard-hitting investigative reporter.
The report goes on to denounce a "more subtle but no less harmful form of violence, which is the situation of extreme job and economic insecurity of the vast majority of the journalists who come under threat".
Freelancers are the "de facto supporting framework of the entire Italian news system" but have no juridical protection, and "this grave lack to remedied as soon as possible", the commission said.

http://www.ansa.it/english/news/2015/08 ... 78e81.html

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the camorra wars in napoli left 3 dead in the latest days
luigi galletta, 21
salvatore d'alpino, 34
giovanni panico, 33

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Eight arrests, 1.5 mn seized in 'Ndrangheta extortion op
Calabrian mob got 3% of contracts from businesses

(ANSA) - Catanzaro, August 13 - Police in the southern city of Catanzaro on Thursday arrested eight people and seized some 1.5 million euros in assets in an operation to bust a 20-year extortion ring on the coast of Calabria.
The arrested people are allegedly members of the Gallelli and Procopio-Mongiardo clams of the Calabrian mafia, both of which operate in the Catanzaro area.
The gangs alleged targeted businesses that won public contracts and the owners of hotels and holiday villages.
The seized assets were properties and shares in companies.
Catanzaro anti-mafia prosecutor Giovanni Bombardieri praised the courage of a entrepreneur who reported the extortion.
"Today's operation stems entirely from the statements made by a businessman who had been tormented for 20 years and found the courage to report the tyranny he was subjected to, thanks in part to the results of investigations in the area recently," Bombardieri said. In one case, the businessman was forced to hand over 3% of a 500,000-euro public contract to the mobsters, investigators said.

http://www.ansa.it/english/news/2015/08 ... d9c4c.html

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Casamonica: police forced to intervene
Funeral cortege paraded for several kilometres

(ANSA) - Rome, August 21 - Police were forced to intervene on Rome's roads yesterday as the funeral of mafia boss Vittorio Casamonica caused traffic chaos in the capital, sources told ANSA on Friday.
The first call into the municipal police came around 9.30am when the funeral procession, which included a horse-drawn carriage and tens of cars, began to block via Tuscolana. A patrol squad was sent to the scene before reinforcements were dispatched.
"In 30 years of service I have never seen something like that," one police officer said. "We intervened to make sure they (the procession) kept on the right, to keep the traffic flowing. There was a risk of complete chaos throughout that area of the city. We preventively closed some roads and created diversions." The funeral procession continued for several kilometres, from the funeral parlour in Romanina to Cinecittà.
There had been suggestions that traffic wardens had been posted to the area to make sure the funeral went smoothly, rather than reacting to the chaos it caused.

http://www.ansa.it/english/news/general ... ae21f.html

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Ostia council dissolved for mafia infiltration (2)
Ex council chair nabbed in Rome mafia case

(ANSA) - Rome, August 27 - The government on Thursday dissolved the council of the coastal town of Ostia near Rome because of mafia infiltration and after a string of corruption scandals, Interior Minister Angelino Alfano told reporters after a cabinet meeting on Rome's woes.
Former Ostia town council chairman Andrea Tassone was arrested in June along with 43 others in connection with the Rome mafia case into a crime ring that allegedly includes gangsters, businessmen and politicians.

http://www.ansa.it/english/news/2015/08 ... 26db8.html

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Palermo remembers general murdered by mafia
General noted for fighting terrorism, criminal organisations

(ANSA) - Palermo, September 3 - A ceremony was held in Palermo on Thursday in memory of Carlo Alberto Dalla Chiesa, a general from Italy's Carabinieri military police who was killed by the Mafia 33 years ago.
Dalla Chiesa played a key role in fighting terrorism in Italy in the 1970s, helping to capture members of the militant left-wing Red Brigades organisation. While serving as prefect of Palermo in 1982, he was murdered with his wife Emanuela Setti Carraro by a group of gunmen following Mafia orders.
Attendants laid wreaths by their tomb on Thursday and observed a minute of silence, followed by a long applause.
Italian Interior Minister Angelino Alfano and Palermo Mayor Leoluca Orlando were among institutional representatives at the ceremony.
Italian President Sergio Mattarella said in a statement that Dalla Chiesa was a leading example for younger generations, due to his "unyielding battle against the insidious work of terrorist and criminal organisations and his clever and persistent action".

http://www.ansa.it/english/news/2015/09 ... dc59f.html

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Camorra-linked man killed by gunshots in Naples
Pasquale Ceraso, 67, shot several times in neck while in car

(ANSA) - Naples, September 3 - A 67-year-old man with links to the Camorra criminal organisation was killed by gunfire in central Naples early on Thursday morning, police said.
Pasquale Ceraso's body was found inside a car on Via Santa Teresa degli Scalzi, not far from Naples' famous archaeological museum. He had been shot several times in the neck.
His car had continued to move after he had been shot dead, before slamming into a wall.
The alarm was raised by some people in the area who heard gunshots.
According to local reports, the man had links to the Camorra, or Naples' mafia. He had been arrested several times, accused of involvement in drugs and arms trafficking and extortion.

http://www.ansa.it/english/news/2015/09 ... 0cf1e.html

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Nine mobsters arrested for extortion of shops, drug dealers
Gangsters took protection money at Christmas, Easter, Ferragosto

