News from Italy

[Wiseguy]

Sicilian Mafia Cashes In On Desperate Immigrants

Details emerge of poisonous links between local politicians and organized crime networks in Sicily working together to siphon public funds and exploit migrants arriving via Lampedusa.

Migrants who arrive to the island of Lampedusa, or any other place in Italy, and are not recognized as asylum seekers are first housed in Identification and Expulsion Centers. Those who may be entitled to political asylum are sent on to stay in CARA reception centers while authorities assess whether to grant them this status. There are eight such centers in Italy, mostly in the southern part of the country that continues to be plagued by organized crime.

MINEO — The first thing a visitor is asked when arriving at the gates to Europe's largest center for asylum seekers is: "Do you want one girl, or two?" It is not a misunderstanding between the visitor and the four Eritrean migrants standing in the dark in front of Italian Army trucks. "How about two girls for 50 euros, OK?"

On any given evening, they sell women, their own women. Everything here is connected on various levels to organized crime, starting with the 97 million-euro contract for the three-year management of the center itself. The national anti-corruption authority deemed this contract illegal in late February.

"The choice to contract a variety of activities (work, services, supplies) to a single operator appears at odds with the principles of economy, efficiency, impartiality, equal treatment, transparency," it concluded.

In the Sicilian city of Catania, an anti-mafia prosecutor is looking into how — and in exchange for what — the contract fell into the hands of the Calatino Lands of Hospitality consortium. Ten suspects have been detained, with two names released. The first is Giuseppe Castiglione, Undersecretary for Agricultural Resources and Sicilian leader of the New Center-Right party . The second is Luca Odevaine, who is already the focus of a investigation that recently allleged that mafia members bribed officials to win contracts for profitable public work and extorted money destined for the country's Roma population and immigrants.

Odevaine's role in Sicily emerged after he was heard on a wiretap. "Having this relationship continue with the ministry allows us to steer the flow of migrants coming from down there," he says to a colleague. "Otherwise they would pass by Mineo." Odevaine works at the Ministry of the Interior and had pull in awarding the contract.

Exploiting the refugees

The small village of Mineo, with its yellow houses and groves of orange trees, is just 40 kilometers from Catania. What were originally 2,000 places for migrants have ballooned to some 4,000. The lodgings were once used for soldiers on duty at the Sigonella military base, but they are now a kind of open prison for migrants who roam the countryside and do what they can — including prostituting the women — for cash.

"They give us very little to eat and one pack of cigarettes a week," says Joel from Nigeria. "We do nothing all day except wait." Others instead line up at 7 a.m. in order to get on the trucks and go out to the nearby fields and work. The pay, of course, is under the table and fluctuates between 1 and 3 euros per hour. Even transport to and from Catania, where refugees can begin the endless paperwork for political asylum, is run by unlicensed groups who profit from the desperation of immigrants. A one-way trip costs 5 euros.

There are all kinds of black market activities around, but the prostitution is perhaps the most visible. There are girls for sale on side streets, or are sometimes brought into the city where they can earn more. "They're keeping us hostage," says Himat from Tunisia. "They keep us here for 14 months until they tell us whether or not we are political refugees."

Long time coming

The headquarters of the Calatino consortium is an unmarked office in Caltagirone, southwest of Catania, and the employees are deeply embarrassed by the news of the contract's illegality and the investigation into how it was awarded. "This bad news was unfortunately in the air," says one person who comes to the door.

Mayor Valerio Marletta of Palagiano, another town in the area, smelled a rat years ago. "They wanted to involve us in the consortium, but I was opposed," he says. "It was clear that the contract had been specifically designed to facilitate the usual activities, and there was no doubt who would win."

To put it in crude terms, migrants translate into money, and the unholy alliance of mafia and local politics is still big business in Italy. These are all at the center of the investigation coordinated by Catania's chief prosecutor Giovanni Salvi. "Any comments are premature," he says now. But a few days earlier he spoke at a parliamentary inquiry looking into the phenomenon of organized crime profiting off of immigration.

Much of this hearing has been classified, but the guidelines are available to read. "In 2013, the number of migrants who arrived was 50,000," it reads. "In 2014, there were more than 150,000. Of these, more than 90,000 entered the province of Catania. We understood that there was a serious emergency in the management of Mineo's CARA center. There is an investigation underway."

The prosecutor noted that there are possible connections in Sicily with a massive scandal that erupted in Rome late last year over similar alleged connections between the capital's local leaders and organized crime networks in exploiting immigrant service contracts.

Many pages later, just before concluding, Salvi apologizes for an oversight: "We also have an important trial that concerns the reception centers for unaccompanied minors. Another emergency. Both from the point of view of the children themselves, as well as from an illegality standpoint."

