Palermo, the Carabinieri's "Resilienza 2" operation hits the Borgo Vecchio mafia family

Palermo, This morning, by delegation from the Anti-Mafia District Prosecutor's Office of Palermo, the Carabinieri of the Provincial Command executed the precautionary custody order, issued by the investigating judge at the Court of Palermo against 14 suspects (1 in prison, 11 under house arrest and 2 submission obligations to the PG), held in various capacities responsible for the crimes of external competition  in mafia association, drug trafficking, theft, receiving stolen goods and consummated and attempted extortion, all crimes aggravated by the mafia method and exploitation of prostitution.

 

The investigation, coordinated by a group of Deputy Directors directed by the Deputy Prosecutor Salvatore De Luca, constitutes a further phase of a complex maneuver conducted in a parallel and synergistic manner by the Investigative Unit and the Information Unit of the Carabinieri of Palermo on the mafia leader of Porta Nuova and, in particular, on mafia family of Borgo Vecchio.

 

The first phase of the operation, concluded with the arrests of crime suspects on 12 October 2020, had made it possible to identify the new regent of mafia family of Borgo Vecchio in Angelo MONTI, who had become the protagonist of the reorganization of the structures of that mafia structure, entrusting management positions to his trusted men, identified as his brother Girolamo MONTI, Giuseppe GAMBINO, Salvatore GUARINO and Jari Massimiliano INGARAO. In this first maneuver, the rebellion against the extortion of many local entrepreneurs and traders emerged who, in a massive way, collaborated with the authorities and contributed to the arrest of their extortionists.

 

In the second part of the investigation, some criminal crimes of the association emerge which, in terms of the exercise of mafia power and widespread control of the territory, clearly characterize the obstinacy and aggressiveness of the mafia family of Borgo Vecchio. 

In fact, the investigations return, once again, a cross-section characterized by continuous research on the part of Cosa Nostra, of consensus towards a large segment of the population. 

The mafiosi, in essence, continue to claim, with resilience, a specific "social function”, through some typical manifestations of their criminal arrogance, which were made explicit:

• in the management of local festivals;
• in the organization of drug trafficking (functional to replenish the association's coffers);
• in the management of some criminal groups dedicated to vehicle thefts and the resulting consequences returning horses, they are also functional in feeding the coffers of the coterie. 

 

Furthermore, during the investigation, an environmental context emerged in which there was interference by some Palermo mafia representatives in the resolution of some disputes that arose within organized groups of supporters of the local football team.

According to the assessments of the investigating judge and the DDA of Palermo, there are serious incriminating evidence regarding the following facts.

 

THE PARTY IN HONOR OF MOTHER SANT'ANNA

Resilience 2 he also documented how the mafia family of Borgo Vecchio has full control of the organizing committee of the festival held in honor of the patron saint of the neighborhood "Madre Sant'Anna" in the month of July each year, whose cult dates back to 1555. It is the families who carry on the religious tradition of the neighborhood; in fact, the bearers of the statue of the Saint are all natives of Borgo Vecchio, so much so that many, as a sign of respect to Saint Anna, named their children Anna and Gioacchino, and many others got married on 26 July, the day on which the name day of the patron saint is celebrated.

Until July 2015, the "committee" was led by the TANTILLO family and, in particular, by the brothers Domenico and Giuseppe TANTILLO who, in December 2015, were arrested as part of the "Panta Rei”, since they were considered i regents of mafia family of Borgo Vecchio.

On the occasion of the party held from 25 to 27.07.2019, the singing evenings, animated by some neo-melodic singers, were organized by a committee which, in fact, was controlled by What our. 

The mafiosi, in fact, chose and hired the singers and, through the so-called "riffe” weekly, they collected the sums of money from the merchants of the neighborhood. These sums were used not only for the organization of the party and the hiring of the singers, but also to replenish the cash register of the mafia family and thus be used for the sustenance of prisoners and for the management of further illicit trafficking.

