Gioia Tauro e Milano, “Geolja” operation: 12 arrests for mafia, “Piromalli” gang hit

Gioia Tauro e Milano, this morning, at the first light of dawn, the Carabinieri of the Provincial Command of Reggio Calabria, following investigations coordinated by the Public Prosecutor's Office - District Anti-Mafia Directorate of Reggio Calabria, as part of theoperation called “GEOLJA”, have implemented an order for the application of precautionary measures, issued by the Court of the capital - GIP section - against 12 people, held responsible in various capacities and in concert with each other, for mafia-type criminal association, fraudulent transfer of values ​​and illicit competition with threats or violence with the aggravating circumstance of the use of the mafia method.

The number of suspects in total is twenty-one, of which twelve subjects are recipients of restrictive measures, all originating from the Province of Reggio Calabria, namely:

1. COPELLI Salvatore, aged 53, already detained at the Cosenza prison (pre-trial detention in prison);
2. COPELLI Francesco, aged 63 (pre-trial detention in prison);
3. COPELLI Domenico, aged 33 (pre-trial detention in prison);
4. GERACE Antonio, aged 58 (pre-trial detention in prison);
5. RAGNO Domenico, aged 64 (pre-trial detention in prison);
6. PIROMALLI Girolamo, aged 41 (pre-trial detention in prison);
7. LA ROSA Domenico, aged 31 (pre-trial detention in prison);
8. LA ROSA Vincenzo, aged 29 (pre-trial detention in prison);
9. PLATEROTI Antonino, aged 25 (pre-trial detention in prison);
10. MOLÈ Rocco, aged 26, already detained in the Bari prison (pre-trial detention in prison);
11. GIOVINAZZO Rocco, aged 75 (house arrest);
12. FISH Giuseppe, aged 73 (house arrest).

The operation, conventionally called "Geolja", takes its name from the first residential nucleus that arose in medieval times around which the urban agglomeration of today's center of Gioia Tauro subsequently expanded. The investigative activity made it possible to target the criminal association headed by the historic "Piromalli" mafia family operating in Gioia Tauro, as well as involving some members of the "Pesce" gang of Rosarno in the investigation.

Today's provision comes as a result of a complex and detailed investigation activity conducted by the Operational Section of the Carabinieri Company of Gioia Tauro, under the coordination of the District Judicial Authority, in the period between the month of August 2018 and the month of May 2020, where the contribution of the investigative activity carried out by the investigators was decisive, which was correlated with the declarations of some justice collaborators and other important documentary acquisitions.

The genesis of the investigation is linked to damage followed by fire to a bakery in the municipality of Gioia Tauro, which occurred in August 2018, when some unknown subjects, after having tampered with the video surveillance system of a neighboring bar, introduced into the rear part of the bakery, setting fire to various areas of the business, including the point of sale and the laboratories, as well as part of the warehouse adjacent to the point of sale itself. Only the intervention of the Palmi Fire Brigade and the staff of the Gioia Tauro Carabinieri Company made it possible to avoid further consequences.

Following the serious arson act, the investigators discovered a complex criminal context in which the various commercial businesses were cyclically extorted and controlled by local mafia groups in their detailed choices and business strategies.

Le 'Ndrangheta gangs in fact, by virtue of the intimidating force deriving from their membership of the associative bond, they implemented a real control of the territory and local commercial activities, through the collection of sums of money, goods and other products by way of extortion. Therefore, traders had to obey their rules and adapt to the prices imposed, the periods and the length of the holidays, which had to be agreed with the neighboring commercial activities. A real vice that gripped the various commercial businesses, to the point of forcing small entrepreneurs to want to escape from the local reality to seek their fortune elsewhere, especially towards Northern Italy.

In this regard, the comment made by some traders from Gioia Tauro is emblematic, as they defined the control implemented by one of the members of the "Piromalli" mafia clan over their commercial activity as "the bionic eye", a mean that they felt monitored, or rather, spied on by organized crime.

The payment of the proceeds of extortion guaranteed suitable coverage for the companies: a sort of mafia protection whereby the companies were in a certain sense "regularized" and authorized to carry out commercial activity.

Some episodes of extortion appeared singular in their practical implementation, such as the extortion carried out in the form of the sale of blocks of tickets for an alleged lottery for the Easter holidays, from which traders could not avoid purchasing for fear of possible mafia retaliations. Equally atypical is the method of payment of an extortion trance, carried out with the delivery to one of the exponents of the "Piromalli" gang of €500.00 hidden inside a sandwich.

A context, that of the Piana di Gioia Tauro, where organized crime reigned supreme, imposing illicit competition through violence and threats and where the victims were forced to align themselves on the prices of individual goods, on opening hours, on closing periods and even on closing periods. In fact, an area where free competition was practically eliminated and the territory appeared to be divided between the individual families of the 'Ndrangheta, as also confirmed by the declarations of some collaborators of justice.

Furthermore, during the investigations, the investigators were also able to demonstrate the fictitious ownership of some commercial activities, which were actually managed by representatives of the local gangs who, however, preferred not to appear as owners, in order to evade the controls of the Police Forces or circumvent any difficulties in obtaining various authorizations for bureaucratic purposes.

The operation affects some of the subjects close to the most powerful 'Ndrangheta gangs in the Gioia Tauro plain, precisely in the illicit activities essential to the conservation and maintenance of mafia power. The desire to control the commercial establishments in the area and to collect the "protection money", using methodologies that differ from the classic ones, is aimed not only at the economic enrichment of the members of the mafia cliques, but above all at imposing one's own criminal and non-criminal charisma. question the intimidating power of the gangs in maintaining the mafia peace.

The widespread control of the territory, the information capabilities and the efficient investigative investigations of the Carabinieri under the coordination and direction of the Judicial Authority, through a careful investigative strategy, have made it possible to identify those criminal activities typical of the 'Ndrangheta, through which the cliques influence the economic dynamics of the territories.

Finally, as part of the investigation activity, the District Judicial Authority also issued a preventive seizure decree of the share capital and company assets, against 6 companies in Gioia Tauro, in particular a bakery, a lido, a dealership, a petrol station, a car wash and a building stone resale company, which were fictitiously registered in the name of individuals from Gioia Tauro, while in reality they were managed by members of the mafia gangs, in order to evade the provisions of law on asset prevention and to facilitate the commission of money laundering crimes.