News from Italy

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Casalesi mob,ex PD MP bilked 23 mln in methane scam
Pact between mobsters and cooperative 'dated to 2000'

(ANSA) - Naples, July 3 - The CPL Concordia cooperative paid the Casalesi clan of the Camorra more than 23 million euros in bribes from public funds obtained for methane contracts in the province of Caserta, ANSA sources said Friday.
The extent of the Naples' crime gang's lucrative takings in the methane business emerged as Carabinieri arrested six people and disclosed that former parliamentarian Lorenzo Diana is under investigation in the probe of the racket.
Diana, a former senator for Premier Matteo Renzi's centre-left Democratic Party (PD), acted as a "facilitator" for relations between CPL and the vicious Casalesi clan in Caserta province prosecutors said. Naples Prosecutor Giuseppe Borrelli said Diana had " a role of absolute importance".
The agreement between CPL senior managers and the mobsters dated to as far abck as 2000 and was mediated also by Antonio Piccolo, a businessman closely linked to underworld circles led by the Camorra kingpin Michele Zagaria, the sources said.
Antonio Iovine, a senior member of the Casalesi clan, made the arrests possible by turning state's evidence.
CPL took over the concession for providing methane to seven administrative districts after the firm originally holding the concession, Consorzio Eurogas, was pushed out and forced to hand over the concession for free following Camorra intimidation, said the sources.
Clan affiliates were given jobs at the cooperative and CPL did not bill Camorra boss Michele Zagaria and his family for gas consumption worth 47,000 euros, said the sources.

http://www.ansa.it/english/news/2015/07 ... c6a3b.html

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Ten arrested for 'exporting' Calabrian mafia to Germany

Italian and German police arrested 10 suspects overnight who are accused of associating with the 'Ndrangheta and 'exporting' clans from the Calabria-based mafia organisation.

The 'Rheinbruecke' operation followed the recent 'Helvetia' operation that uncovered the export of 'Ndrangheta clans to Switzerland which reported directly to the mafia's Calabrian leadership, police said.

Junior defence minister Gioacchino Alfano praised Italian and German police for Tuesday's "brilliant" operation.

The 'Ndrangheta, Italy's wealthiest mafia, emerged in the mid-1970s and runs a drugs and extortion business worth billions of euros.

It has links to Columbian drugs cartels and is one of the world's most powerful criminal groups.

The organisation operates mainly in Italy and Europe but extends its influence and networks from Italy across the world.

A report by Italy's anti-mafia directorate in 2011 described the 'Ndrangheta as having "virtually unlimited resources".

http://www.adnkronos.com/aki-en/securit ... rNIpK.html

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Cops nab 40 mafia suspects in Bari
Clan 'controlled extortion racket, drug trade'

(ANSA) - Bari, July 7 - Carabinieri police on Tuesday arrested 40 alleged affiliates of the powerful Strisciuglio mafia clan operating in and around the southern city of Bari.

The sweep came after a three-year investigation that uncovered what prosecutors said is a heavily armed criminal organization affiliated with the Neapolitan Camorra mafia, with a network of affiliates both within and outside prison walls.

The clan controlled the drug trade, met publicly in a piazza to exchange information and discuss strategy, extorted construction businesses, and infiltrated ultrà supporters of the Bari soccer team.

Those arrested include clan boss Domenico Strisciuglio, Sigismondo Strisciuglio, and his wife Eugenia Prudente. One suspect who turned State's witness has been placed under house arrest in a protected location.

http://www.ansa.it/english/news/2015/07 ... 52dcd.html

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ROME: Italian police said on Wednesday they had seized assets worth more than 1.6 billion euros (1.15 billion pounds) from five Sicilian siblings suspected of links to the island's Cosa Nostra mafia.

The criminal group allegedly helped the three brothers and two sisters, described as "businesspeople" from the area around the Sicilian capital, Palermo, to receive construction contracts related to public works.

Palermo police said in a statement they had sequestered real said was one of the biggest of its kind they had ever carried out.

Cosa Nostra, along with the Calabrian 'Ndrangheta and the Camorra around Naples, has long plagued Italy, and in recent years their activity has spread to northern cities from their southern heartland. Three years of recession have helped deep-rooted corruption to flourish.

