Major raid in Sicily Police arrest several mafia bosses - over 180 arrests
The Italian authorities have once again succeeded in striking a powerful blow against the mafia in Sicily. More than 180 suspected mafiosi are arrested - including important leaders of individual clans.
11.02.2025, 22:28
11.02.2025, 22:36
dpa
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- More than 180 suspected mafiosi were arrested in a major raid in Sicily.
- The Carabinieri carried out operations in Palermo and the surrounding area, arresting several bosses of Cosa Nostra.
- More than 1200 officers were involved in the raid.
More than 180 suspected mafiosi have been arrested in a crackdown on organized crime on the Italian Mediterranean island of Sicily. Among them were several bosses of notorious Cosa Nostra clans, the Sicilian mafia, from the area around Palermo, the Carabinieri announced. More than 1,200 officers were involved in the raid.
The Carabinieri operations were mainly focused on the island's capital and the surrounding provinces and towns. Those arrested are accused of various criminal activities linked to Cosa Nostra, the Carabinieri reported. They are accused of murder, assault, extortion and drug and weapons trafficking.
Cosa Nostra "alive and present"
The investigation revealed that those already in custody were communicating with mafia bosses who were still free via smuggled cell phones with special encryption software, said the head of the Palermo public prosecutor's office, Maurizio De Lucia, at a press conference. They gave orders from their cells and controlled the various transactions on the street.
They apparently felt so well protected that they gave their names in telephone conversations and chats. Some of the conversations were intercepted by the authorities. The suspects and those behind them could be identified and tracked down in this way. Some mafiosi had learned of the impending arrests and planned to leave the country.
According to De Lucia, the investigations showed that Cosa Nostra was alive, still present and in contact via completely new communication channels in order to do business. Together with the 'Ndrangheta from Calabria and the Camorra from Naples, Cosa Nostra is one of Italy's most powerful mafia groups.
