barrage of arrests, guns found

Seven people – four to Favara and three, in the execution of so many European mandates, in Belgium – They were arrested tonight by the state police and the Belgian federal judicial police. It was the operation, of international scope, called “Mosaic”. In various ways, they have been held responsible for double assassination attempt against Maurizio Distefano and Carmelo Nicotra, as well as illegal possession of weapons, damage and receipt of stolen goods. All crimes committed on May 23, 2017 in Favara and the province. The investigating judge, in the order of preventive detention in prison, endorsed the thesis of the researchers, highlighting the qualified probability of guilt towards the recipients of the measures and embraced the existence of the use of the mafia method.

Operation “Mosaico”: double attempted murder, here are the 7 detainees

Attempted murder of Nicotra, carried out in the investigation: you are under investigation

The investigative activity shed light on the entire dispute that from 2015 to 2018 bloodied the streets of Favara and Liège, counting five murders and as many assassination attempts, some of which have never been reported. The investigation was coordinated by the Palermo DDA and the Liège Public Prosecutor’s Office with the help of the Eurojust and Europol agencies. For Italy, the investigations were carried out by the Central Operative Service (Sco), by the Agrigento Mobile Brigade, which is coordinated by the Deputy Commissioner Giovanni Minardi, and by the Palermo. For Belgium, however, the Liège Federal Judicial Police were mobilized. For the first time in history, the PDD has proposed, following the introduction of a specific rule, the creation, through Eurojust, of a joint investigation team, that is, a joint international investigation team, with jurisdiction over all Participating States.

A Kalashnikov with a magazine was found: it was hidden underground

Some twenty searches were also carried out with the use of more than 80 Italian and Belgian police officers, personnel from the Crime Prevention Department and the Palermo Flight Department, canine units from Catania and Palermo. During the operation, one weapon was confiscated in Belgium from Carmelo Nicotra and three in Italy from Michelangelo Bellavia, 32. For possession of these illegally held weapons, Bellavia was arrested.

Rain of fire in Favara, it was a selective ambush: a young man was injured

The investigation carried out refers to murders and assassination attempts and drug trafficking. According to what emerged, there were two opposing groups operating between Favara and Belgium. The investigations, initiated by the Dda of Palermo, have allowed to reconstruct the evolution of a clique, initially cohesive, but which, due to events related to the management of illicit traffic, has suffered a split, giving rise to the creation of two opposing groups within her.

The dispute on the Belgium-Favara axis, the trial for laundering of the first victim is redone

The investigation began with the murder that occurred in Liège in September 2016 against Mario Jakelich. However, the investigations made it possible to identify the origin of the enmity in the murder of Carmelo Bellavia, known as Melo Carnazza, which occurred in January 2015 in Favara.

The dispute on the Belgium-Favara axis with 4 dead and one injured: laboratory investigations also on a crucifix

The assassination of Mario Jakelich and the contextual assassination attempt of Maurizio Distefano, which took place in Liege on September 14, 2016, ended under the scrutiny of Italian and Belgian investigators; the murder of Carmelo Ciffa that occurred in Favara on October 26, 2016; the murder of Baldassare Sorce, which took place in Sclessin: suburb of Liège on May 3, 2017; the attempted double murder of Carmelo Nicotra and Maurizio Di Stefano on May 23, 2017 in Favara; the murder of Emanuele Ferraro that occurred in Favara on March 8, 2018. It is alleged that two other assassination attempts were committed against the alleged protagonists of the fight, but they were never reported.

Taken with two illegal weapons, sentence is triggered for the Bellavia family

Operation “Mosaic” made it possible to reconstruct, piece by piece, the criminal dynamics, as well as the dispute between Agrigento and Belgium, and to collect elements on the management of drug trafficking and, on occasions, weapons.