Catania, "villa robbery" gang busted: seven arrests, seizures, and esoteric rites to propitiate the heists
Carabinieri conducted a major operation in Catania: a gang accused of villa robberies, violence, and threats was dismantled. Seven precautionary measures were issued, including six arrests.
Catania, "villa robbery" gang busted: seven arrests, seizures, and esoteric rites used to bolster the heists.
CATANIA – Major operation by the Carabinieri of the Catania Provincial Command, coordinated by the Catania Public Prosecutor's Office, which led to the execution of precautionary measures against seven suspects, accused in various capacities of criminal association, aggravated robbery and other serious crimes.
Six people ended up in pre-trial detention in prison, while for a seventh suspect the following were ordered arrestThe alleged incidents include violence, personal injury, illegal possession and carrying of weapons, use of counterfeit distinctive signs and instruments intended to offend.
An investigation that lasted months
The operation is the result of a long and complex investigative activity started in November 2024 and concluded in June 2025, conducted by the Operational Unit of the Carabinieri Company of Catania - Fontanarossa with the support of special forces, including the Heliported Hunter Squadron “Sicilia” and Cynophilic nucleus.
The investigations used wiretaps, stakeouts and direct checks in the area, managing to document the criminal organization's operating methods. According to the prosecution, it was a group highly organized, capable of planning robberies using military techniques and moving with extreme speed and efficiency.
The esoteric ritual before the blows
A singular aspect of the investigation concerns the presence, within the gang, of a member of Senegalese origin who is charged – according to the investigations – with carrying out esoteric and propitiatory rites before every robbery. In fact, criminal activities never began without these rituals, considered by the group to be a sort of "spiritual protection" for the success of the robberies.
The Misterbianco robbery that triggered the investigation
The case that brought the spotlight on the suspects dates back to the night of November 16, 2024 a misterbiancoA couple and their 16-month-old daughter were targeted inside their home.
According to the investigators' reconstruction, the forty-year-old businessman who was the victim of the robbery was stopped while returning home from a fake road block: the robbers were wearing caps, bibs and paddles with the writing “Guardia di Finanza”, and they used a car with blue flashing lights.
Convinced they were real soldiers, the man was forced to get in with them and allow two robbers to drive his car home. Once inside, the criminals revealed themselves for what they were: violent and ruthless robbers.
Threats to her daughter and ferocious violence
In front of his partner and daughter, the entrepreneur was immobilized with adhesive tape and subjected to a series of threats and brutal beatings.
The robbers managed to get hold of 16 thousand euros in cash, jewels and luxury watches worth over 60 thousand euros. Not satisfied, they intensified the violence, going so far as to threaten the couple with abduct the child to sell her abroad and even of amputate a finger of the victim with large shears.
The forty-year-old also suffered physical injuries, including a fractured nasal septum.
Under pressure from these threats, the victim was forced to indicate the location of a second home, always in Misterbianco, where the robbers recovered a further loot of over 100 thousand euros in cash.
The decisive evidence: the cameras
A key element of the investigation was the recovery of images of a video surveillance system installed in one of the affected homes.
Despite the robbers' attempts to eliminate every trace – by dismantling the recording system and the connected modems – the Carabinieri managed to extract audio and video which documented in detail every phase of the robbery.
This evidence, combined with other investigative findings, consolidated the circumstantial evidence that allowed the Prosecutor's Office to request and obtain precautionary measures.
Other incidents and foiled robberies
The investigations also revealed that the gang had already carried out other shots in a similar manner and was planning new robberies, one of which was thwarted in the preparatory phase thanks to the timely intervention of the Carabinieri.
According to investigators, it would be a real stable and specialized criminal association in villa robberies, characterised by a particularly high level of organisation and ferocity.
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