PESCARA. «It is a virgin land, less burned than Calabria». The mafiosi from the province of Vibo Valentia spoke like this about Abruzzo, without knowing they were being intercepted, while they did business in the Pescarese and Chieti areas. Now this is also certified by the latest investigation by the prosecutors of Catanzaro, conducted by the Carabinieri and concluded at dawn yesterday with 14 arrests: the ‘Ndrangheta, with the Maiolo clan of Acquaro, has infiltrated the economic fabric of Abruzzo. And he did so not only – as has happened in the past – by selling rivers of cocaine, but also by opening a series of companies selling food and wine products, such as prosecco, grapes, stockfish and cod.
THE NAMES
Among the people who ended up in handcuffs there are Rodolphe Pinto62 years old, from San Salvo, locked up in prison, e Nicola Antonio Papaleo, 65 years old, originally from Rosarno (Reggio Calabria), now under house arrest in Francavilla al Mare, in his home in via della Rinascita: both accused of external complicity in a mafia association, already arrested in 2022 by the Chieti carabinieri and known for their dangerous contiguities, were the clan’s points of reference in Abruzzo. But among the 12 suspects at large there are also two unsuspected ones: the accountant Luciano Barone50 years old, originally from Atri, with a house in Montesilvano and a studio in the center of Pescara, and the accountant Luca Marano, 44 years old, native of Ortona and resident in the Adriatic capital. The professionals in question are accused of having facilitated the ‘ndrina, allowing the boss Angelo Maiolo to get rid of a series of restrictions due to the prevention measure and, thus, to continue implementing the “criminal program”.
ABRUZZE REFERENCES
The investigation by the Carabinieri of Ros and Vibo – which resulted in the blitz in which the provincial commands of Chieti and Pescara also participated – also made it possible to discover the instigators and perpetrators of a triple murder which occurred in Calabria, in Gerocarne, in October 2003 Years of interceptions and shadowing have revealed the existence of an ‘ndrina which, if on the one hand maintains a fierce and predatory structure in the territory of origin, on the other is capable of projections into other areas, primarily Switzerland, Piedmont and Abruzzo. . Here, from his Sansalvese home in Via dello Stadio, Pinto «made himself available to the association to satisfy every type of request, procuring and offering weapons, bulletproof vests and even police badges for sale to the ‘ndrina», they reconstruct the pm Antonio De Bernardo, Annamaria Frustaci And Andrea Giuseppe Buzzellicoordinated by the acting prosecutor Vincenzo Capomolla.
DRUG TRAFFICKING
Pinto also worked to recover the credits claimed by the criminal group and procured customers «for the products falling within the product sectors controlled by it, sharing its relational network and thus allowing organized crime from Vibo to infiltrate the economic fabric of Abruzzo». In exchange, the sixty-two-year-old obtained «protection and accreditation within the mafia-type association, functional to the consolidation of relations with the leaders of the Maiolo clan, in particular with regard to arms trafficking and the supply of narcotic substances to be allocated for sale in Abruzzo and throughout Italy”.
BUSINESS
«He emerged as Angelo Maiolo», writes the judge Arianna Roccia, «in the management of the entrepreneurial activities gradually undertaken, he constantly turned to Papaleo, obtaining his collaboration to expand in Abruzzo (considered “virgin land”, “less burnt” than Calabria)». The contribution of the Calabrian transplanted to Francavilla al Mare is demonstrated by the fictitious title of the company “Papaleo cars”, with headquarters in Corso Umberto I in Montesilvano, in fact in the hands of the Maiolos for the prosecco trade. In other words: Papaleo made himself available to the association «in order to allow its inclusion in the market at competitive prices in various business sectors, including that of the sale of biodegradable bags in Pescara». A significant contribution to the economic activity of the Maiolos is always provided «by Papaleo and his family, in particular by his brother and cousin, who, in addition to having placed orders for must grapes on their own, have done their utmost in finding additional customers in order to facilitate the sale”. It is the new frontier of an archaic ‘ndrangheta in Calabria and increasingly entrepreneurial outside.
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