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Italy nabs suspected allies of fugitive mafia boss

Italian police said on Tuesday they had seized control of three companies linked to Sicilian mafia boss Matteo Messina Denaro and arrested 11 suspected associates of the fugitive mobster.

Published: 20 December 2016 15:56 CET
Italy nabs suspected allies of fugitive mafia boss
The companies were based in Sicily, home to crime sundicate Cosa Nostra. Photo: Scott Wylie

Denaro, 54, is considered the most powerful figure in Cosa Nostra, the real-life Sicilian crime syndicate depicted in the Godfather movies.

He has been on the run since 1993 from authorities who want him jailed for a string of crimes including dozens of murders.

Police said Tuesday's arrests followed an investigation which established that the sequestrated companies were ostensibly clean fronts to enable two mafia clans to win public construction contracts via rigged tenders.

Police said Denaro controlled the division of the contracts, which included renovation of a hospital and the building of a wind farm in western Sicily.

The arrests were described by the police as a “tough new blow” to the mafia boss's entourage, but there was no indication they are any closer to catching the elusive mobster who once boasted of having killed so many people he had “filled a cemetery”.

In August 2015 police arrested 11 people said to have been close to Denaro and revealed that the fugitive boss had communicated with them through the age-old method of coded messages written on tiny scraps of paper, or “pizzini”.

Police established that he had been staying at a farmhouse near Mazara del Vallo but were unable to apprehend him.

In 2013, three cousins, a nephew and a sister said to have run Denaro's business activities were arrested but their detentions did not herald a breakthrough in the hunt for the prime target.

Denaro is thought to have succeeded notorious godfather figures Toto Riina, who has been in custody since 1993, and Bernardo Provenzano, who died in prison in July, as the head of Cosa Nostra.

Known for his ruthlessness, he also had a reputation as a womanising playbody with a penchant for flashy cars. The last photographs of him in public circulation date from the early 1990s.

Theresa Principato, a Sicilian prosecutor who spent ten years on Denaro's trail, said in an interview last year she believed he had escaped capture with the help of protection at a very high level.

She also claimed that he travelled regularly on mafia business to countries including Britain, Brazil, Austria and Spain.

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CRIME

REVEALED: Where in Italy you’re most likely to be a victim of crime

From theft and home burglary to cyber fraud and extortion, the latest figures reveal where in Italy you are most likely to fall victim to crime and the most common types of offences in major cities around the country.

Published: 17 September 2024 11:15 CEST
REVEALED: Where in Italy you're most likely to be a victim of crime

While Italy is among the safest countries in the world – it ranked 33rd out of 163 in the latest Global Peace Index report, right above the UK – crime is still a concern, especially in metropolitan cities and tourist hotspots.

According to the annual crime report from newspaper Il Sole 24 Ore, which collated the most recent data from Italy’s Department of Public Security, Milan was the Italian city with the highest crime rate in 2023.

Overall, some 230,394 crimes were reported in the northern metropolis last year, which corresponded to 7,094 offences for every 100,000 residents.

Milan was followed by Italy’s capital, Rome, with 6,071 reported crimes for every 100,000 residents (up by nearly 600 compared to 2022) and Florence, with 6,053.

The top ten was completed by Rimini (6,002 reports for every 100,000 residents), Turin (5,685), Bologna (5,539), Prato (4,887), Imperia (4,838), Venice (4,825) and Livorno (4,743).

At the other end of the spectrum, Oristano, Sardinia, was the Italian city with the lowest crime rate in 2023 as it ‘only’ saw 1,511 offences for every 100,000 residents. 

Oristano was followed by Potenza, Basilicata (1,934) and Treviso, Veneto (2,258).

Single-offence rankings

While the overall crime rate ranking provides a picture of Italy’s major crime hotspots, it doesn’t allow for any insight into the types of offences committed locally, which is why it is worth looking into single-offence rankings. 

Milan, Rome and Rimini (a popular seaside resort on Emilia Romagna’s Adriatic coast) were the Italian cities with the highest theft rates in 2023, with the northern city registering nearly 3,900 reported thefts (furti) for every 100,000 residents and the capital stopping just shy of the 3,500 mark.

Milan was also Italy’s least-safe city when it came to petty theft and pickpocketing, with over 900 such offences reported for every 100,000 residents.

READ ALSO: How bad is pickpocketing in Italy’s major cities?

Florence was the Italian city with the highest robbery rate (rapine), with 136 offences for every 100,000 residents. 

The Tuscan city was followed by Milan (128) and Prato (124).

Outside of big cities and popular tourist destinations, a number of smaller and, perhaps, slightly unassuming Italian cities had their own crime ‘specialisations’ in 2023. 

For instance, Ragusa, Sicily, ranked first in vehicle theft, while Pisa, Tuscany, came in first in reported home burglary offences.

Trieste, Friuli Venezia Giulia, had the highest sexual assault rate (24 reports for every 100,000 residents) in the country, whereas Crotone ranked first for attempted murder.

READ ALSO: The 8 red flags to look out for to avoid rental scams in Italy

Turin came in first for cyber fraud and online scams, while Isernia, Molise, was Italy’s extortion capital. 

National picture

At a national level, reported crimes were up by 3.8 percent compared to 2022, with online fraud and robbery registering 10.3- and 9.5-percent increases respectively. 

Assault offences also registered a 3.1-percent year-on-year increase, while there were 341 murders in 2023 – up by 13 against 2019. 

According to Marco Dugato, a researcher at the Crime Observatory of Milan’s Cattolica University, the latest increases “must be monitored, particularly for certain types of crime”.

In particular, “the rise of more impulsive, less planned, but more aggressive forms of criminal activity” such as assault and robbery “is of concern”. 

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