Petrosino (Trapani), "mafia pact for votes": councilor arrested

A city councilor allegedly made an electoral pact with the mafia. Blitz in Petrosino. The carabinieri of the Provincial Command of Trapani arrested Michele and Marco Buffa, aged 50 and 47.

The precautionary custody order was issued by the judge for preliminary investigations at the request of the Palermo District Anti-Mafia Directorate.

The city councilor ends up under house arrest, while Marco Buffa is notified of another precautionary custody order in prison where he has been since last September. He was part of the list of 35 arrested in the "Esperia" blitz against Matteo Messina Denaro's men. They are both under investigation for political-mafia electoral exchange.

Marco Buffa, sentenced in the first instance to 16 years for mafia and definitively in the past for having favored some fugitives, would have procured votes for the candidate (elected in the UDC quota in the "Alternative Together for Petrosino" list) with 196 votes) in exchange for money and the promise to include some people reported in the pool of socially useful workers.

Last April, in the midst of the electoral campaign for the municipal elections in Petrosino, the two Buffas allegedly went around together looking for door-to-door votes in public housing.

There are also two other suspects. One is the president of the municipal council, Aldo Caradonna. They received a notice of custody and immediately searches.