From the new boss to the king of supermarkets: mafia, 17 arrests in Mazara del Vallo
PALERMO – From mafia management of pastures to supermarkets. The investigation by the Palermo District Anti-Mafia Directorate reveals the names, roles and business of the mafia in Mazara del Vallo.
Seventeen people were arrested in the blitz by the financial police of the Provincial Command of the Sicilian capital, coordinated by the Public Prosecutor's Office headed by Maurizio de Lucia: seven in prison, 10 under house arrest. One suspect is subject to the obligation to reside in the municipality of residence.
Mafia, Mazara del Vallo: the boss breeder
The investigations of the Economic and Financial Police Unit would reconstruct the role of Domenico Centonze. The strongman of the district would have become him, who is a breeder by profession : he would have acted as the operational arm of the district boss Dario Messina, currently detained. The boss's brother, Alessandro Messina, also ends up in prison.
The role of the alleged boss
Centonze would have been very busy. Collecting debts, settling disputes, managing grazing areas, silencing even violently the disputes that arose over the awarding of some lands at auction, organizing drug trafficking between Palermo and Mazara del Vallo: it would be his direction behind the management of the criminal activities of a Cosa Nostra that in the Trapani area confirms its entrepreneurial vocation.
The supermarket entrepreneur
Among those involved in the blitz is also Luigi Prenci , investigated for external competition in mafia association. Starting in 2020, he opened a series of supermarkets. For his entrepreneurial climb he could have counted on the support of the mafia, diversifying his business. He became a shipowner and his fishing boats specialized in red shrimp fishing.
In exchange for mafia support, Prenci would have assured Cosa Nostra jobs, financial aid for starting new economic activities, and the purchase of goods at auction which would then be made available to people close to the mafia association.
The crimes contested
The Gico financiers under the command of Colonel Carlo Pappalardo are searching the homes and offices of those under investigation for mafia in Mazara del Vallo. The crimes contested are mafia-style criminal association, illegal possession of weapons, disturbed freedom of auctions, extortion, robbery and personal favoring.
An activity, as can be read in a note from the provincial command led by General Domenico Napolitano, has the objective of "countering any possible attempt at mafia infiltration into the economic-productive fabric , with a view to guaranteeing the market the necessary conditions of legality and competitiveness".
