Double strike against the mafia in Sicily and the USA
The highly criminal Gambino clan has to cope with a real bloodletting: police officers in New York and Palermo execute 17 arrest warrants at the same time to hit one of the five most powerful mafia families in the USA.
The Italian police and the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) have carried out raids against suspected Mafia members in Sicily and New York. According to the Italian police, 17 arrest warrants were issued, seven of them in the Sicilian province of Palermo and ten in New York. This was done as part of investigations into mafia connections, extortion, manipulated auctions and arson against the Gambino clan.
The authorities initially reported 17 arrests, but the US Department of Justice later clarified the information. According to this, only 16 of the suspects were arrested and one person wanted in Italy is still on the run.
The ten suspects arrested in the USA are accused of being members or accomplices of the Gambino clan. This is one of the five major Italian-American mafia families in the north-east of the United States. The suspects had "committed years of violent extortion, assault, arson, retaliation against witnesses and other crimes to dominate the New York City waste management and demolition industry," said US Attorney Breon Peace.
Pictures of hammer attack circulated
In one case, two of the suspects coordinated a "violent hammer attack" on a member of a demolition company with whom they had a financial dispute, according to US reports. They then circulated images to others in the industry. Italian police said the investigation had also uncovered blackmail against restaurateurs of Sicilian origin in New York to put pressure on their families back home.
According to the US Attorney's Office, the Gambino clan is linked to Cosa Nostra. The Cosa Nostra became known as the inspiration for "The Godfather" films. However, the 'Ndrangheta mafia, based in the southern Italian region of Calabria, has since left Cosa Nostra behind in terms of wealth and power.
Source: www.ntv.de
