COSENZA A nest egg donated in «sign of reverence” to Gianfranco Sganga, considered by the Catanzaro DDA to be the head of a group gravitating in the criminal orbit of Cosenza. The episode ended up in the papers of the investigation called “Recovery” against drug trafficking in the Cosentino area. It is June 17, 2023, and the suspect is handed over a thousand euros in cash. «A friend of mine was there on Saturday, and this shit… he practically took the money from inside his pocket already prepared, who had already come in advance… before saying goodbye to me as he left, he handed me these things, which among other things were a thousand euros.” The story continues and Sganga says he put the money aside, only to then notice a shortage of money. The “flower” a term used in criminal jargon to indicate a monetary consideration given to a specific person, makes clear – according to the prosecution – the caliber and weight of Sganga in the context under investigation.
Sganga and the Reggio clan
Gianfranco Sganga is known as “the deputy”. It was him on February 19, 2023, one of the two interlocutors of an intercepted phone call. From what we learn, the suspect would have stood up to “Michele” and “Robertino”, who identify themselves as Michele Di Puppo and Roberto Porcaro. But all the same, he seems little interested in the circumstance and prefers to think about the future. Which translates into the need to strengthen one’s group, «also bringing together exponents who in the past have played in other criminal gangs». In this regard, the investigator intercepts the conversations held between two suspects Giuliano Caruso and Giuseppe Bartolomeo. The first tells his interlocutor «of having given a tracksuit to Gianfranco Sganga and of having spoken very highly of him as an element to be valued within the clan». Sganga, however, thinks about expanding and when he investigates he intercepts a phone call that allows him to speak with a leading exponent of a gang considered an autonomous branch of the Cinquefrondi club.
The power vacuum
The alleged Sganga group is part of new balances created following what investigators define as a “power vacuum” following the “Reset” arrests. Who beheaded the leaders of the alleged ‘ndrangheta confederation of Cosenza. The spaces left empty must be “occupied” and the associations move to reorganize themselves (we talked about it here). The group that refers to Sganga, «being able to count on a historical ‘Ndrangheta legitimation and on an evergreen “autonomist” vocation, has found fertile ground». What the investigators collected would have allowed them to reconstruct the organized criminal dynamics of Cosenza, with particular attention to the Sganga group. Who would enjoy «a high degree of autonomy” And “he directs his own group mainly operating in the San Vito district with frequent expansionist projections in the entire city of Cosenza and its hinterland, but always in recognition and respect of the rules of the ‘Ndrangheta confederation attributable to Francesco Patitucci». Sganga was recently convicted at the end of the first degree trial resulting from the investigation called “Overture“ to a sentence of 6 years and 2 months in prison.
The accusations of the repentants
He’s the repentant Luca Pellicori to outline the identikit and role of Gianfranco Sganga. «Today Gianfranco Sganga manages all the extortion in Cosenza (…) he not only manages the extortion but also the drugs, so much so that even our group (Perna clan) currently supplies itself with narcotic substances from him». And again «the prices he charges for sales to our group are, based on quality: of 1,200/1,350 euros per kilo for marijuana, 1,400/1,600 euros per kilo for hashish, 38/42,000 euros per kilo for cocaine». Another repentant, other declarations. It is Celestino Abbruzzese, known as “Micetto” former member of “Banana” who confesses: «Gianfranco Sganga has his own group that manages the San Vito and Serraspiga area, selling cocaine, smoking and grass, many work for him in Cosenza;(fb)
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