It's only when we finally know the full story that we'll understand what the migrants who came to Sicily, or other parts of Italy or Europe, really went through on their journeys to a new life.

http://www.worldcrunch.com/migrant-live ... RL2C_yjOSo



12 suspects arrested in anti-mafia operation in southern Italy

Italian police on Tuesday arrested 12 alleged members of Camorra, a mafia syndicate based in Campania region, southern Italy, involved in violent fights between rival clans in the presence of citizens, local reports said, APA reports quoting Xinhua.

Local Il Mattino newspaper said the 12 suspects were detained on charges of attempted murder and kidnapping as well as illegal possession of weapons, with mafia method as an aggravating circumstance.

Investigators used hidden cameras to record footage that showed four people riding two motor scooters shooting against a rival group on a street in the eastern part of Naples, the capital city of Campania.

There were some young pedestrians on the sidewalk, including a small kid, who run away while another gunman started shooting from a side road, Naples-based Il Mattino added.

In another footage sequence, suspects were exchanging firearms before opening fire against the buildings where the rival clan was living, in the presence of several frightened women and children.

According to ANSA news agency, the arrested belong to a clan called D'Amico engaged in a violent turf war with a rival clan named De Micco for control of illegal businesses in a working-class district of Naples.

Earlier this month, police carried out another major operation against Camorra, in which around 40 people were arrested and charged with crimes including mafia association, extortion and receiving stolen goods.

All those arrested were alleged members of the Casalesi, another powerful clan inside Camorra that is rooted in the small town of Casal di Principe, north of Naples.

Camorra along with 'Ndrangheta, based in Calabria region, and Cosa Nostra, based in Sicily island region, are the three most renowned mafia-type syndicates in Italy.

The criminal organizations in recent years have resulted from numerous investigations to have turned their hands to the legitimate economy in power and wealth centers of the country.

http://en.apa.az/xeber_12_suspects_arre ... 24733.html

[scagghiuni]

5 mafia-related murders in italy in the last two weeks

cosa nostra: franco mazzè,46, member of the zen family killed in palermo and paolo forestieri,25, killed near siracusa

ndrangheta: fiore gentile,54, member of the arena family killed near crotone

camorra: antonio pastella,38, member of the amato family and ciro d'ambrosio,42, both killed in naples

[scagghiuni]

Cops bust intl coke-trafficking ring
After finance guardsman refuses 100,000-euro bribe

(ANSA) - Brindisi, March 31 - The finance guard on Tuesday arrested four men and are seeking three more on suspicion of forming an international drug trafficking ring that brought cocaine from Colombia, Ecuador and Peru.

The seven arrested in the southern Puglia and Calabria regions face charges of criminal association with intent to acquire, import, transport, possess, distribute and sell drugs.

Police have detained Francesco and Vittorio Pezzuto, aged 71 and 48, from the town of Squinzano in Puglia, as well as Giuseppe Novello, 34, and Stefano Condina, 59, from Calabria.

Squinzano-based brothers Antonio and Patrizio Pellegrino and one Colombian national have escaped arrest and are being sought by police.

The investigation kicked off in 2013 when the alleged traffickers offered a finance guard who was posted to Brindisi port 100,000 euros to look the other way while the drugs were moved in.

He reported the attempted bribery instead.

The organization allegedly brought shipments of 70-100 kilos of cocaine - worth about four million euros each - into Genoa and Gioia Tauro ports disguised in canned asparagus and banana shipments.

http://www.ansa.it/english/news/2015/03 ... 81a4a.html

[scagghiuni]

salvatore cutrone,66, and francesco torrisi,27 killed near catania

the boss severino palumbo,53, killed near foggia

[scagghiuni]

Cellino ex-mayor, executive councillors arrested - update 2
Town council dissolved in April 2014 for mafia infiltration

(ANSA) - Cellino San Marco, April 10 - Police on Friday arrested 14 people relation to a corruption probe, including the former mayor of the Puglia town of Cellino San Marco, near Brindisi, and several ex-members of the council executive. The municipality was put in the hands of commissioners appointed by central government for mafia infiltration in April 2014. The former mayor, criminal lawyer and Forza Italia member Francesco Cascione, has been taken to jail.
Those arrested are suspected of crimes ranging from criminal association to embezzlement. Four entrepreneurs from the provinces of Brindisi, Bari and Lecce were also among the people arrested along with a person considered close to Puglia's Sacra Corona Unita mafia syndicate. Investigators suspected that a criminal organisation headed by Cascione manipulated public contracts and staff selection procedures, including one for municipal police officers, in exchange for bribes.

