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/

Mafia and extortion, blitz between Catania and Messina: 39 arrests

CATANIA – Mafia, the shadow of the Cappello – Cintorrino clan on Catania and Messina . Vast operation by the Guardia di Finanza and Carabinieri between the two provinces; 39 arrests made.

Two prosecutors in the field, 39 people in handcuffs, accused, to varying degrees, of "mafia-style criminal association, association for the purpose of drug trafficking". Contested "numerous episodes of drug dealing, extortion, robbery, unauthorized access to devices suitable for communication by detained subjects".

The crimes are aggravated "because they were committed with mafia methods or with the aim of facilitating the "Cappello - Cintorrino" clan - and fraudulent transfer of assets".

https://livesicilia.it/mafia-estorsioni-blitz-catania-messina-39-arresti/

Grudges and feuds, war between the pavilions of Zen 2 in Palermo

Old and new recruits would face off to establish who is in charge after the anti-mafia raid with 181 arrests

These are no longer random or localized events but a trail of violence that seems to respond to a very specific logic. Gunshots, stabbings and fires at the Zen in Palermo: all in the space of a few days, as if an underground war had been triggered for control of the territory, probably to reaffirm control over drug dealing areas and the clandestine betting ring. The maxi-blitz, which landed 181 people in prison, left a power vacuum and now someone is apparently trying to fill it. The latest episode dates back to yesterday, when about twenty gunshots were fired at the shutter of a garage in Via Fausto Coppi. A few meters away the carabinieri found some ammunition hidden in a manhole, further evidence of a climate of growing tension. The place hit by the buckshot is thought to be linked to a woman close to one of those arrested in the carabinieri anti-mafia operation. The hypothesis is that it could be a warning or a message - very clear indeed - sent by someone who is trying to reorganize the business after the beheading of the gang.

https://palermo.gds.it/articoli/cro...mo-52f14c25-510c-42e4-9557-530e86c228fe/

Catania, the port and drugs from South America: blitz, six arrests

https://livesicilia.it/catania-porto-droga-sud-america-blitz-sei-arresti-nomi/

Mafia and drugs in Palermo, 26 sentences for over two centuries of prison THE NAMES AND THE PENALTIES
The investigation a year ago dealt a heavy blow to the sale of narcotics in the Sperone and Brancaccio neighborhoods

by Editorial Staff

March 20, 2025

The preliminary hearing judge of Palermo Cristina Lo Bue has sentenced a total of 26 people accused, on various counts, of association for the purpose of drug trafficking aggravated by mafia methods and drug dealing to over two centuries in prison. The trial was held in an abbreviated manner.

The investigation that led to the trial, coordinated by the district anti-mafia directorate headed by prosecutor Maurizio de Lucia, dealt a heavy blow to drug dealing in the Sperone and Brancaccio neighborhoods a year ago. In order to enter the drug "strongholds", undercover agents were employed who managed to have contacts with the leaders of the criminal group that managed the dealing. The investigation also ascertained Cosa Nostra's interests in the distribution of profits from the illicit activity. During the checks it was discovered that the sale of the drug took place 24 hours a day, with a rigid organization of the shifts of pushers and lookouts.

The sentences
These are the sentences decided by the judge: 9 years and 4 months for Salvatore Agnello, 8 years and 2 months for Davide Anselmo, 10 years and 10 months for Davide Giuseppe Arduino, 14 years and 4 months for Nicola Argeri, 20 years for Pietro Argeri, 14 years and 6 months for Samuele Argeri, 12 for Alessio Salvo Caruso, 6 years and 8 months for Maria Chiappara, 18 years for Sebastiano Chiappara. Daniela Chiovaro was sentenced to 4 years, Paolo Chiovaro to 8 years, Salvatore Cipolla to 2 years and 8 months, Salvatore Fiorentino to 4 years, Luigi Iemmito to 6 years and 9 months, Gaetano Ingrassia to 19 years and 3 months, Isidoro Lo Nardo to 8 years and 2 months, Giuseppe Lucchese to 7 years, Vincenzo Lucchese to 5 years and 4 months, Pietro Mazza to 17 years and 9 months, Antonino Messina to 4 years, Francesco Messina to 5 years and 9 months, Salvatore Messina to 10 years and 4 months. Salvatore Navarra was sentenced to 11 years and 8 months, Antonino Ricotta to 10 years and 4 months, Girolamo Tarantino to 11 years and 8 months and Salvatore Zora to 8 years and 4 months.