Italy ranking 69th of 177 countries in global anti-corruption group Transparency International's 2014 Corruption Perceptions Index, joint last in the European Union.

Police are due to give further details of the investigation at a press conference in Palermo later on Wednesday.

Source: http://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/wor ... 68998.html
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44 arrested in 'Ndrangheta drugs bust
International operation breaks up cocaine trafficking ring

(ANSA) - Rome, July 9 - Police on Thursday bust an international drugs ring linked to Calabria's powerful 'Ndrangheta mafia, arresting 44 suspects in Italy and abroad.
The organisation allegedly trafficked cocaine from South America to markets in north Italy and Europe. Over 600 kg of cocaine were seized in the operation, which also involved authorities in Colombia and Spain. The suspects included a group of Albanians based in Fiano Romano north of Rome, who allegedly took receipt of one of the largest batches of drugs handled by the criminal organisation. The cocaine originated in Venezuela, Colombia and Chile, prosecutors said. The traffic was managed by the 'Ndrangheta's Mancuso clan in partnership with other clans operating along Calabria's Ionian coast and the Albanian and Colombian organisations. 'Ndrangheta has in recent years replaced Sicily's Cosa Nostra as Italy's most powerful mafia because of its dominance of the international cocaine trade.

http://www.ansa.it/english/news/2015/07 ... 42435.html

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Ex-mayor among 13 arrested for Camorra ties
Accused of corruption in public contracts


(ANSA) - Naples, July 14 - Carabinieri military police on Tuesday arrested 13 suspected members and supporters of the Zagaria faction of the powerful Casalesi clan of the Neapolitan Camorra mafia.
Among those arrested are former Caserta mayor Pio Del Gaudio from Silvio Berlusconi's Forza Italia (FI) party and two ex-members of the Campania regional council.
They were named as Tommaso Barbato, formerly of the Christian Democratic UDEUR party, and Angelo Polverino, from Berlusconi's now-defunct People of Freedom (PdL) party.
Also in handcuffs was real estate builder Giuseppe Fontana, who allegedly paid Polverino 30,000 euros in 2010 and Del Gaudio 20,000 euros in 2011 in off-the-books financing for their successful election campaigns.
Investigators say Fontana was promised public contracts in return.
The suspects face charges of mafia association, corruption, falsifying property deeds, tampering with public contracts, and illegal party financing.
Police also seized bank accounts worth 11 million euros.
The arrests came as part of a probe into corruption in Campania region water utilities and illicit financing of local politicians.

http://www.ansa.it/english/news/2015/07 ... e6bbe.html

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FI MP Sarro quits Anti-Mafia Commission
Named in investigation into alleged mob infiltration of govt

(ANSA) - Rome, July 15 - Carlo Sarro, a Forza Italia MP named in a Mob investigation, has quit the Anti-Mafia Commission, its chair Rosy Bindi said Wednesday.
Sarro submitted a letter of resignation, she said.
Sarro, a Lower House MP representing ex-premier Silvio Berlusconi's FI, was earlier named in the probe into alleged Camorra infiltration of public administration.
On Tuesday, Naples anti-mafia prosecutors sent the Lower House a formal request that Sarro, 56, be put under house arrest, ANSA sources said.
If parliament voted to lift his immunity, Sarro could face charges of involvement in rigging a contract competition.
Sarro is under investigation along with businessmen Lorenzo Piccolo and Antonio Fontana over a 31.7-million-euro contract for sewer and water networks of the Gori Spa company, sources said.
Investigators believe that the contract competition was rigged to ensure that the work went to companies linked to Michele Zagaria, the head of a notorious Camorra clan called the Casalesis.

http://www.ansa.it/english/news/2015/07 ... 9923e.html


Camorra: 10 arrests of alleged drug pusher gang near Naples
Gang protected by 'look-out' system

