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Italian police target Mafia suspects with dawn raids in Umbria Italian police target Mafia suspects with dawn raids in Umbria
(about 3 hours later)
Italian police have arrested 61 people, impounded goods and froze assets worth more than €30m (£24m) in dawn raids that highlighted in dramatic fashion the extent to which the country’s mafias have spread from their southern homelands to the rest of the country. The word conjures up undulating olive groves, early Renaissance frescoes and – for those lucky enough to holiday in the region – drinks by the villa pool at sunset.
The focus of Operation Fourth Step was Umbria, in central Italy – an area known for its Renaissance frescoes, rolling green hills and foreign second homes rather than its links to the mobsters of the Mezzogiorno. Yet, according to a police statement, the raids stemmed from “widespread infiltration of the local economy” in the province of Perugia by the ‘Ndrangheta of Calabria. There is no part of Italy as distant in the popular imagination from the arid, mafia-ridden Mezzogiorno as Umbria. Yet on Wednesday police arrested 61 people in dawn raids that focused on the region the tourist posters describe as “the green heart of Italy”.
Those arrested were accused of offences including extortion, loansharking, fraud, drug trafficking and living off immoral earnings. The police said the ‘Ndrangheta had used “arson and intimidation” to penetrate legitimate businesses, particularly in the construction industry. Police said the arrests stemmed from “widespread infiltration” by the ‘Ndrangheta of Calabria of the local economy in the province of Perugia. They highlighted more dramatically than ever before the extent to which Italy’s organised crime syndicates have spread from their southern homelands to the rest of the country.
Operation Fourth Step came as further details emerged of an organised crime syndicate operating in Rome, another traditionally mafia-free zone. Trials in the north of Italy in recent years have shown the ‘Ndrangheta in particular had succeeded in establishing a presence in the areas around Milan and Turin, respectively the financial and industrial capitals of Italy. A statement said the ‘Ndrangheta had used arson and intimidation to penetrate legitimate businesses in Umbria, particularly in the construction industry. Evidence brought to light in an investigation codenamed Operation Fourth Step included the terrorising of a local businesswoman who found a severed lamb’s head outside her premises, and a wiretap in which one of the alleged mobsters appears to foretell a murder. A voice on the recording is heard to say: “If we see him … we leave him dead in front of the bar.”
It was not immediately clear whether Wednesday’s raids were linked to a separate operation in Reggio Calabria, the biggest city in the ‘Ndrangheta’s heartland. Police there were acting after the issue of 25 arrest warrants in connection with a dragnet codenamed Operation Godfather. Another of the suspects was said to have reminded a local that in Calabria “it is the custom to embed [the victims of the ‘Ndrangheta] in cement casts”.
The raids were thought to stem from the arrest four years ago of Giovanni Tegano, one of Italy’s 30 most wanted mobsters. Tegano, who spent 17 years in hiding, is currently serving a life sentence. He was a leading player in a mafia war between 1985 and 1991 that left more than 600 people dead. Police impounded goods and froze assets worth more than €30m (£24m) during Wednesday’s operation. Offences of which those arrested were accused include extortion, loan-sharking, fraud, drug-trafficking and living off immoral earnings.
Trials and investigations in recent years have shown the ‘Ndrangheta had succeeded in establishing a daunting presence in the industrialised north of Italy and around the financial capital, Milan. But reports of organised criminal activity in Umbria had until now focused on a faction of the Camorra, the mafia of the region around Naples.
According to the Italian revenue guard, the Guardia di Finanza, the Camorra has made extensive property acquisitions in the area as a way of laundering the proceeds of crime.
Operation Fourth Step came as further details emerged of an organised crime syndicate operating in Rome, another traditionally mafia-free zone. The capital’s mobsters were not sworn members of any of the southern-based groups, but evidence has surfaced to indicate that they had links with them.
An investigation into the gang in Rome found evidence of extensive bribing of local officials. Italy’s prime minister, Matteo Renzi, said his government would on Thursday approve draft legislation to stiffen the penalties for corruption.
The latest raids took place as police in Reggio Calabria, the biggest city in the ‘Ndrangheta’s heartland, launched a dragnet code-named Operation Godfather. The operation was thought to stem from the arrest four years ago of Giovanni Tegano, who at the time was one of Italy’s 30 most wanted mobsters. Tegano, who spent 17 years in hiding, is currently serving a life sentence.