Mafia enemy of democracy says Meloni on Victims' Day
We fight organized crime every day says premier

ROME, 21 March 2025, 11:08

ANSA English Desk

Premier Giorgia Meloni stressed her government's commitment to fighting organized crime on Friday, Italy's National Day of Remembrance of the Victims of the Mafia.
"Italy and its institutions bow before the sacrifice of those who have lost their lives at the hands of organized crime: honest citizens, servants of the State, innocent people who have fallen under the cowardly blows of a spineless, ruthless yoke," Meloni said on social media.
"The mafias are a declared enemy of our democracy, an offence to the dignity of the nation.
"For this reason we reiterate our condemnation of every type of mafia and we commit ourselves to fighting it every day with absolute determination and firmness".

Mafia can be defeated says Mattarella on Victims' Day
It depends on us says president

ROME, 21 March 2025, 10:54

ANSA English Desk

Italy should not resign itself to never freeing itself of the scourge of organized crime, President Sergio Mattarella said on Friday, the National Day of Remembrance for the Victims of the Mafia.
"The names of mafia victims are part of our collective memory, and it is to them that, first of all, we renew our commitment to fight the mafias, starting from the public institutions to the places of everyday life, overcoming resignation and indifference, which are the allies of those who are violent and who are bullies," said Mattarella.
"The mafia can be defeated.

It depends on us: many shining examples confirm this.
"March 21 is a solemn day of remembrance and civil commitment to affirm values that are essential to the health of our community.
"The daily commitment to practice legality, to fight against all mafias, against the criminal syndicates that generate violence and oppression, against grey areas of complicity that favour their business and their spread, involves the work of all citizens who wish to live in a cohesive society that respects everyone's rights".

The pizza chef, the barber, the beach club managers, the florist: all in line with the bosses

PALERMO – There were lines to ask the bosses for small and large favors. The merchants were the first to recognize the mafia authority. And the bigwigs of the various districts of the city worked hard to satisfy the requests. It was and is worth their prestige.

The latest investigations by the Palermo District Anti-Mafia Directorate once again show pockets of cities that are struggling to turn the page. Some have no intention of freeing themselves. The result: the mafiosi continue to regulate the life of entire neighborhoods. They establish who must sell a product, authorize the opening of new businesses and curb competition, resolve disputes between private individuals who ask for help.

https://livesicilia.it/palermo-pizzeria-salumeria-lidi-commercianti-mafia/

The Rome Prosecutor's Office's consultancy confirms: the boss Gioè committed suicide

Nino Gioè, the mafia boss of the Altofonte family who was among the protagonists of the organizational and executive phase of the Capaci massacre, who died hanged in his cell in the Rebibbia prison on the night between 28 and 29 July 1993, committed suicide.

This is what emerges from a consultancy ordered by the Rome Public Prosecutor's Office that confirms the reconstruction of a previous expert report. The newspaper La Sicilia writes this, quoting part of the document. The new consultancy highlights that "the macroscopic characteristics of the groove allow us to exclude an asphyxial dynamic attributable to different methods of compression of the neck (such as strangulation) while the finding of evident signs of vitality allow us to exclude that Gioè's body could have been suspended after death".

A suicide that was considered anomalous that of Gioè, a key figure in the relationship between the mafia and deviant secret services. His death has always been shrouded in mystery even if, right from the start, an expert report indicated that it had been a suicide. Reconstruction confirmed by the new consultancy ordered by the Rome Prosecutor's Office.

Agostino's murder: for the Supreme Court, the versions of Brusca, Galatolo and Pagano do not provide concrete elements
The information reported by Brusca would not have been first-hand and, above all, it would not have been possible to trace it back to a certain source.

by David Ferrara

March 29, 2025

According to the Court of Cassation, the statements and accounts of the informers, including Giovanni Brusca, Vito Galatolo and Oreste Pagano (a person with a criminal record for crimes related to international drug trafficking, but completely unrelated to the context of the Palermo mafia, so much so that he did not even know the Madonias), on which the trial was based, do not provide the concrete elements («beyond any reasonable doubt») that would indicate Nino Madonia as the material perpetrator of the murders. Indeed, in some cases «they were misjudged».

