In the provinces of Agrigento and Palermo, the police carried out a precautionary measure against 5 subjects (4 arrested in prison and 1 under house arrest) held responsible for a series of repeated conduct of extortion and illicit competition with threats or violence, aggravated by mafia method and of having facilitated the mafia association. All for the so-called pasture mafia and the management of agricultural funds. The service on the Sicilia News link…
The police carried out a precautionary measure against 5 individuals – two of whom have already been definitively convicted of mafia association – held responsible for a series of repeated conduct of extortion and illicit competition with threats or violence, aggravated by the mafia method and of having facilitated the mafia association. The investigations, conducted by the SCO, Sisco of Palermo and the Flying Squads of Agrigento and Palermo, have made it possible to hypothesize the pervasive control and illicit management of agro-pastoral activities in the territory of Santa Margherita del Belice, Montevago and Sambuca di Sicilia, all municipalities in the province of Agrigento up to the border with Contessa Entellina (Palermo).
The suspects, making use of the intimidating power deriving from being recognized as top exponents of the Santa Margherita di Belice mafia district, would have implemented a control over the agro-pastoral economy of the area and the use of agricultural funds. The suspects allegedly forced the owners and managers of agricultural land to give up the availability of large areas of land to be used for illegal grazing of livestock, imposing the payment of negligible fees which, in some cases, were not even paid. The control of agricultural land would also have translated into a ban on carrying out collateral agricultural activities that would alter the free grazing of flocks, thus imposing dominance over other people’s real estate, also functional to the maximization of profits deriving from dairy production. The investigations also made use of the contribution of some victims who opposed the control system of the sector: in some cases, after threshing by the owners, the foodstuffs were acquired and packaged by the suspects, without paying any compensation.
Five of the total six suspects were arrested. One measure – against seventy-two-year-old Pietro Campo – was notified directly to the prison. The other four were carried out during the night and the following were taken to a penitentiary institution: Giovanni Campo, 33 years old; Piero Guzzardo, 45 years old (who was first taken to the police station in Agrigento) and Pasquale Ciaccio, 58 years old. Domenico Bavetta, 42 years old, was placed under house arrest.
gl
Edited by, Tuesday 4 June 2024, 11.25 am.
(Visited 23 times, 23 visits today)
