Extortion, drugs and electoral interference in Bari: 130 precautionary measures

https://www.agenzianova.com/en/news...ence-in-bari-130-precautionary-measures/

Deadly ambush encore: Antonio Afendi dies
by Erica Fiore
March 2, 2024
Afendi murder in Casarano
CASARANO – Three Kalashnikov shots fired at close range by the hitmen, who arrived in a car with tinted windows and went into action quickly, firing the powerful weapon from the window.
This is how Antonio Amin Afendi, a 33-year-old who escaped another fire ambush in 2019, was shot dead this Saturday morning in the center of Casarano.
It was just after 11am in the central Via Lupo when the explosion of shots, at least three it was said, alarmed residents and passers-by. For Afendi, who at that moment was on the street near a bar, there was nothing that could be done: he was shot at chest level and died instantly.
The Carabinieri, the forensic team, the Prosecutor Cannarile, the Prosecutor of the DDA Cataldi and the medical examiner immediately arrived on site.
The ambush aimed at Afendi for the second time and in perfect mafia style seems to leave no room for doubt: he must be included in the dynamics of the underworld and in the bloody fight for hegemony between the clans of the hinterland.
In 2019, investigators defined Afendi as "the rising star of the Potenza Clan". After the death of the boss Augustino Potenza and the ambush that knocked out his right-hand man Luigi Spennato, Afendi should have led the association.

he's half Moroccan i think on the father side, i wonder if he was really made into the SCU

After hours of interrogation, the murderer of Antonio Amin Afendi, killed with three Kalashnikov shots on Saturday morning in the center of Casarano, confessed. The author, Lucio Sarcinella, a 27-year-old local, will have to answer for voluntary homicide aggravated by premeditation and futile motives. “I lost my mind and killed him,” the man told prosecutors. At the basis of the gesture were the threats that, according to Sarcinella, Afendi addressed to his family.
Prosecutors are also evaluating the aggravating circumstances of facilitating the mafia clan. Sarcinella is in fact close to the Damiano Autunno clan, a direct rival of the Agostino Potenza clan, killed in 2016, to which Afendi belonged.
In the meantime, investigations continue and prosecutors have also interviewed the driver of the car who, however, appears not to have physically participated in the murder.

Anti-mafia operation in Bari, 56 arrests by the police

https://news.italy24.press/local/amp/1365081

Puglia crime boss's nephew gunned down

Bari Vecchia boss Tonino Capriati's relative hit 3 times in head

https://www.ansa.it/english/news/ge...9b48c03-bff0-4faf-9a65-890c48184094.html

Tonino Capriati, one of 14 Bari clan chiefs??

Bari is one of the oldest cities in Italy. The city has approximately 330,000 inhabitants and is an important port on the Adriatic coast.
The Città Metropolitana di Bari is an Italian administrative tier consisting of Bari and 41 surrounding municipalities. The metropolitan city replaced the former province of Bari on January 1, 2015 during the reform of local government bodies. Bari has an area of ??3,821 km² and approximately 1,266,000 inhabitants. The official abbreviation is BA.

Besides the capital, Monopoli , Altamura , Bitonto and Molfetta are places of some importance.

it is possible that there are 14 clan chiefs in Bari, this is the map of the DIA

Thanks m2w.

Bari crime groups

Domenico Strisciuglio, head of the Strisciuglio clan, considered the most powerful clan operating in Bari.

Bari crime groups also known as the "Baresi clans" are organized crime groups that operates in the city of Bari and in the surrounding area of the Metropolitan City. Its mainly a confederations between clans, which are dedicated to drug trafficking, smuggling and extortion as their primary activities. These clans were founded in the 1980s and 1990s and currently have hegemony in the illegal activities of the city of Bari, having also infiltrated in the politics of the region.[36]

There are three main clans in the city of Bari: the Strisciuglio clan headed by the boss Domenico Strisciuglio, operating mainly in the northern area, the Parisi clan, headed by the boss Savino Parisi, operating mainly in the Japigia district and the Capriati clan, headed by Antonio Capriati, known as Tonino, operating mainly in the Borgo Antico.[37][38][39]

Other clans present in the city are: the Lorusso clan of the Libertà, Carrassi and San Pasquale districts, the Di Cosola clan operating in the Carbonara, Ceglie del Campo and Loseto districts, the Anemolo clan operating in Poggiofranco, the Misceo clan operating in the San Paolo district, the Fiore-Risoli clan of the Poggio Franco and San Pasquale neighborhoods, the Mercante-Diomede clan operating in the Carrassi, Libertà, Poggiofranco, San Paolo and San Pasquale neighborhoods, the Velutto clan operating in Carrassi, Picone and San Pasquale, and the Rafaschieri clan operating in Madonnella.[40]

Bartolomeo Pio Notarangelo, 36, was shot dead in the town of Mattinata (Foggia); he was a cousin of the boss Angelo Notarangelo, killed in 2015

I wish we could get American-style reporting on Italian organized crime. Like Jerry Capeci, hell, even Scott Bernstein.

