Bari, serious crimes committed including mafia-type association and extortion. 10 people arrested by the Carabinieri

The Carabinieri of the Provincial Command of Bari have executed eleven arrest warrants, issued by the Attorney General's Office at the Court of Appeal of Bari (criminal enforcement office), against an equal number of people affected by definitive sentences of conviction, for serious crimes committed in Altamura, between 2018 and 2019, by individuals close to the Loiudice clan, initially linked to the Parisi – Palermiti mafia gang and hegemonic, in those years, in the Murgia city and lastly to the Capriati clan of Bari.

The investigations, coordinated by the Bari District Anti-Mafia Directorate and conducted, in various phases, through observation, control and shadowing services, technical activities, as well as supported by various statements from collaborators of justice, have allowed, already in November 2021, to execute 24 precautionary measures.

The investigation, conventionally called “Logos”, raised objections regarding the existence and operation of the mafia association, documenting its genesis and spread in Altamura, around the figure of the boss, who acquired more and more power and consolidated the particular force of intimidation deriving from the bond both within it and in the territory of interest, by virtue of the violent methods used to commit numerous crimes, committed both to obtain huge illicit profits and to assert criminal control in the area.

It was also ascertained how the mafia organisation was able to prevent the regular running of some public auctions, influencing – in exchange for money – the results in favour of certain individuals, exercising violence or threats towards other participants in order to discourage them from participating or from submitting any 're-bids'. Finally, it was documented how the gang managed, under a monopoly regime, all the flourishing drug dealing areas of Altamura, regularly supplying them with cocaine, hashish and marijuana.

During the investigation, a considerable quantity of narcotics was seized.. At the same time, given the disproportion that emerged between the declared incomes and the standard of living of the families of some of the top members of the clan, the preventive seizure was carried out - now evolved into confiscation - of a commercial activity and a high-powered car, for a total value of more than 150 thousand euros.

Furthermore, still within the scope of the same investigative activity, in February 2023 a sum of cash equal to 162.910,00 euros was carried out, attributable to the head of the Loiudice clan.

Finally, within the scope of the investigation, the following were the perpetrators of the robbery with kidnapping committed on March 15, 2019 to the detriment of a married couple, owners of a well-known commercial business in Altamura, have been identified. On that occasion, the robbers, armed with a gun, after having tied up and beaten the man, had taken possession of approximately 51.000 euros.

The sentences imposed with today's provisions range between two and eleven years of imprisonment.