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‘New generation’ of young mafia heirs arrested

Anti-mafia police said today they had dealt a fresh blow to Italy's Cosa Nostra, arresting seven suspected “rising star” mobsters after two of the organised crime group turned witnesses.

Published: 22 January 2019 11:41 CET
'New generation' of young mafia heirs arrested
File photo showing anti-mafia police walking through Palermo, Sicily. Photo: AFP/DIA

The latest raids followed a major swoop against the resurgent Sicilian mafia in December when 80-year-old Settimano Mineo was captured just before he was due to be officially anointed the new “boss of bosses” of the reconvened Mafia Commission or Cupola.

45 other suspects are being held on charges of extortion, illegal gun possession, arson, Mafia association and other crimes, investigators said.

Settimino Mineo as he left a police station after being arrested in December. Photo: Alessandro Fucarini/AFP

Among them were two apparently high-profile figures who police say quickly became informants and spilled the beans to police about clan leaders who were allegedly part of the Cupola.

“Like never before, within a month (of the December arrests) we had two new  state witnesses. And not any old members, but two from the upper echelons,” Palermo's chief prosecutor chief Francesco Lo Voi told journalists.

“Both confirm that (the new Commission) was not a 'half Cupola' or 'small Cupola', it was not a case of some old has-been getting back into the game, but the rebirth of the Commission with experienced individuals,”  he said.

READ ALSO: Italy's 'Ndrangheta mafia 'on all continents' and still growing

Those leaders included Leandro Greco, grandson of famed mobster Michele Greco – dubbed “The Pope” – and Calogero Lo Piccolo, son of a powerful boss nicknamed “The Baron”, both arrested on Tuesday, a police statement said.

The two mafia heirs were cuffed along with Giovanni Sirchia, who was accused of ferrying both mobsters and secret messages back and forth, and four others accused of mafia extortion.

The informants also described attempts to breathe fresh life into the Cosa Nostra, nicknamed “the octopus” for its tentacled reach into all areas of society, according to media reports.

“They come from a family with a strong Mafia lineage. These are men of high standing, young men, which confirms our theory of a renewal which is rooted in historical and familial tradition,” Lo Voi said.

But the decision by the two informants to break their vow of silence, and so quickly, shows “there is no future, something that those who still belong to Cosa Nostra should understand”.

The Cupola, or Mafia Commission, had not met for years. Mafia hunters heard how at a summit in May the organisation had agreed on a return to the old rules, and appointed spokespersons for the various clans to improve communication.

But its attempt to appoint a new leader after the death in 2017 of former “boss of bosses” Toto Riina — nicknamed “The Beast” because of his cruelty — appeared to fail when police swooped on the reconvened Cupola in December.

Riina's presumed heir, Matteo Messina Denaro, is on the run, and other potential successors are now serving time under Italy's tough mafia prison regime.

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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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