Parisi/Palermiti clan: prominent members, fixers and politicians arrested
At the first light of dawn, the State Police executed two separate orders applying 137 precautionary measures, concerning members of or adjacent to the Parisi – Palermiti mafia organisation, held responsible, in various capacities, for the crime referred to in the art. 416 bis of the Criminal Code, as well as extortion, carrying and possession of firearms, illicit marketing of narcotic substances, disruption of the freedom of auctions, extortion committed in the context of sporting competitions, all crimes aggravated by the mafia method, as well as the crime referred to in art. 416 ter of the Criminal Code, relating to political-mafia electoral interference, in particular by the criminal gangs "Parisi/Palermiti" and "Strisciuglio", in the administrative consultations for the election of the Mayor of Bari on 26 May 2019, in which numerous votes for the election, which then took place, of a councilor.
It is important to highlight that the findings carried out in the preliminary investigation phase require subsequent procedural verification in the cross-examination with the defence.
This is an impressive Judicial Police operation, coordinated by this District Anti-Mafia Directorate, which saw the operational use of around 1000 policemen.
The investigation, conducted by the Bari Flying Squad and the Central Operational Service, documented the operations and dangerousness of the mafia organization and also made it possible to record the celebration of affiliation ceremonies according to the ritual of 'Ndrangheta origin, the consumption of extortion, the large availability of weapons ready for use, but also the interference of the association in various sectors of the social, administrative and business life of the area, including heavy interference with some sports clubs, so much so as to alter the results of two matches football championships of Promotion and Excellence, in the 2017/2018 seasons.
The judicial police operation, which represents the epilogue of meticulous investigations, from 2016 to today, was conducted through patient and meticulous investigative work, coordinated by this Anti-Mafia District Attorney's Office, consisting of the implementation of a powerful technical activity of interception - both telephone and telematic (which on one occasion made it possible to foil a murder plan) and environmental, stalking and observation services, searches, seizures of weapons (30 firearms including pistols and machine guns, 3 silencers and over 700 cartridges of various calibers), narcotics, sums of money with arrests in flagrante delicto, all corroborated and verified by the declarations of some collaborators of justice, in the temporal context of the mafia war in Japigia which produced three murders in 2017.
At the same time as the execution of personal precautionary measures, emergency asset seizures are being carried out, ordered by this District Anti-Mafia Directorate, of goods and assets attributable to the criminal activities in dispute or constituting assets of unjustified origin, disproportionate compared to the real income capacity , against 16 people under investigation, some of whom were already recipients of the aforementioned personal precautionary measures, for an approximate amount of approximately 20.000.000 (twenty million) euros, and including various properties, including apartments and industrial warehouses, company shares commercial, industrial and service sectors, bank and postal current accounts, cars and luxury goods.
The level of infiltration of the mafia association in certain sectors of the political and entrepreneurial life of the territory also passed through the placement of associates within them, in particular a nephew and a brother of the boss, so as to be present within a municipal subsidiary company and a well-known automotive company, in relation to which, the Prevention Measures Section Court has ordered the non-ablative prevention measure of the judicial administration of companies pursuant to art. 34 of the anti-mafia code.
The Prevention Measures Section Court also ordered the seizure aimed at the confiscation of a large real estate complex, a proceeding initiated at the request of the Prosecutor of the Republic of Bari, against one of the arrested persons, a former regional councilor who was the recipient of the custodial measure in prison and his wife, currently municipal councilor of Bari and recipient of the house arrest measure (whose father is also the recipient of house arrest).
It is important to underline that the proceeding is in the preliminary investigation phase and that, after the execution of the precautionary measure in question, there will be follow-up interrogation and discussion with the defense of the suspects, whose possible guilt, in relation to the crimes contested , will have to be ascertained during the trial, in the cross-examination between the parties.
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