Italian police strike against Cosa Nostra
Italian financial police investigates Cosa Nostra for years before striking in Brazil. They seize assets worth 50 million euros and arrest a suspect who allegedly laundered mafia money for decades as a straw man.
The Italian financial police claim to have dealt a significant blow to the mafia in Brazil. As reported by the financial police, officers from the Sicilian regional command, in collaboration with Brazilian colleagues, seized assets worth 50 million euros during a large-scale operation in the northeastern Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Norte. Numerous properties were also searched in Italy and Switzerland.
A Sicilian businessman residing in the Brazilian city of Natal was arrested. He is suspected of helping the Cosa Nostra mafia branch launder money through investments in Brazilian companies since 2000, according to the Italian news agency "Agenzia Nova". The straw man, whose identity the police did not disclose, is said to have been linked to one of the "most influential godfathers of Palermo" since 2000, as the authority explained using an expression for high-ranking mafiosi. According to Sicilian local media, the mafia boss in question is Giuseppe Calvaruso, who was arrested in 2021 and sentenced to a long prison term in 2022.
In total, the financial police seized assets from 17 people. They are accused of aiding and abetting the formation of a mafia association, extortion, and money laundering. The operation was preceded by years of investigation. Over 100 Italian financial police officers were involved in the raids, some of whom traveled to Brazil in recent days to support their local colleagues.
The police also stated that properties in several Italian regions and in Switzerland were searched during the raids against the mafia. The European judicial authority Eurojust reported that Swiss authorities were involved in the cross-border operation.
The arrest of the straw man in Brazil marked a significant infiltration of The Mafia's activities in the country. Since the suspect was reportedly linked to one of Palermo's most influential godfathers for over two decades, it suggests that The Mafia had a strong presence in Brazil's financial sector.