(ANSA) - Naples, July 15 - Ten people believed to be part of the Italian Camorra were arrested on suspicion of drug trafficking Wednesday, ANSA has learned.
The group, which was arrested in Casavatore, near Naples, allegedly peddled an estimated 150,000 euros worth of drugs, including marijuana and hashish, every month.
Investigators from the Italian Carabinieri in Casoria, who worked together with the Antimafia Investigative Agency in Naples, seized 20kg of marijuana and arrested 24 alleged drug pushers - including some minors - during investigations. They also found that a gang of 10 people had formed a group dedicated to the peddling of drugs within the busy district of Casavatore.
The illegal activity was being "protected" by a lookout system among the pushers which allowed them to "watch over" key areas and develop places in which they could hide.
The arrest warrant for criminal conspiracy to commit drug trafficking was issued by the investigating judge in Napoli. The group are believed to be part of the 'Ferone' branch of the Camorra, the feared crime organisation that originated in Naples. Ernesto Ferone is one of the bosses in the mafia group.

http://www.ansa.it/english/news/2015/07 ... 5586e.html

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Police arrest nine and seize 330 mn in 'Ndrangheta bust
Aemilia operation focuses on Emilia-Romagna branch of mafia

(ANSA) - Bologna, July 16 - Police on Thursday arrested nine more people as part of the ongoing Aemilia operation probing the presence of the Calabrian 'Ndrangheta mafia in the Emilia-Romagna region.
Assets, commercial property and businesses worth a total of 330 million euros were also seized as part of Thursday's bust.
Those arrested are accused of fraudulent money transfers for mafia activities.
In January, the operation saw 117 arrests connected to Nicolino Grande Aracri, 'Ndrangheta boss of the Grande Aracri clan, who was already in prison at the time and was also among the nine for whom arrest warrants were executed on Thursday.
Of the remaining eight arrested, Alfonso Diletto, Michele Bolognino and Giovanni Vecchi were sent to jail, while Domenico Bolognino, Jessica Diletto, Francesco Spagnolo, Patrizia Patricelli and Ibrahim Ahmed Abdelgawad were placed on house arrest.
Over 300 carabinieri police from the regions of Emilia-Romagna, Lombardy, Calabria and Lazio, as well as helicopters and dog units, were involved in Thursday's police raid.
The 'Ndrangheta has in recent years replaced Sicily's Cosa Nostra as Italy's most powerful mafia because of its dominance of the international cocaine trade.

http://www.ansa.it/english/news/2015/07 ... ab348.html

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20 Camorra arrests in 'huge' haulage op
100 mn assets seized

(ANSA) - Naples, July 20 - Italian police on Monday arrested 20 people and seized 100 million euros in assets in a probe into the Neapolitan Camorra mafia's bid to "monopolise" a "huge" chunk of the Italian road haulage market.
Investigators said the powerful Mallardo clan based in Giugliano just outside Naples controlled "swathes" of the southern and central Italian trucking market.
The arrests were made in Naples, Salerno, Palermo, Caltanissetta, Catania and Bologna. Coldiretti, a farmers' group, said fruit and vegetable prices were inflated by as much as 300% because of the mafia's control of transport to market.

http://www.ansa.it/english/news/2015/07 ... 7b10b.html

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Ex Campania regional tourism assessor in Camorra probe
Politician was former UDC regional coordinator

(ANSA) - Caserta, July 20 - A former regional councillor for tourism in the government of Campania, Pasquale Sommese, has been placed under investigation on suspicion of links to Camorra crime gangs as part of a wider probe of the mob, police sources said Monday.

Sommese was until April the regional coordinator for the Union of the Democratic Centre (UDC) party, set up by former members of the old Mafia-plagued Christian Democrat party.

He was placed under investigation by the Naples Anti-mafia police department as part of an inquiry into links between the underworld and politicians in the Caserta area near Naples which climaxed with the arrest of 11 businessmen, former mayors and former regional councillors last week.