Operation against the Sacra Corona Unita across the province of Brindisi, police arrested 25 members of the Soleti clan on charges of mafia-type association, drug trafficking, extortions, robbery and other crimes. The associative group would have developed a territorial hegemony, managing, through companies in the sector, and with the external contribution of entrepreneurs, the disposal of special waste, the illegal collection of cash bets fixed fee and the management, in numerous public places in the Salento area, of altered electronic entertainment equipment

operation against the Li Bergolis-Miucci clan in the province of Foggia; police arrested 37 people on charges of mafia-type association, drug trafficking, extortions, illegal possession of weapons and other crimes. Drugs, weapons and 10 millions of assets seized.

Michele De Carlo, 39, with criminal records for drug trafficking, was shot dead in an ambush in the town of Gioia del Colle (Bari)

Rivers of drugs between Italy and Spain: 16 arrests, including in Bari and Lecce. Trafficking managed by informants

16 people have been arrested by the police, coordinated by the Genoa DDA, accused, to varying degrees, of international drug trafficking, dealing, robbery, receiving stolen goods and violation of weapons regulations. The investigation began two years ago after the seizure of six kilos of cocaine and a gun found inside a car in the underground parking lot of a supermarket in the Molassana area (Genoa). That day, a financial police officer had witnessed a drug sale, which degenerated into an attempted robbery by the buyers. The investigations revealed two groups: one in the province of Turin, in connection with Spanish drug traffickers, the other made up of informers and people under a protection program from Puglia but resident in Liguria. In this context, imports of drug shipments were found, through the border crossings of Ventimiglia and Piedmont.

From the reconstruction of the investigators it emerged that the group of Apulians, led by a collaborator of justice, in order to rob the courier, had agreed on a supply of cocaine with members of the criminal association led by two Italians living in Spain, considered the leaders of the association who managed to maintain stable contacts with suppliers present in that territory. Among the people involved was also a 45-year-old woman who provided logistical and financial support to the association.

The activity of the mobile squad has allowed to attribute to the association at least three importations of drug consignments between February and April 2023. On this very date, the French police arrested a courier, stopped just after the border with Spain, with 55 kilos of hashish and 10 of marijuana. During the investigations, five people were also arrested in flagrante and 85 kilos of marijuana and 87 of hashish were seized.

https://www.lagazzettadelmezzogiorn...spagna-arresti-anche-a-bari-e-lecce.html

Joint blitz against drug trafficking, 35 arrests. The suspects used cryptophones to avoid being intercepted
November 20, 2024 9:43 PM


LECCE – Two distinct criminal organizations sharing the same core business: trafficking large quantities of drugs. Capable of moving all types of narcotics – cocaine, marijuana and hashish – for a monthly turnover of around half a million euros.

The investigations, launched thanks to international cooperation, have allowed the dismantling of the two criminal associations rooted in Lecce and lower Salento , which used cryptophones to communicate with each other , through platforms such as Encrochat and Sky Ecc, capable of encrypting conversations and messages and preventing any interception or capture.

Led by prominent members of the local criminal community, the organizations enjoyed a network of drug traffickers, who also brought the substances from Spain (where two Salento residents had settled permanently) and Albania . Among those under investigation are also some members of the Sacra Corona Unita (Pepe-Briganti clan, Penza Group), already convicted in the past for mafia crimes.

Drug trafficking, blow to the Leone clan of Taranto: 21 arrests throughout Puglia and in Cosenza - THE NAMES

Francis Casula

Drug trafficking, major operation by the Taranto Carabinieri: 21 arrests throughout Puglia and in Cosenza
Eleven people ended up in prison and 10 under house arrest: headquarters in the Salinella district and contacts with the provinces of Bari, Lecce, Cosenza and Foggia. According to what emerges from the order, the group had wholesale suppliers from Oria and the Bari area
Friday 06 December 2024, 06:53
11:46

TARANTO - Association for the purpose of drug trafficking and dealing. This is the accusation brought by the Lecce District Anti-Mafia Directorate against 21 people arrested this morning at dawn by the Carabinieri of the Taranto Operations Department. 11 ended up in prison and 10 were instead placed under house arrest by the investigating judge.

The investigation by the military revolves around the group led by Cosimo Leone: for the prosecutors Milto De Nozza of the DDA of Lecce and Francesco Ciardo of the Ionian Prosecutor's Office, he is in fact the one pulling the strings of the group that had its headquarters in the Salinella district and contacts with the provinces of Bari, Lecce, Cosenza and Foggia. The group, according to what emerges from the ordinance, had wholesale suppliers from Oria and the Bari area.

The precautionary measure in prison was ordered not only for Cosimo Leone, but also for Vincenzo Leone, a member of the group but authorized to independently manage a second drug dealing location. And then again Giovanni Leone, Vincenzo Basile, Cosimo Carriero, Michele Costantino, Pasquale Lupoli, Giovanni Marzulli Davide Nigro and Marco Semeraro.
Among others, Veronica Giudetti, Teresa Malizia, Valentina Petruzzella Scarcia, Anna Maria Quaranta, Angelo Briganti, Massimo Catapano, Carmine Eramo, Cosimo Friuli, Carmelo Nigro and Cristian Sorce ended up under house arrest.

