State and Carabinieri police
dealt a huge blow to the mafia in the area of the southern city
of Foggia with the execution of arrest warrants for 30 people in
a big operation.
The suspects are alleged members of the
Moretti-Pellegrino-Lanza and Sinesi-Francavilla mafia clans.
Around 10 of the suspects are convicts who were already in
jail.
The accusations include alleged mafia association, extortion
and attempted murder.
According to official case documentation, it is suspected,
among other things, that managers, former managers and a former
coach of Foggia soccer team were pressured by the mobsters to
sign a player.
Foggia are currently second-last in Italian soccer's second
tier, Serie B.
A preliminary hearings judge said former Foggia coach Roberto
De Zerbi (now at Sassuolo), as well as sporting director
Giuseppe Di Bari, accepted the clan's demands instead of
reporting them.
The Puglia mafia, the Sacra Corona Unita (United Sacred
Crown, SCU) is the smallest of Italy's four mafias.
It has dwindled to a fraction of its former strength thanks
to waves of police action.
But, unlike the other mafias, it has not stopped killing to
claim turf and retain power.
The other three mafias are 'Ndrangheta from Calabria, Cosa
Nostra from Sicily and the Camorra from Naples.
Italy's national anti-mafia and anti-terror prosecutor,
Federico Cafiero De Raho, said Friday's operation was "extremely
important because 30 people accused of mafia association and
aggravated extortion were arrested".
Individuals linked to murders committed "since 2015 and up to
a few days ago" had been nabbed, he said.
De Raho added that "if everyone who knows about this mafia
reports incidents, we will be able to dismantle the Mob for
good".
The preliminary investigations judge said: "The 'Società
Foggiana' manages to pollute all the vital arteries of the
social, economic and administrative life of Foggia and the
surrounding area".
Anti-mafia business organisation Libera said the operation
"gives us one more reason for existing.
"We are sure the Puglia mafia will be defeated," it said.
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