Sommese and 17 other people had their homes searched as part of the inquiry.

http://www.ansa.it/english/news/2015/07 ... 4319e.html

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Police arrest four in antiquities trafficking bust
'Ndrangheta boss Pantaleone Mancuso, 68, nabbed in probe

(ANSA) - Catanzaro, July 20 - Police on Monday arrested four suspected members of an antiquities trafficking ring, including alleged boss Pantaleone Mancuso, 68, of the eponymous 'Ndrangheta mafia clan.
The other three suspects were named as Riace bronzes expert Giuseppe Braghò, 68, Francesco Staropoli, 56, and Giuseppe Tavella, 54.
Police also searched the home of alleged international antiquities trafficker Luigi Fabiano, 47, a Swiss citizen of Italian origin who lives in Thun, where they seized various archeological artifacts and shipped them back to Calabria.
Judges issued restraining orders preventing Fabiano and two others from entering or staying in Vibo Valentia, where the alleged trafficking ring had its operational headquarters in a garage near the city's courthouse.
Investigators say the trafficking ring dug a 40-metre-long tunnel from the garage to the archeological site of the ancient city of Hipponion, where it has been looting objects for years and sending them to Switzerland for international sale online.
The artifacts included amphoras, pottery artifacts, column capitals and entire statues.

http://www.ansa.it/english/news/2015/07 ... 76341.html

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Trezzano sul Naviglio installs anti-'Ndrangheta road signs
'Mafia clans not welcome here' mayor says

(ANSA) - Milan, July 21 - The authorities in Trezzano sul Naviglio near Milan on Tuesday installed traffic signs banning clans operating under Calabria's powerful 'Ndrangheta mafia from the area.

"Municipality out of bounds to the 'Ndrangheta" and "Mafia clans are not welcome here" read the signs in blue on a white background positioned by mayor Fabio Bottero accompanied by the president of the Lombardy chapter of the national association of municipalities (ANCI), Roberto Scanagatti.

The initiative came under the auspices of the ANCI campaign '100 municipalities against the mafia'. For years Trezzano sul Naviglio was considered one of the municipalities with the largest and most deep-rooted 'Ndrangheta presence in Lombardy.

"Trezzano wants to free itself from the clans," Bottero said. "Our city hosts companies that are excellent on an international level and it has a healthy social fabric, but we aren't able to remove the problem," he continued.

The anti-mafia road signs have been erected on an experimental bais, but proponents hope transport ministry officials will grant them permanent authorization.

http://www.ansa.it/english/news/2015/07 ... fe6bf.html

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Police arrest 41 in 'Ndrangheta gaming ring worth 2 bn
Anti-mafia and finance police conducted early-morning raid

(ANSA) - Rome, July 22 - Anti-mafia and finance police arrested 41 people in an early-morning raid Wednesday, following a probe into an online illegal gaming ring run by Calabria's 'Ndrangheta mafia worth about 2 billion euros, investigators said.
The operation involved the seizure of 45 national and 11 international businesses, 1,500 betting parlours, 82 national and international online gaming websites, and numerous pieces of property.
Of the 41 people arrested, 28 were sent to jail and 13 were placed under house arrest.
Police also executed five restraining orders and five orders to appear before judicial police as part of the operation.

http://www.ansa.it/english/news/2015/07 ... d746b.html

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11 mln seized from Camorra businessman
Francesco Grassia collected protection money for Casalesi clan

(ANSA) - Naples, July 28 - Anti-mafia police on Tuesday seized 11 million euros of assets from a former businessman with close ties to the Neapolitan Camorra crime syndicate.
Francesco Grassia, 70, provided logistical support to members of the infamous Casalesi clan based in Caserta, allegedly collecting protection money and investing the income and importing weapons from the former Yugoslavia. He was arrested in 2000.
Companies, property and bank accounts were seized in Tuesday's operation.

http://www.ansa.it/english/news/general ... c0b37.html

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Italian police arrest 4, seize assets in anti-Camorra raids
Those arrested include members of powerful Casalesi clan

(ANSA) - Frosinone, July 30 - Italian police arrested at least four people and seized assets worth millions of euros on Thursday as part of a major operation against the Camorra, the mafia based in the Campania region.
Those arrested include members of the powerful Casalesi clan who specialise in the construction industry and are based in the province of Caserta, local sources said.
Some of the arrests, carried out by anti-mafia officers, occurred in the province of Frosinone in southern Lazio.
Italian financial police oversaw raids and the seizing of assets, including real estate, in both Lazio and Campania.

http://www.ansa.it/english/news/2015/07 ... 5599e.html