In particular, Brusca's versions, whose source would have been the boss of bosses, Totò Riina, "do not authorize - write the ermines - to believe that Riina had a certainty of this type (that is, that it was Antonino Madonia who killed Nino Agostino and Ida Castelluccio, ed.). The same contested sentence, with evident uncertainty - the judges continue in their reasons - oscillates between the hypothesis of a Riina possibly forewarned by Madonia of the crime and of a Riina unaware of everything and who carried out internal investigations to find out who the crime could be attributed to". In short, the information reported by Brusca would not have been first-hand and, above all, it would not have been possible to trace it back to a certain source.

Another flaw in the reasoning is highlighted in the part where the sentence deemed Vito Galatolo credible, who reported having received confidences from his cousin Stefano Fontana about Nino Madonia's involvement in the crimes. A Galatolo who, however, at the time of the fact was 15 years old "and therefore was not affiliated with Cosa Nostra". For this reason, both the first and second degree sentences deemed it appropriate not to give these statements the same importance as those circulating among members of the criminal organization, contradicting themselves however later when, the ermines write, "the same importance is given to Galatolo's statements as those circulating among the affiliates. Furthermore, it was not considered that Galatolo had been deemed unreliable in the Apocalisse trial".

The statements of Oreste Pagano, who said he had received information from Alfonso Caruana, instead, were denied by the latter: «Caruana had denied having given Pagano - we read in the reasons - the confidence that the latter had spoken of». Furthermore, the information «would not be individualizing with reference to Nino Madonia, because it speaks of ''one of the Madonias''».

"The causa scientiae (the circumstances, that is, thanks to which one becomes aware of something) is the fundamental problem of this trial", underlines the Court of Cassation. Which continues: "None of the sources of knowledge of the collaborators who accuse Madonia of the commission of the crime were involved in the decision or in the execution of the murder, which means that it is not known in what way and through what chain of information, these sources could have learned the details of it".

Anti-mafia operation 'Nuovo Corso' in Palermo, police arrested 12 members of the Noce mandamento on charges of mafia-type association, extortion, drug trafficking and illegal possession of weapons; among the arrested the boss Renzo Lo Nigro and the emergent Giuseppe Romagnolo.

according to police there was a friction between Lo Nigro and Romagnolo, who was made 'acting boss' by the imprisoned for life boss Raffaele Ganci while Lo Nigro was in prison. Lo Nigro didn't accept that decision.

Another lover lol.

Floriana Calcagno, a teacher at a high school in Mazara and niece of the Campobello di Mazara mafia boss Francesco Luppino , a historic right-hand man of Matteo Messina Denaro .
According to investigators, the woman allegedly supported the mafia boss while he was a fugitive, and was also his lover.

https://www.antimafiaduemila.com/ho...nito-la-latitanza-di-messina-denaro.html

Interesting stuff about the relations between Trapani and Palermo

What is now certain is that Messina Denaro often came to Palermo.
Investigations revealed that in 2012 the godfather went shopping in a well-known delicatessen on Via Daita, a stone's throw from the Politeama Theater. In November 2014, he bought a car (a Fiat 500) at the “Nuova Co.ri.” on Via Tasca Lanza, under the name of the architect Massimo Gentile . In 2020, the boss went to Carini for another 500.
And in 2022, this time under the name Bonafede, he also bought an Alfa Romeo Giulietta in Palermo at a dealership on Corso Calatafimi. And then he went to the ophthalmologist on Via Pietro Scaglione, once under the name Bonafede and another time, in 2016, under the name Giuseppe Giglio . The owner said he never knew the patient's true identity. In the capital he also got tattoos in via Rosolino Pilo, right in the center of Palermo.

