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Italian police have carried out a sweeping raid against the powerful 'ndrangheta mafia, resulting in the arrest of 334 people including lawyers, accountants, a former MP from Silvio Berlusconi’s Forza Italia party and the president of the association of mayors of Calabria. About 3,000 officers made pre-dawn arrests in 12 Italian regions, with further arrests carried out in Germany, Switzerland and Bulgaria. "This is the biggest sweep since the Palermo maxi-trial (475 suspects tried in 1986-87)," Cantanzo prosecutor Nicola Gratteri said in a statement. The Palermo trial marked a turning point in the battle against the Sicilian crime gang, and...
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Italian police have seized more than 120 million euros in assets from the Ndrangheta in a major blitz against the crime group in the Rome region on Wednesday. The seized assets include 173 properties located between Rome, Rignano Flaminio, Morlupo, Campagnano Romano, Grottaferrata and other Italian provinces. 250 officers from 11 police headquarters were involved in the sweeping raids that targeted leading figures of the Calabrian crime family installed in the region around Rome since the 1980s. In a statement Italian police said that their investigations into the business activities of the suspects showed a considerable disproportion between the assets...
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A “violent and dangerous” mafia boss has been told he will spend at least 10 years in an Australian jail and likely face deportation back to Italy after he was betrayed by a childhood friend. Notorious gangland kingpin Rocco Arico has been sentenced to 14 years after being found guilty of drugs, weapons and extortion charges at a Melbourne court. The 38-year-old, an Italian national who moved to Australia when he was just nine months old, is thought to have been a senior member of the Calabrian cartel who established control over the Melbourne suburb of Brunswick. With family links...
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Italy over the weekend ordered the release of several mafia leaders from jail under the government’s new coronavirus regulation. A report by CNN quoting Italy’s anti-mafia prosecutor Federico Cafiero de Raho said that among the released inmates were Francesco Bonura, an influential boss in the Sicilian Cosa Nostra; Vincenzo Iannazzo, a member of the Ndrangheta; and Pasquale Zagaria, a member of the Casalesi clan. All leaders were put to house arrest in a bid to slow down the transmission of the coronavirus. Under the new coronavirus regulations, Italy allowed for the early release of convicts who have only 18 months...
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Five suspects have been arrested in Germany and Norway as part of an investigation into an Albanian drug trafficking organisation that led to the discovery of 27 kilos of heroin and one kilo of cocaine in a car crossing the border between Sweden and Norway. Three of the arrests were made in Germany, where the gang is based while two people were detained in Norway, the European judicial cooperation agency Eurojust reported. Investigations into the criminal gang began last summer and pointed to the existence of an Albanian network trafficking drugs from Germany to Norway. At the beginning of October...
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The Bulgarian environment minister has resigned after being arrested by anti-corruption investigators in relation to the illegal diversion of water that has left some 80,00 people with insufficient supplies of drinking water, Reuters reports. Neno Dimov was placed in 24-hour custody on Thursday after an investigative report by Bivol.bg published documents showing the mismanagement that left the city of Pernik without potable water. Significant quantities of water have been diverted from the Studena dam through an illegal canal, according to the website, which also reported that Dimov signed documents allowing the use of water for industrial purposes even as the...
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A 42-year-old Slovak man was sentenced on Monday to 15 years in prison for his part in the murder of investigative journalist Jan Kuciak and his fiancé in 2018, according to reports in Slovak media. Zoltan Andrusko pleaded guilty to playing “a mediating role” in the double murder in exchange for abut this was rejected by the court, which proposed a 15-year sentence that was accepted by the defence. In a statement, Andrusko’s legal team said they have “no objections to the sentence" and stressed that "the defendant not only confessed but regretted it," adding that "he is cooperating with...
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Italian intelligence services arrested 19 people and seized a cache of weapons on Thursday, as part of an extensive operation into a far-right group who wanted to create a new Nazi party. The investigation, called "black shadows", was coordinated by the police service responsible for combating extremism and internal terrorism. The 19 detainees are being investigated on suspicion of belonging to a subversive organisation among other possible charges. Among those arrested are a 48-year-old woman in the province of Padua, who is reported to be the group’s leader, and a 26-year-old woman from Sicily who once won an online beauty...
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The Italian police have seized almost 1.2 tonnes of cocaine in Reggio Calabria, in the south of the country last week, making it the sixth largest seizure in Italian history. The drug was concealed in 144 boxes of bananas inside on board a ship originating in South America with a cargo destined for Germany. It is estimated to have had a street value of at least 250 million euros, police said in a statement. Interior Minister Luciana Lamorgese thanked the Regional Anti-Mafia Directorate, the Carabinieri of Reggio Calabria and the local Guardia Finanza for what is "one of the most...
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The vice president of the Parliament of Slovakia, Martin Glvac, has resigned on Thursday over his contacts with a businessman accused of ordering the murder of investigative journalist Jan Kuciak. Glvac is the highest-ranking politician to resign over his ties with businessman Marian Kocner, who was charged along with four others over the journalist’s death last month. “I’ve never been overly attached to any post and this is my autonomous decision,” said Glvac, whilst calling on other lawmakers who have been in touch with Kocner to also resign from their positions. “If any chat conversation with Marian K poses a...
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