"Blue blood" anti-mafia operation, a blow to the top of the
Santapaola-Ercolano mafia family: at dawn the carabinieri arrested 30 subjects accused of mafia association and external competition, extortion, drug trafficking, illegal possession of weapons and ammunition and " competition in fraudulent transfer of values ".
The investigations, coordinated by the District Anti-Mafia Directorate of Catania, "brought to light the recent evolutions of the associative dynamics of the Cosa
Nostra Etna“ Santapaola-Ercolano ”family, identifying the top elements".
250 soldiers
- from the Provincial Command of Catania - employed in the vast operation in the provinces of
Catania, Prato, L'Aquila, Enna, Perugia, Vibo Valentia, Palermo, Benevento, Syracuse and Avellino.
The current “provincial manager of the“ Santapaola – Ercolano ”mafia family is also in handcuffs.
The investigation revealed a "vast round of
extortion
against Catania entrepreneurs, a flourishing
drug trafficking , debt collection through
usury
loans
and the fictitious registration of economic activities".
The proceeds - so in the note from the Carabinieri - "were used both for the maintenance of the families of the detained affiliates, and reinvested in other entrepreneurial activities, infiltrating the economic fabric of Catania".
Assets seized for a total value of over
4 million euros.