Mafias
The weekly magazine “Gente”: “Giovanni Motisi, the last Cosa Nostra boss at large, died in Colombia. But the investigations do not confirm

by FQ | March 3, 2025

The weekly magazine Gente had given him up for dead in a clinic in Cali, Colombia. But the Palermo Prosecutor's Office has not found confirmation of the death of Giovanni Motisi , 66, the last major fugitive from the Cosa Nostra massacre phase , wanted since 1998. Totò Riina's hitman, former district boss of the Pagliarelli neighborhood, must serve a life sentence for the murder of the deputy head of the Palermo Flying Squad Ninni Cassarà, killed by Kalashnikov on August 6, 1985 together with the agent Roberto Antiochia . In recent weeks, on behalf of the prosecutors of the Palermo District Anti-Mafia Directorate, the Police interviewed Antonello Zappadu , a Sardinian photojournalist and author of the article, who said he learned of the godfather's death from a mediator he was in contact with for an interview. Zappadu also indicated the name of the clinic where the boss, who he said was ill with pancreatic cancer, was admitted. The investigations of the SCO (Central Operations Service), however, did not confirm the statements : Motisi, therefore, remains wanted.

Anti-mafia operation "Old Horse" in the province of Catania against the Santapaola-Ercolano crime family, police arrested 9 members on charges of mafia-type association, extortion and drug trafficking. The investigation has allowed us to reconstruct the hegemony of the Santapaola-Ercolano mafia family between the municipalities of San Pietro Clarenza and Belpasso. In the investigators' sights, the specific interests linked to extortion for debt collection and drug dealing.

Vito Turriciano of Castellammare released from prison, mafia conviction lapses
In 2016 he was sentenced to 12 years, after three trials he is released because the fact does not exist

by Editorial Staff

March 08, 2025


Vito Turriciano
The Court of Appeal of Caltanissetta has accepted the request for review of the conviction for mafia association against Vito Turriciano, of Castellammare del Golfo, ordering his immediate release . Turriciano had been sentenced to 12 years in prison by the Court of Palermo in 2016, which had found him responsible, in addition to the crime of association, also for two attempted extortions committed in the context of the alleged activity of the mafia group.

Turriciano was accused, together with Mariano Saracino and others, of having formed a new mafia group in the territory of Castellammare del Golfo, opposed to the one led by Francesco Domingo, to control the concrete market and the local public procurement system. An initial request for review was rejected by the Court of Caltanissetta, which considered the different reconstruction of the facts presented by the lawyers Baldassare Lauria and Caterina Gruppuso to be unfounded. According to the defense, in fact, the contested new mafia group was never formed, and the facts that the defendants were accused of were in any case decontextualized from organized crime. Turricciano remains convicted of attempted extortion, for which he has amply served his sentence.

Castellammare del Golfo is still a force in Cosa Nostra.

Messina Denaro's Driver's Companies and Assets Seized: Worth 3 Million

Giovanni Luppino was Matteo Messina Denaro's driver , his sons Vincenzo and Antonio were allegedly part of the network of supporters of the godfather of Castelvetrano during his time as a fugitive. Now all three have been seized of assets worth more than 3 million euros.

The Preventive Measure section of the Trapani court ordered it, accepting the request of the Palermo District Anti-Mafia Directorate headed by Maurizio de Lucia. The asset investigations are based on the work of the financial police of the Palermo provincial command.

The Economic and Financial Police Unit led by Colonel Carlo Pappalardo has reconstructed the financial profile of Luppino , already sentenced to nine years and two months in prison, and his family. A constant flow of money in favor of the fugitive would have emerged.

Two companies in Campobello di Mazara dealing with the production of oil and the marketing of fruit and vegetables , seven properties, including apartments and land in Campobello di Mazara and Castelvetrano, three bank accounts and a motor vehicle were seized .

https://livesicilia.it/trapani-sequestro-aziende-autista-messina-denaro-giovanni-luppino-mafia/