The investigations made it possible, in fact, to document the activism of the top exponents of the mafia family of Borgo Vecchio, who, having full control of the organizing committee of the patronal festival:

• they decided which neomelodic singers should participate in the event;
• they provided for their employment through the money obtained from extortion, from "riffe” and give them sponsorships of the managers/owners of commercial activities located in the area;
• they authorized street traders to sell their products during the festival, also regulating their placement along the streets of the district.

 

A leading role, functional to the realization of the mafia association's projects, was assumed by Salvatore BUONGIORNO, under investigation for external competition in the mafia association.

BUONGIORNO, in fact, in the role of agent for numerous neo-melodic singers:

• received instructions from Angelo MONTI and Jari Massimiliano INGARAO for the hiring of the neomelodic singers chosen by the aforementioned for the singing events, following the indications of the mafiosi on the names of the singers, their respective salaries and the place where the stage of the events should be located; 
• approached the managers/owners of the commercial activities of the Borgo Vecchio district and of Corso Camillo Finocchiaro Aprile (formerly "Corso Olivuzza"), asking them to sponsor the singing events by donating sums of money, putting in place clear tax policies,
• received, for its part, the advantage of working in the monopoly sector within the reference area of mafia leader of Palermo Porta Nuova, as authorized by the relevant top mafia representatives, such as Tommaso LO PRESTI, the brothers Gregorio and Tommaso DI GIOVANNI and Angelo MONTI.

 

In this context, the story concerning the relations of the mafiosi of Borgo Vecchio with a neo-melodic from Catania (linked by family ties to important top exponents of that organized crime), in solid relations with Jari INGARAO so much so as to visit him at his home, is particularly significant while he was subjected to house arrest. 

Specifically, the singer should have performed during one of the aforementioned evenings, but the event did not take place due to controversies following the broadcast, on 05.06.2019, of a well-known television program, during which "unfortunate" comments about Judges Falcone and Borsellino. The whole story and some subsequent expressions of closeness to exponents of organized crime, caused a series of performance bans against the singer, issued by the competent authorities. 

 

TRAFFICKING IN Narcotics

The investigations have also shown that the Borgo Vecchio mafia family organised, also in relation to the economic support needs of its associates, a flourishing trafficking of narcotic substances. From the overall investigations emerge the roles of the individual associates, the organizational details, the accounting of investments and revenues, as well as the flow of money into the company's cash register. mafia family.

In particular, Angelo MONTI had delegated the entire sector of illicit activities linked to narcotic substances to his nephew Jari Massimiliano INGARAO. The latter, despite being subjected to the measure of house arrest, managed to organize and coordinate all the activities functional to trafficking, finding the narcotic substances, mainly on the supply channel with Campania, and supplying the various drug dealing squares in the neighbourhood, delegating, depending on the roles, the brothers Gabriele and Danilo, Marilena TORREGROSSA, Carmelo CANGEMI, Francesco Paolo CINA', Saverio D'AMICO, Davide DI SALVO, Giuseppe Pietro COLANTONIO, Salvatore LA VARDERA, Francesco MEZZATESTA, Giuseppe D'ANGELO, Nicolò DI MICHELE, Gaspare GIARDINA, Gianluca ALTIERI and Vincenzo MARINO. 

 

THEFTS AND EXTORTIONS WITH THEHORSE RETURNS"

Finally, the operation made it possible to highlight, even further, the ability of the affiliates of the mafia association in question to have widespread control of the territory. In fact, any illicit activity could not have been carried out within the Borgo Vecchio neighborhood without the approval of What our and without having allocated part of the profits to the company's treasury mafia family. Bicycle or motorcycle thieves are no exception and, in addition to being subject to the "Preview” authorization, they must also allocate to the mafia association part of the proceeds from receiving stolen goods or returning them to the legitimate owners with the so-called method of “horse back". 

The related in-depth investigation revealed the existence of an autonomous criminal organization specialized in this sector, completely subservient to What our.