(ANSA) - Caserta, September 4- Police flying squad officers arrested nine Camorra mobsters at dawn Friday on charges running an extensive extortion racket bilking thousands of euros from shopkeepers, bars and even drug dealers, police said.
The nine belonged to the Bidognetti faction of the feared Casalesi clan of the Camorra operating in the Caserta area just north of Naples.
Heads of the gang were identified as Gaetano Cerci, 50, and Dionigi pacifico, 53.
The nine, based at the town of San Nicola la Strada on the outskirts of Caserta, demanded protection money of between 500 and 1000 euros from bars, mozzarella sellers and even drug dealers each Christmas, Easter and Ferragosto, police said.
Three of the nine also were charged with stealing coats and the cash register from a well known fashion store in the centre of Caserta.
The gang also ran a "credit collection" service that in one case was used by the manager of a betting shop to try and recover gambling debts run up by a soldier.

http://www.ansa.it/english/news/2015/09 ... f7349.html

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Naples officials deny Camorra is 'integral part' of city
Anti-mafia commission head refuses to apologise for comment

(ANSA) - Naples, September 15 - Senior officials in Naples on Tuesday rejected claims by the head of Italy's anti-mafia commission that the Camorra is an "integral part" of the city, arguing that it involves just a small group of citizens.
Rosy Bindi is visiting Naples this week as part of a mission for the anti-mafia commission and said on Monday that "the Camorra is an integral part of this society, this city, and this region".
Naples Mayor Luigi de Magistris said on Tuesday that he did not agree with the comment at all and that he had jumped on his seat when he heard it.
"The majority of Neapolitans are tired of the Camorra and their bullying," he said following a meeting with the commission.
Naples Chief Prosecutor Giovanni Colangelo also rejected the comments, saying that normal Neapolitans did not have a propensity to commit crime.
"Criminals represent a small percentage of the population compared to citizens who want to live in peace," Colangelo said.
Bindi refused to apologise on Tuesday, saying that "not denying the Camorra is the first step to fighting it".

http://www.ansa.it/english/news/2015/09 ... c8cb8.html

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Over 40 arrested in Naples Camorra operation
Suspects believed to belong to, or have links, with clans

(ANSA) - Naples, September 18 - Carabinieri police arrested 43 people in the centre of Naples and in other areas as part of a massive operation targeting Camorra mafia clans on Friday.
The officers implemented 34 warrants to jail suspects, while nine others were put under house arrest. They are suspected of crimes including mafia-style criminal association, extortion, drug trafficking and illegal possession of weapons of war.

http://www.ansa.it/english/news/2015/09 ... 353c6.html

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Camorra boss accused in 2004 double murder
Uncle and nephew gunned down in turf war

(ANSA) - Naples, September 23 - A detained boss in the Neapolitan Camorra mafia was served a warrant Wednesday for the murder of two men in a turf war in 2004. Biagio Cava, 60, boss of the clan of the same name in the province of Avellino, is suspected of ordering the hit on Antonio and Francesco Graziano, uncle and nephew, gunned down in an ambush at San Paolo Bel Sito near Naples on June 11, 2004.
Informants have provided written testimony against Cava.

http://www.ansa.it/english/news/2015/09 ... fc91c.html

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Cops nab 54 in 'Ndrangheta mafia bust
Suspects face racketeering, drug trafficking charges

(ANSA) - Rome, September 28 - Carabinieri police on Monday arrested 54 alleged mobsters in a crackdown on two elite clans of the Calabria-based 'Ndrangheta mafia.
The suspects face racketeering and drug trafficking charges, police said.
The clans allegedly laundered some of their ill-gotten gains through a Dutch flower import-export company, investigators said.
The crime syndicates were named as the Commisso clan operating out of the town of Siderno in Reggio Calabria province with affiliated in Canada and the Netherlands, and the Coluccio clan out of Marina di Gioiosa Jonica. The Commisso clan "can count on at least 500 hitmen", prosecutors said.

http://www.ansa.it/english/news/2015/09 ... bcb61.html

[Wiseguy]

Police Issue 22 Arrest Warrants After Sicilian Shopkeepers Turn on Mafia
by REUTERS
November 2, 2015

PALERMO, Italy — Italian police issued arrest warrants on Monday for mafia suspects after 32 shopkeepers and businessmen turned against the mob and denounced rackets in their neighborhood.

Italian media said the large number of businesses willing to denounce the mafia in one of its traditional Sicilian strongholds was unprecedented.

Police said they had issued 22 arrest warrants for both mafia chiefs and their henchmen. A number of them were already behind bars and there was no immediate information on how many were still on the run.

"The investigation ... shows the suffocating pressure of extortion exercised by the most feared mafia chiefs, who, from 2003 to 2013, took charge of the top ranks of the mafia organization," the police statement said.

Police said that after years of silence, businessmen in the Bagheria neighborhood near Palermo "had found the courage" to provide details about mafia activities that had delved into everything from construction to fish sales.

"We have never seen such a large number of victims cooperate," police colonel Salvatore Altavilla was quoted as saying on the website of newspaper la Repubblica.

The Sicilian mafia, known as Cosa Nostra, was once Italy's most powerful criminal group but has lost some of its sway due to the state's ability to capture many of its top bosses.

Part of the police success has been tied to its ability to chip away at the mafia's code of silence, known as omerta, with the relatives of mafiosi and local businesses appearing to be increasingly willing to talk to authorities.

http://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/polic ... ia-n455561

[Slava]

http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2 ... -them.html