Villas, cars and cash: Italy seizes dead Mafia mobster's millions

You whitethorn find immoderate of the details of Messina Denaro's crimes disturbing

Anti-mafia investigators successful Italy person seized cash, companies and different assets worthy much than €200m (£175m) successful an cognition they accidental targeted the web of notorious precocious Sicilian mafia brag Matteo Messina Denaro.

The funds, described arsenic "huge amounts of capital" by the fiscal constabulary successful Palermo, are said to beryllium proceeds from implicit 4 decades of drugs trafficking linked to the presumed erstwhile caput of the Cosa Nostra group.

Announcing their results successful Sicily connected Thursday, investigators released a video showing masked constabulary officers, immoderate successful riot gear, barging down doors and scaling walls to raid a bid of immense luxury villas surrounded by thenar tree-lined lawns.

Messina Denaro spent 3 decades connected the tally until his apprehension successful 2023 arsenic helium near a session wherever helium was being treated for cancer. He died successful custody soon after.

Whilst a fugitive, helium had been sentenced to beingness for aggregate murders including the assassination of 2 anti-mafia prosecutors successful 1992 successful weaponry attacks respective weeks apart.

He was besides convicted of kidnapping and sidesplitting the 12-year-old lad of a mafia man-turned-informer. After 2 years successful captivity, the kid was strangled and his assemblage dissolved successful acerb truthful it could ne'er beryllium found.

Police accidental their latest probe follows immoderate of the Cosa Nostra wealth trail. It spanned aggregate countries including Spain and Switzerland arsenic good arsenic the Cayman Islands.

Three radical person been arrested and 8 firms identified, including existent property companies said to beryllium tied to the illicit funds.

The caput of the National Anti-Mafia Prosecutor's Office, Giovanni Melillo, called the cognition "strategically significant", not lone due to the fact that of the recovered cash.

"It besides aims to forestall the reformation of a transgression organisation that existed until a fewer years ago," helium told a quality conference.

"Seizing this wealthiness means continuing the disintegration process [of the transgression group] and the process of re-establishing structures susceptible of projecting the afloat intimidating powerfulness and economical and societal power of the Cosa Nostra connected a planetary scale."

Italy's concern constabulary accidental their cognition began with a study from Andorra connected an Italian pistillate with "significant fiscal resources".

She turned retired to beryllium joined to a drugs trafficker said to person adjacent ties to the Cosa Nostra and to Messina Denaro himself.

The enquiry produced leads successful respective different countries.

In total, constabulary accidental much than 150 officers were progressive successful a planetary cognition which ranged from utilizing drones and thermal scanners to hunt for hidden stashes of currency - to deploying IT experts to hint integer wallets and crypto currency.

Italian media are calling the haul "Denaro's drugs trove" though the magnitude recovered is thought to beryllium lone a fraction of the immense wealthiness of his web which has since been reinvested each implicit the world.