On the delegation of the Public Prosecutor’s Office of Rome – District Anti-Mafia Directorate, the Carabinieri of the Investigative Unit of the Provincial Command of Rome, since the first light of dawn, in the provinces of Rome, Naples, Foggia and Viterbo, have been carrying out anorder issued by the investigating judge of the Court of Rome which orders precautionary measures against 28 people (11 recipients of the measure of precautionary custody in prison, 16 of the measure of house arrest and one of the obligation to sign), investigated, for various reasons, of association aimed at international drug traffickingOf attempted robbery in competition, attempted extortion in competition, receiving stolen goods and illegal possession of weapons, failure to comply with the sentence was procured And personal aiding and abetting.
The investigations, launched by the Carabinieri of the Rome Investigative Unit and directed by the Rome DDA in June 2020, made it possible to collect serious circumstantial elements regarding the existence of a criminal associationwith a logistics base in the capital and operating in the Magliana area and on the Lazio coast, headed by one of the historical promoters of the Banda della Magliana, Marcello Colafigli. Even in a regime of semi-freedom, Colafigli, 70 years old, would have managed to plan the sales and purchases of large quantities of narcotic substances from abroad (Spain and Colombia), maintaining relationships with exponents of the ‘Ndrangheta, the Camorra, the Foggia mafia and with Albanians inserted into a South American drug cartel.
Marcello Colafigli, known as “Marcellone”was recognized with Franco Giuseppucci, Enrico De Pedis, Maurizio Abbatino and Nicolino Selis, as one of the promoters of the criminal group known by the name “Magliana band”. Burdened with several life sentences, he was convicted, among other things, for the kidnapping and murder of Duke Massimo Grazioli Lante della Rovere (considered the action with which the Gang began its criminal activity) and the murder, as principal, by Enrico De Pedis.
The interceptions
“You are an atomic bomb, you are too important a figure.” So thedriver and bodyguard he talked about Marcello Colafigli in one interception cited in the Rome investigating judge’s order with which he ordered 28 measures in a DDA investigation. Words on which “Marcellone” expressed his perplexity: “it’s you who sees me like this” adding however that “only some ‘acquaintances’ could have done him a bad thing by talking to the police even though many had enriched themselves behind his back for 40 years spending his name.” Colafigli, therefore, comments, “I have 1 or 2 friends… do you understand what I’m talking about?… that’s it… acquaintances can chat.. but even if they chat and mention my name… to my without knowing it…I always defend myself.”
Colafigli had a ‘treasure’ of 40 million euros hidden in chests – In an interception the interlocutors spoke about the shipment – which would have taken about 25 days – and the contacts with those at the port who, as we will see later, must identify with the organized crime that governs the port of Naples. Thirty million euros is the value of the cocaine that should have arrived, crammed into a ship in the Neapolitan port. In the environmental interception, Brunetti reiterated his request to Tinti to make an appointment to talk about forty million ruined euros that needed to be changed. The enormous amount of money to be invested in the operation belonged to Colafigli, who had hidden them in some boxes before ending up in prison and who when he left prison found them ruined and needed to be changed.
In an interception the interlocutors spoke about the shipment – which would have taken about 25 days – and the contacts with those at the port who, as we will see later, must identify with the organized crime that governs the port of Naples. Thirty million euros is the value of the cocaine which should have arrived, crammed into a ship in the Neapolitan port. In the environmental interception, Brunetti reiterated his request to Tinti to make an appointment to talk about forty million ruined euros that needed to be changed. The enormous amount of money to be invested in the operation belonged to Colafigli, who had it hidden in some crates before ending up in prison and that when he got out of prison he found them ruined and needed to be changed.
Handle
A still image taken from a Carabinieri video shows a moment of the Carabinieri’s maxi operation against a criminal group with a logistical base in the capital. June 4, 2024
Colafigli operated thanks to an agricultural cooperative
Marcello Colafiglidespite being under regime semi-freedom from 30 October 2019had managed to plan the sales and purchases of large quantities of drugs from abroad (Spain and Colombia), thanks also to the complacency of the manager of an Agricultural Cooperativealso reached by today’s ordinance, where he should have carried out the work foreseen by the semi-freedom regimeobtaining the possibility of walking away at his convenience and to meet his associates within the cooperative, helping him to evade investigations. Colafigli would have maintained relations with exponents of the ‘Ndrangheta, the Camorra, the Foggia mafia and with Albanians included in a South American drug cartel, as well as with a group well rooted in the Massimina district of Rome, responsible for marketing drugs in the capital. In fact, among the recipients of the measures, in addition to Marcello Colafigli, already detained in prison for another reason, there are 22 other Italian citizens, 2 Albanians, 1 Kosovar, 1 Macedonian and 1 Colombian.
Colafigli is suspected of having gained the trust of a group of Albanians involved in an important Colombian cartel operating in the city of Turbo (Colombia). The South American representative, originally from the city of Medellin, is also the recipient of the precautionary measure in prison but it is currently unavailable. The man at the top of the so-called Albanian group, point of contact with the Colombian cartel, volunteered to go in person to negotiate with South American suppliers and the passage from the interceptions in which he describes the difficulties to be faced in illegally entering Colombia and the precautions used by local traffickers to evade investigation activities such as the use of satellite devices and the unscrupulous use of firearms.
The Carabinieri of the Investigative Unit of Rome have collected serious circumstantial elements regarding the financial collaboration between the Colafigli association and exponents of organized crime in the province of Foggia who had financed theimport from Colombia of 30 kg of cocaine at a price of 200,000 euros; in this regard the negotiation was not successful, since one of the associates, in charge of making the payment with money transfer to Colombia, had the money credited to a dedicated account stolen by a close relative, his accomplice. Disputes arose from this, which did not degenerate into violent actions only thanks to the intermediation of Colafigli. But to repay the debt accrued with the Foggia underworld, Colafigli is seriously suspected of having organized a robbery against a person known in the environment as a “launderer”. The Carabinieri of the Rome Investigative Unit, however, intervened to prevent the crime from being committed by stopping the people who were supposed to carry out the robbery, recovering on that occasion an electric stun gun, uniforms, shovels and bibs with the emblem of the Guardia di Finanza as well as a Beretta pistol . Among the people in the criminal group responsible for drug dealing there is also a man, injured by gunshots on 25 March 2024 in via Pian Due Torri alla Magliana, also the recipient of today’s ordinance.
During the executive phases of the operation, this morning in Rome, the Carabinieri found and approximately 400,000 euros seized, during a search at the home of one of the suspects. For the operation, they were employed 150 soldiers from the Territorial Armysupport crews, dog team and helicopter team.
