Italy seizes gold, luxury villas and cash tied to Sicilian Mafia drug-trafficking gains
Authorities say the seizure targets a laundering network that reinvested drug money through luxury resorts, bank accounts and companies across Europe and offshore hubs.
- Italian police seized more than 200 million euros in assets linked to late Mafia boss Matteo Messina Denaro, targeting illicit wealth accumulated by the notorious leader of the Sicilian Cosa Nostra syndicate.
- Messina Denaro, head of Sicily's Castelvetrano clan, evaded authorities for 30 years before his 2023 arrest and died in prison after conviction for involvement in 1992 anti-Mafia judge murders.
- Money was "reintroduced into the legal economy" through 22 properties, including "genuine luxury resorts located between Marbella, Benahavis and Puerto Banus" in Spain's Costa del Sol, police said.
- Italy's top anti-mafia prosecutor, Giovanni Melillo, hailed the operation as of "great strategic importance," noting the seizures help "delay and hinder" Cosa Nostra's attempts to rebuild its structure.
- Authorities deployed planes, drones, and thermal scanners "to detect concealed spaces and hidden cavities" during the investigation, with three individuals arrested in connection with the probe.
51 Articles
51 Articles
The Italian police announced on Thursday the seizure of assets worth more than 200 million euros. They belonged to the late godfather of the Sicilian mafia, Matteo Messina Denaro. In addition to Italy, the police specify that operations are under way, notably in Andorra, Gibraltar, the Cayman Islands. - Mafia: in Italy, the pharaonic loot seized by the police at the ruthless sponsor of Cosa Vostra (International).
The Italian judiciary has launched an international operation in which the assets accumulated for 40 years by the Mafia boss Matteo Messina Denaro, who died in September 2023 and is considered the last great capo of the Sicilian mafia. Spain, specifically the Costa del Sol, has a prominent place in this investigation, in which the National Police is collaborating. So far 22 properties of extraordinary value have been identified, many of them con…
Coverage Details
Bias Distribution
- 36% of the sources are Center
Factuality
To view factuality data please Upgrade to Premium
