Slovak police have arrested
Italian entrepreneur Antonino Vadalà together with his brother
and cousin and four other Italian men in connection with the
murder of investigative reporter Jan Kuciak and his fiancée,
sources said Thursday.
According to local media reports, Vadalà on Thursday morning
was arrested with his brother Bruno and cousin Pietro Catroppa
as part of police operations targeting two of the entrepreneur's
apartments in Michalovce and Trebisov in eastern Slovakia.
Seven Italians were arrested in connection with Kuciak's
murder, during searches at Michalovce and Trebisov, Slovak
police said.
Police chief Tibor Gaspar said the seven were arrested "as
suspects, with the agreement of the prosecutor".
All the arrested are Italians: as well as prime suspect
Antonino Vadalà and his relatives Sebastiano Vadalà and Bruno
Vadalà, Gaspar named the others as Diego Roda, Antonio Roda,
Pietro Catroppa, 54, and Pietro Catroppa, 26.
Murdered journalist Kuciak, 27, had reported for the news
site Aktuality.sk on fraud cases, often involving businessmen
and politicians.
Kuciak had in particular investigated the Vadalà family and
its alleged ties with the international crime syndicate of
Calabrian origin, 'Ndrangheta. The newspaper he worked for
published the report on Wednesday.
Kuciak and his fiancée, also 27, were found dead on Sunday at
his home in Velka Maca, 65km east of the capital Bratislava.
Italian police alerted Slovak police and international bodies
"some time ago" on the the group of Calabrians arrested in the
eastern European country on Thursday, judicial sources said on
Thursday.
Anti-mafia prosecutors in Reggio Calabria "officially brought
to the attention of the international police organs and the
Slovakian national police the need to monitor the activities of
the group of Calabrians arrested because they are suspected of
being involved in the murder of the young journalist Jan Kuciak
and his girlfriend," a statement said.
Acting Reggio Calabria Chief Prosecutor Gaetano Paci told
ANSA his office had also supplied information about the trio's
alleged links to the Calabria-based crime organisation
'Ndrangheta.
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED © Copyright ANSA
