‘Ndrangheta, 20 years as a former exponent of the Brothers of Italy

BOLOGNA – Twenty years in prison. Giuseppe Caruso, former president of the municipal council of Piacenza de Fratelli d’Italia, was sentenced to both. The judge of the abbreviated trial (therefore with the deduction of a third of the sentence) that ended tonight in the first instance considered him a tall man from the ‘Ndrangheta gang based in Emilia Romagna and doing business in Lombardy. Caruso, at the time of the events, an official of the National Customs Agency, in addition to being a protagonist among the Calabrians, also would have had to facilitate the clan, helping it to access European funds in the agricultural sector.

A chief like Salvatore Grande Aracri, also sentenced to 20 years, brother of the most famous Nicolino, considered the undisputed leader of the Calabrian clan with interests in northern Italy. In addition to Giuseppe Caruso, the judge also sentenced his brother Albino to 12 years and 10 months in prison. Several local businessmen who had bowed to the logic of the mafia, thinking of doing business with the ‘Ndrangheta, were also sentenced.

The court recognized the entire accusatory system of the “Grimilde” investigation and practically all the requests of the Bologna Dda prosecutor Beatrice Ronchi were accepted. With the exception of only a handful of the 47 defendants pardoned by the statute of limitations for the crimes they were charged with. The most significant data is the recognition of the mafia-type association and the confiscation of assets for millions of euros. Real estate and current accounts that will end up in the state coffers.

At the center of the investigation is the Calabrian clan with roots in Emilia Romagna and considered, as in the Aemilia system, an integral part of the Cutresi. According to the DDA, the clan was active in extortion, usury and money laundering that it carried out thanks to a dense network of unsuspected front men.

“This is an operation that ideally and materially represents the continuation of Aemilia’s trial,” said Bologna Chief Prosecutor Giuseppe Amato. And just as Aemilia ended (at least in the first instance) with very harsh sentences. They range from one year in prison, for marginal figures, to 20 years for the leaders of the organization. The investigation was also possible thanks to the complaints of people who had ended up in the crosshairs of criminals led by members of the great Aracri family and the contribution of historical collaborators of justice, such as Antonio Valerio and Giuseppe Giglio, and also new ones.
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