[toto]

5 mafia-related murders in italy in the last two weeks

cosa nostra: franco mazzè,46, member of the zen family killed in palermo and paolo forestieri,25, killed near siracusa

ndrangheta: fiore gentile,54, member of the arena family killed near crotone

camorra: antonio pastella,38, member of the amato family and ciro d'ambrosio,42, both killed in naples

Already some arrests for Mazzè murder. Is Zen really separate family now? Or he's a member of Tommaso Natale or San Lorenzo?

[scagghiuni]

Already some arrests for Mazzè murder. Is Zen really separate family now? Or he's a member of Tommaso Natale or San Lorenzo?

it's a separate family now

[scagghiuni]

the gangster vincenzo pace,47, was shot dead in naples

[toto]

Already some arrests for Mazzè murder. Is Zen really separate family now? Or he's a member of Tommaso Natale or San Lorenzo?

it's a separate family now

I know there was antimafia report which listed Zen as separate family. If yor remember, I posted list of families from that report in the old board and at that time, I agreed with you when you said Zen is not a separate family.

Is there more information about this since then?

Same report listed Kalsa as separate family. Do you know if Kalsa is separate from Porta Nuova now?

[scagghiuni]

latest reports said zen is a separate family, i think the boss of san lorenzo should be crazy to form a family in the zen, that place is full of mad heads and now they have an own family

kalsa is still under porta nuova i think that report is wrong

[toto]

latest reports said zen is a separate family, i think the boss of san lorenzo should be crazy to form a family in the zen, that place is full of mad heads and now they have an own family

kalsa is still under porta nuova i think that report is wrong

It was Lo Piccolo who started to put guys from Zen in Cosa Nostra. The old days of ordinary guys is gone and so mad heads is the new recruitment pool. Zen was full of drug dealers and users in the past and it was no-go for police and probably for Cosa Nostra.

[scagghiuni]

It was Lo Piccolo who started to put guys from Zen in Cosa Nostra. The old days of ordinary guys is gone and so mad heads is the new recruitment pool. Zen was full of drug dealers and users in the past and it was no-go for police and probably for Cosa Nostra.

yeah it was sandro lo piccolo because he was in friendship with several zen guys but at that time zen was under tommaso natale only recently it became a family, so i guess the biondino's authorized them to form a family... zen it is probably the worst place in italy along with scampia and sicilian cities and naples are full of shit holes

[toto]

It was Lo Piccolo who started to put guys from Zen in Cosa Nostra. The old days of ordinary guys is gone and so mad heads is the new recruitment pool. Zen was full of drug dealers and users in the past and it was no-go for police and probably for Cosa Nostra.

yeah it was sandro lo piccolo because he was in friendship with several zen guys but at that time zen was under tommaso natale only recently it became a family, so i guess the biondino's authorized them to form a family... zen it is probably the worst place in italy along with scampia and sicilian cities and naples are full of shit holes

They probably put Zen as a separate family to isolate any problems. Zen is kind of like projects in New York and populated with a similar kind of mentality.

[Strax]

One of the biggest drug traffickers in the world:Marco Torello Rollero has been arrested in Morocco.He is member of 'Ndrangheta i don't know what family.

Are there more places like Zen is,in Sicily ? I know Scampia in Naples and Zen in Palermo,they both look awful.

[Strax]

Francesco Barone accused of killing his mother to punish her for having an affair with Domenico Cacciola, a member of a rival family in the 'Ndrangheta.

An alleged Italian mafia gangster was arrested on suspicion of murdering his mother after she began an affair with a godfather from a rival gang.

The vendetta was carried out according to "the archaic rules" of the 'Ndrangheta, the powerful mafia syndicate that is based in the southern region of Calabria, police said.

Francesco Barone, 22, is accused of killing his mother, Francesca Bellocco, in order to punish her for having an affair with Domenico Cacciola, a member of a rival family in the 'Ndrangheta.

The suspected murder took place in the town of Rosarno, at the southern tip of Calabria, in Aug 2013.

Shortly afterwards 50-year-old Caccialo disappeared and police believe that he too may have been killed as part of the vendetta.

Police suspect Francesco Barone of hiding his mother's body, which has still not been found.

They said he had led a "commando" of hit men who helped him murder his mother and then dispose of her body.

He was arrested by Carabinieri police officers in Rosarno on Wednesday.

Considered to be one of Europe's most ruthless criminal groups, the Calabrian mafia has grown rich from the importing of cocaine from Latin America.

Prosecutors say it has forged close links with cocaine cartels in Colombia and Mexico.

Since Italy plunged into an economic slump five years ago, the 'Ndrangheta has also extended its reach into the centre and north of the country, buying up businesses in Rome, Milan and Bologna.

Calabria, which forms the toe of the Italian boot, is one of Europe's poorest regions.

It has an unemployment rate of 23 per cent, the highest in Italy.

Source: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldne ... olice.html