As mentioned, Cosimo Leone was identified as the promoter and organizer of the association with the tasks of deciding and planning the criminal program and managing contacts with suppliers of narcotics, as well as supervising the operations of collecting the money needed for usual references to provide for the collection of money. Three couriers currently under investigation at large. Vincenzo Leone worked alongside Cosimo Leone, maintaining the same tasks, but in particular that of supplying drugs from suppliers in Bari.
Giovanni and Cosimo Leone, as well as Veronica Giudetti and Teresa Malizia were entrusted with the role of custodians of the drugs, which were processed and prepared to then be delivered to the pushers

Giuseppe De Giosa, 43, from Bari and close to the Di Cosola clan, was shot dead in Lecce with Ak47; inside his car police found 7 kilos of hashish

Interesting the Foggia Society has surpassed Cosa Nostra maybe the flipping of Marco Raduano will give them finally the spotlight they deserve they are a ruthless bunch with bizar rituals.

Alfonso Sabella, a former anti-Mafia magistrate, said Cosa Nostra is now only Italy's third-largest criminal group, behind the 'Ndrangheta and the mob centred around the city of Foggia in the south-east.

In terms of power or numbers? I doubt that they're more powerful than Cosa Nostra. In terms of numbers, I would think that the Camorra would be the largest.

Raduano’s escape from 41-bis prison was hugely embarrassing for Italian authorities and underscored the power of the organised crime syndicate they are growing in recent years but are still less sophisticated as Cosa Nostra.

Trafficking managed by informants? I knew I was right, informing is just part of the business.

They have dozens of so-called batteries each group has its speciality, the military-style armed robberies of freight trucks are notorious in the whole of Italy.

I'm agree, Cosa Nostra is more powerful than Società Foggiana; the Camorra is the crime roup with more members but is not a single entity

Foggian Society (La Società Foggiana) - partially run by Rocco "The Pig" Moretti, Vincenzo "Capantica" Pellegrino and Vito Bruno "The Hare" Lanza - are some of the deadliest in Italy though.

They created a ruthless Mafia in the spirit of Camorra godfather Raffaele "The Prince" Cutolo.

It was a big mistake the authorities underestimated the forgotten Foggia mob as a B-list organisation. Remember active since the 1970s we can define 'powerful' different ways. Size is important, but also , structure, violence, force, connections, omerta and a weak state.

Also poverty no work no good future only a little bit of agriculture and tourism there are some real ghettos in Foggia.

Società Foggiana is violent, but it is not deeply rooted like Cosa Nostra, Camorra and Ndrangheta; i disagree with Sabella, Cosa Nostra, although weakened, is still more active, larger and more rooted than Società Foggiana ... a better comparison would be with the Stidda

Mafia, 29 arrests in Bari in the Strisciuglio clan: definitive sentences for extortion, drugs and weapons

The arrested are accused of mafia association and of a brawl in the prison that involved 41 inmates and in which some prison officers were also injured.

January 16, 2025 at 09:19
1 minute read

The Carabinieri are executing 29 prison orders issued by the Bari Prosecutor's Office against as many people who received final sentences of conviction as part of Operation Vortice-Maestrale.

It is a hard blow for the alleged leaders and affiliates of the Strisciuglio mafia clan of Bari . Those arrested are accused of mafia association, drug and weapons trafficking and possession, extortion of merchants, injuries and a brawl in the Bari prison dating back to January 2016 that involved 41 inmates with razor blades and box cutters, in which some prison officers were also injured.

In the first instance, the highest sentence, 30 years, was given to Giuseppe Misceo, known as 'Peppino the Ghost'. Among the others, the bosses Vito Valentino, Lorenzo Caldarola, Alessandro Ruta, Saverio Faccilongo, Vito Catacchio and Giacomo Campanale were sentenced to 20 years in prison .

The investigation by the police and the Carabinieri, called Vortice maestrale, has reconstructed - also thanks to the statements of 21 collaborators of justice - the clan's hierarchy and illicit activities , since 2015, for the control of the territory in the Bari neighborhoods Libertà, a historical stronghold of the mafia group, San Paolo, San Pio-Enziteto, Santo Spirito and San Girolamo and in the municipalities of Palo del Colle and Conversano.

The Strisciuglio clan is a criminal organization, originating from the city of Bari, having its stronghold mainly in the northern area of the city. The clan is considered the most powerful and bloodthirsty criminal organization operating in the Bari area.[1]

The criminal organization was born at the late 1990s as an offshoot of another clan operating in Bari, the Capriati clan. From the beginning, the Strisciuglio clan was commanded by Domenico Strisciuglio, nicknamed "Mimmo la luna" who is in jail from 1999 in the 41 bis regime.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strisciuglio_clan