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June 16, 2020 A new mafia pact has been sealed between the fugitive bosses of the fugitive Matteo Messina Denaro and the affiliates resident in the United States. This is what emerges from the operation of the Carabinieri of the provincial command of Trapani who arrested 13 people at dawn today. Among the arrested also Francesco Domingo, called 'Tempesta', considered by investigators to be "top authority among the Trapani mafia joints", and "close to Messina Denaro". Domingo is "recognized also in the United States of America where, as known, the" cells "of the Cosa Nostra have long been established and developed". The man has already undergone several convictions, also by mafia association. And, according to what emerges from the investigation, after each release from prison he would return to lead the mafia mandate of Castellammare del Golfo (Trapani). The investigation is coordinated by the DDA of Palermo. Those arrested are accused of mafia-type association, extortion, theft, aiding and abetting, special surveillance and others, all crimes aggravated by the mafia method. Another 11 people were reported on the loose. In addition, dozens of searches were carried out.    

"There were in fact numerous visits, intercepted by the bugs and cameras of the Carabinieri, by Mafia exponents of the Italian-American Bonanno family from New York who updated the chief of the Castellammare mafia of the dynamics and balances of the Cosa Nostra overseas", say the investigators. But the American mafiosi "also asked Domingo for authorization to speak with other members of Alcamo's mandate, pleaded the causes of acquaintances at home, as well as conveyed messages between Domingo and his associates in America". "Just with reference to the relationship with the American Cosa Nostra Domingo met, also in the summer of 2018, the boss of Sciacca (Agrigento) Accursio Dimino, then arrested in November last year, and subsequently his emissaries", explain the Carabinieri of the Investigation team led by Lieutenant Colonel Antonio Merola.

As part of the operation, the mayor of Castellammare del Golfo, Nicola Rizzo, was also investigated, elected in 2018 with a center-right civic list. His office and home were searched at dawn. A former municipal councilor of Castellamare del Golfo was also investigated who asked the boss to take action for the recovery of an agricultural vehicle that had been stolen, as well as a lawyer, former municipal councilor of Trapani, who had competed with Domingo and Francesco Virga in extortion to an agricultural entrepreneur. The blitz called "Cutrara" of the military of the Investigative Unit of the Provincial Command of Trapani, coordinated by the DDA of Palermo, hit the mafia family of Castellamare del Golfo hard. The operation involved 200 soldiers of the Armed Forces with the support of naval units, aircrafts and specialized departments such as the Hunters of Sicily Squadron, as well as dog units for the search for weapons