Rome's mafias are ever more like the
Cosa Nostra in Sicily, the Camorra in Campania and the
'Ndrangheta in Calabria, according to a new report from the
National Anti-Mafia Investigative Directorate.
The six-monthly report, issued the day after a major mafia
bust in the capital against the Casamonica clan which was allied
to the 'Ndrangheta for drug pushing, said "organisations similar
for MOs to mafia associations like those in Sicily, Calabria and
Campania are ever more evident in Rome".
In some areas of the capital there are criminal groups which,
"based on close family ties, ever more show the modus operandi
of groups of mafia associations", the report said.
Following the mass arrest of members of the 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.
Italian police on Tuesday made 31 arrest as they hit the
Casamonica Roman crime family, saying it had links with the
'Ndrangheta for drug trafficking.
Six people are missing and presumed to be on the run, police
said.
The arrests were made in the Italian capital and in the
provinces of Reggio Calabria and Cosenza in Calabria, police
said.
The suspects are accused of creating an organisation
dedicated to drug trafficking, extortion and loan sharking, all
aggravated by using mafia methods.
Among those arrested is Domenico Spada of the eponymous Rome
and Ostia crime family, aka Vulcano and a former boxing
champion.
"They didn't need to use violence, the Casamonica name was
enough," said anti-mafia prosecutor Michele Prestipino.
Locales in Rome including a disco in Testaccio and a
restaurant near the Pantheon were sequestered.
Searches turned up 50,000 euros in cash, current accounts,
cars and dozens of luxury watches.
The so-called 'Romanina clan', from the eastern district of
the Italian capital, held sway over criminal activity in much of
Rome, investigators said.
Because of their Roma and Traveller origins, they were also
known as the Gypsies.
The clan was bust wide open, police said, thanks to the
State's evidence of 31-year-old Debora Cerroni, the partner of
Massimiliano Casamonica, brother of clan chieftain Giuseppe
Casamonica.
Never accepted by the clan, she is now under police
protection, investigators said.
The second crucial informant is a Calabria-born man who has
lived in Rome for many years.
He is said to have managed drugs operations for the
Casamonicas.
Rome Mayor Virginia Raggi said "the Carabinieri operation
went very well, my compliments".
Interior Minister Matteo Salvini said "we are winning against
organised crime".
Defence Undersecretary Angelo Tofalo said "I'd like to thank
the Carabinieri for a laudable operation at the end of a probe
that started in 2015".
The Casamonicas have long been the most powerful mafia-style
group in Rome and there was a scandal three summers ago when one
clan boss had a Godfather-like funeral complete with music from
the iconic film and rose petals dropped onto a horse-drawn
hearse from a helicopter.
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