Italian financial police have seized assets and companies worth more than 200 million euros in a major drug money laundering probe linked to the late mafia boss Matteo Messina Denaro, Reuters reported, quoted by News.bg.
Messina Denaro was arrested in 2023 after nearly 30 years on the run. He was considered one of the most influential leaders of the Cosa Nostra and a key figure in the Sicilian mafia's war against the Italian state in the 1980s and 1990s. Among the most notorious crimes he has been linked to is the murder of prosecutor Giovanni Falcone.
Known by the nickname “U Siccu“ (“The Skinny One“), Messina Denaro died of cancer a few months after his arrest. After his death, prosecutors focused their efforts on tracing his financial network and the people who helped him hide.
According to police, the operation is the result of a long and complex investigation that has traced assets acquired through the reinvestment of drug trafficking proceeds since the 1980s. The funds were channelled to various countries in Europe and beyond.
Palermo Chief Prosecutor Maurizio De Lucia said investigators believed they had identified a significant part of the mafia's investments, including those abroad.
Messina Denaro was born in Castelvetrano, near Trapani in western Sicily, and inherited the influence of the local Cosa Nostra clan. He was close to boss Salvatore "Toto" Riina and has been linked to the 1993 bombings in Florence, Rome and Milan that killed 10 people.
Three people have been arrested in the current investigation. The operation covers Switzerland, Luxembourg and the Cayman Islands, but the main focus is on Andorra. Police said the funds were traced to a woman from Campobello di Mazzara, the town where Messina Denaro was hiding.
Prosecutors have identified eight companies linked to the money laundering scheme - five in Spain, two in Gibraltar and one in the Cayman Islands. The investigation also uncovered involvement in a Lebanese bank, as well as investments in gold and luxury properties.
Italy's chief anti-mafia prosecutor Giovanni Melillo stressed that cracking down on the mafia's financial resources was key to curbing the influence of Cosa Nostra and preventing the resurgence of its international structures.