CHANGE LANGUAGE

Caltanissetta, “Chimera” operation: Mazzarino's mafia family beheaded

Caltanissetta, defeated with today's operation conducted by the Carabinieri and coordinated by the DDA of the Nissena Prosecutor's Office, a mafia-type criminal organization, based in Mazzarino (CL) and branches throughout the national territory and in particular in the Milan area.

Over the course of four years of investigation, numerous elements were collected regarding the crimes of mafia-type association, murder, extortion (consummated and attempted), crimes against the mafia group called the "SANFILIPPO family" attributable to the in matters of weapons and narcotic substances, aggravated by the mafia method.

 

At dawn today, in this province and in other localities of the national territory, the Carabinieri of the Provincial Command of Caltanissetta executed a precautionary custody order issued by the GIP at the Court of Caltanissetta, based on the request of the Public Prosecutor's Office – DDA of Caltanissetta, against 55 subjects seriously suspected, for various reasons, of crimes of mafia-type association, murder, extortion (consummated and attempted), crimes relating to weapons and narcotics, aggravated by the so-called. mafia method. The suspects are believed to belong to the mafia association of Mazzarino (CL), called the "Sanfilippo clan" and attributable to the "Stidda" of Gela.

 

The investigations

The precautionary measure arises from a detailed investigation conducted between 2017 and 2021 by the Operational Section of the Operational and Radiomobile Unit of the Territorial Department of the Gela Carabinieri and was launched on the basis of info-operational elements provided by the Carabinieri Agricultural and Food Policies Command .

In particular, the investigation activity originates from the findings summarized in a 2016 note from the Carabinieri Agricultural and Food Policies Command - Operational Coordination Unit, a department institutionally responsible for the prevention and repression of fraud to the detriment of the European Union and nationals in the within the agri-food, fishing and aquaculture sector. The aforementioned Department communicated the results of an analysis and comparison of the data present in the SIAN database, which also acts as a tracking of applications for admission to the various types of subsidy, carried out on the account of some of the members of the SANFILIPPO mafia family of Mazzarino who had submitted an application under the support schemes provided for by the agricultural policy, although continuously subjected to measures restricting personal freedom.

The investigative activity made it possible to reconstruct the detailed picture of the economic sectors affected by the criminal activities of the Mazzarino mafia family. In fact, it was possible to reconstruct both the criminal activities typical of the traditional "agricultural mafia" and the more complex ones aimed at drug trafficking or the receipt of public contributions for agriculture, obtained through false declarations.

In this context, the extortionist pressure exercised by the clan against numerous entrepreneurs and commercial operators from Mazzarino also emerged, forced to pay sums of money for the sustenance of the detained associates, to provide goods and services free of charge to the members of the clan and to carry out fictitious hiring of affiliates. The intensity and capillarity of the aforementioned pressure allowed the members of the organization to procure huge economic resources, draining them from the real economy of the oppressed territory, according to an openly parasitic behavioral model.

To achieve these ends, the affiliates made use of a substantial arsenal of firearms, necessary to assert criminal control in the area of ​​reference and did not hesitate to carry out violent conduct against the few who dared to resist their demands.

Lastly, it was possible to shed light on two cases of "white lupara" and on drug trafficking (particularly cocaine).

The circumstance according to which the directives - in relation to criminal activities, came from subjects in a state of detention - is absolutely peculiar.

 

The murders

The investigations made it possible to shed light on two cases of "lupara bianca", identifying the perpetrators of two murders, committed in 1984 and 1991 to consolidate the supremacy of the "Sanfilippo family" over rival mafia groups. In particular, in 1984 a 22-year-old construction worker from Mazzarino, suspected of belonging to one of the rival criminal groups, was apparently lured to an isolated place and strangled after being violently beaten. His body was never found.

A few years later, in 1991, a 28-year-old man from Mazzarino, suspected of being the custodian of weapons on behalf of one of the rival clans, before being strangled, was allegedly interrogated for a long time, beaten and even mutilated by cutting his ears, nose and fingers. His body, thrown into a well in the Mazzarino countryside, was never found.

 

Extortion

The extortion sector, like the narcotics sector, represented a source of indisputable importance for the economic sustenance of the "SANFILIPPO family" and involved many of the members of the organisation, including the detained boss SANFILIPPO Salvatore who exploited the meetings with his family members, to receive updates on the illicit activities carried out by the clan and to issue directives.

Those targeted were both the main commercial activities in the area (operating for example in the large-scale retail or restaurant sectors), as well as bars, small artisans and even street vendors. The members of the association rigidly applied the principle of territoriality, subjecting to their claims even those who, coming from neighboring towns, committed crimes in Mazarin.

 

The weapons

It was ascertained that the association had large quantities of firearms available, in some cases well hidden by unsuspecting supporters. Furthermore, the members of the association were ready to use them at any time to pursue the illicit purposes of their clan and guarantee full control of the territory.

As part of the investigations - in a search carried out in the Mazzarino area - a rifle, several parts of a cal. 9 and numerous ammunition.

 

Drug trafficking

From the investigations carried out by the Carabinieri it was also possible to outline the organizational chart of a thriving association aimed at drug trafficking operating in the territory of Mazzarino and Gela and with a direct supply channel from the Calabrian gangs. In this regard, the episode of the kiss that took place, at the Sulmona prison, between the clan leader of Mazzarino and the Calabrian supplier (from the province of Vibo Valentia) is emblematic, indicative of the fact that the latter was fully aware of the contribution of each member of the Mazzarinese group as well as the dynamics and hierarchies within it.

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