To reconstruct the boss's protections, old papers are also reread. The historical axis remains the one with Brancaccio even though the Graviano brothers have been in prison since 1994. The axis with Palermo was maintained with the Lo Piccolos in the early 2000s, when the notes traveled between Francesco Luppino , from Campobello, and Mimmo Serio (a man of the San Lorenzo bosses), but also later.
Between 2008 and 2009 there were some important events where "Diabolik" (one of the nicknames of the mafia boss) had expressly given his opinion on the attempt to revive the provincial commission of Cosa Nostra and the hierarchy in the San Lorenzo district. Reading the documents of the “Perseo” operation it is clear that the Palermo mafia bosses had sought out the boss of Castelvetrano to gain support for the reorganization of the provincial commission. The promoter of this ambitious project was Benedetto Capizzi , a representative of the Villagrazia-Santa Maria del Gesù district, which he aspired to lead. To achieve his goal he had asked for help from the bosses Giuseppe Scaduto and Benedetto Spera, respectively the district head of Bagheria and Belmonte Mezzagno. In particular, these two had the task of convincing the dissidents, represented in particular by Gaetano Lo Presti (Porta Nuova district head), who were absolutely against the reorganization.


Double game
At first it seemed that Matteo Messina Denaro was in agreement with the reconstruction of the provincial commission. It was the Bagheria boss Scaduto who was in contact. "So for the matter of Matteo Denaro - we read in the wiretaps - ... I am in contact with him and things... if you need a contact... a contact with Matteo". Salvatore and Giovanni Adelfio , believed to be close to Capizzi, had also made it clear that the desire to reform the provincial commission started right there, from the super fugitive. The intermediary of the Castelvetrano boss with the Palermo affairs was Franco Luppino who would have guaranteed maximum support for the success of the thing.

But when it was time to give the final say, it was Messina Denaro himself who intervened, with lots of notes. The protagonist was always the boss Scaduto who informed his interlocutors about a meeting that had taken place the day before with the group of dissidents (in which the then fugitive Giovanni Nicchi had also participated ). Scaduto actually reported that the faction linked to Lo Presti Gaetano had pulled out a note from Matteo Messina Denaro and had the Bagheria man read it.
“While I was there - Scaduto said in the wiretap - (…) I also get notes, meetings they had with Trapani (… ) notes that arrived from Trapani... I saw the notes too... I read them... I recognized the handwriting of the notes that arrive to me... the same handwriting... that tells us: “we don't know anyone, we are stuck as we have been” it says “we are in contact with everyone,… we are available to anyone in need... for other things we don't recognize anyone”…”. This last intervention makes it clear that the boss of Castelvetrano was anything but in agreement with the refoundation of the provincial commission.


The connection with the Biondinos
Another point of contact is with the Biondino family. A relationship that was solid even before Girolamo Biondino (brother of Salvatore, Totò Riina 's well-known driver ), was released from prison. Also between 2008 and 2009 there were the two cousins, with the same name, Giuseppe Biondino . Strong in their name, they were inserting themselves into the business of the San Lorenzo district, in particular in the collection of protection money, even in those premises that had already been fixed up.
Mariano Troia, at the time the recognized regent of San Lorenzo, warned: "That this whole mess is... all these things... you guys are kindly requested to stay inside". The situation was edgy. Salvatore's son even implied that Messina Denaro himself had given the ok ("you see, if there's anyone who should stay inside, it's you... he told me that the territory here is mine"). Through Franco Luppino, an initial response arrived from the Trapani mafia boss himself: “Sandro, but neither now nor ever... I can tell you right away, go easy from now on. First, because it has never been discussed... but don't touch them because they are the children of friends, of picciotti that I care about”. Despite this, in the end, a new balance was found on San Lorenzo with official sponsorship for one of the two Biondinos, Girolamo's son, with the other one who had been arrested in the meantime. Manuel Pasta, arrested in 2009 and then becoming a collaborator of justice, tells the magistrates the facts. After the operation that leads to the Lo Piccolos being sent to prison, Pasta says, “ Giuseppe Biondino, son of Girolamo, manages to be... to take back control of San Lorenzo. Initially he finds an opponent in the architect Giuseppe Liga , who was our district boss, but, since Giuseppe Biondino, son of Girolamo, was sponsored by Messina Denaro and Gianni Nicchi , he manages to win, so to speak, the war of succession with Troia Mario and therefore he is allowed to take control of San Lorenzo. So from January 2008 the Biondinos regain control of San Lorenzo”.

https://www.antimafiaduemila.com/ho...a-denaro-protezioni-di-alto-livello.html

At least MMD had good taste.

