Following a mass arrest of members of a family heavily involved in organized crime on Tuesday, a Rome prosecutor warned that the mafia is very powerful in the Italian capital.
Calling Rome mafia territory "is not an exaggeration", prosecutor Michele Prestipino said in an interview with Italian daily Corriere della Sera.
"I do not think that Rome is comparable to Palermo, Reggio
Calabria or Naples, since here groups using mafia methods
interact with others that are not involved in the mafia. The
main problem here is still corruption, which in other locations
is secondary to traditional mafias. However, we see a code of
silence and non-collaboration from the victims of crimes," he
stressed. "Neither here nor in Milan are people lining up to
report intimidation and abuse of power."
The Casamonica family-based mafia group, which was targeted
by Tuesday's operation in which over 30 were arrested "is a
galaxy" that is more frightening than traditional clans, he
said.
"They are different groups bonded together by blood ties that
stand out for their iron-clad control of 'their' territory," he
said, "and have become one of the most frightening criminal
realities of the city."
He stressed that several types of criminal activities were
involved.
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