Boss Attanasio Receives Final 30-Year Sentence
AMDuemila April 23, 2025
The Court of Cassation has ruled inadmissible the appeal presented by the lawyers of Alessio Attanasio and Luciano De Carolis , sentenced to 30 years for the murder of Angelo Sparatore in May 2001. The sentence thus becomes definitive for Attanasio, indicated by the Catania DDA as the boss of the Siracusa Bottaro-Attanasio gang, and De Carolis, a leading member of the clan. Angelo Sparatore was killed in the context of a settling of scores, with six gunshots in via Gaetano Barresi, a northern outskirts of Siracusa. A collaborator of justice is said to have revealed the background to the murder, explaining that De Carolis was with him, while Attanasio gave the order.

Palermo, two officers attacked at Ucciardone
by Editorial Staff

April 24, 2025

Two prison police officers were attacked and threatened in the Ucciardone prison in Palermo. This was reported by the national secretary of the CNPP union Maurizio Mezzatesta. One attack occurred in the ninth section and one in the eighth. The officers were taken to the emergency room at Villa Sofia. The prognosis is 7 and 5 days. "We are tired of counting the injured, all we do is archive episodes of violence and threats against staff and various critical events, which then recur with other episodes of extreme violence, added to the disproportionate workloads - adds Mezzatesta - and the disproportionate use of overtime, failing to comply with what is provided for in the national framework agreement. Overtime that is imposed and which in turn is not paid regularly and at the same time not beyond a set number of hours. The staff is tired, has been waiting for concrete and timely interventions for a long time that are slow in arriving and presumably the staff is waiting for another copy-paste summer of the previous ones. I express my utmost solidarity with the injured staff".

Giuseppe Enzo Mangion, historical boss of the Santapaola family of Catania, remains in prison
by Editorial Staff

April 24, 2025

Giuseppe Enzo Mangion, 65, historical boss of the Santapaola family of Catania, remains in prison. He should have been released today, but the first section of the Court of Appeal of Catania, presided over by Sebastiano Mignemi, accepting a request from the deputy prosecutors Nicolò Marino and Andrea Ursino, also based on a report from the DIA and the inter-force judicial police unit of the Attorney General, has reinstated the precautionary measure of custody in prison.

Mangion, son of the deceased historic man of honor Francesco, one of the trusted lieutenants of the mafia boss Benedetto Santapaola, had been the recipient of a precautionary custody order in prison issued in 2019 as part of Operation Samael and the measure was due to expire today.

The Court of Appeal last year, confirming the 2022 Tribunal ruling, re-determined his 19-year, 3-month prison sentence with an irrevocable 2009 verdict for mafia association.

In issuing the order, the judges underlined that Mangion still "is at risk of fleeing", both due to "the top role he has held over the years" and the "economic management of the illicit affairs of the mafia family" and because he can count on the "continued management of the association by his brother-in-law Aldo Ercolano", married to Francesca Mangion.

Mafia in Palermo. Chiovaro, double agent among rival clans of Noce
He was Renzo Lo Nigro's "spy" in the rival group led by Giuseppe Romagnolo. His figure was central in the gang that was reorganizing after the arrests

by Fabio Geraci

April 26, 2025

He was Renzo Lo Nigro's infiltrator inside the rival group, the one led by Giuseppe Romagnolo. Arrested on April 9 in the blitz against the Noce district, Salvatore Chiovaro, known as Marco, is now free: he was released from prison for health reasons and is under house arrest with an electronic bracelet. An apparently low-profile figure who, instead, was central to the internal games of the gang, which had to reorganize after the blows inflicted by the forces of law and order.

Romagnolo had become the regent of the Noce mafia family after the capture of Guglielmo Ficarra: he ran the clan together with Antonio Di Martino, who instead commanded Altarello. But their power was being challenged by a faction that had returned to freedom after years in prison, the one led by Lo Nigro and Carlo Castagna, determined to get back into the game and take over the neighborhood. In the middle of it all was Chiovaro.

Formally linked to Romagnolo, he took part in meetings and extortions but in reality he reported everything to Lo Nigro, who considered him a trustworthy man and spoke of him in these terms: «But we put Marco (Chiovaro, ed.) in there», underlining the role that had been assigned to the one he considered to be like a brother.