RECENT NEWS View older news  |2013-05-10|   Bonanno associate linked to billion dollar drug-trafficking ring Alleged Bonanno associate John "Big Man" Venizelos pleaded guilty to drug-trafficking charges for his role in an international narcotics network. The 33 year old Venizelos was active as a Staten Island based distributor, prosecutors said. During a raid last year at his house police found 150.000$ in drug proceeds, a loaded Glock 23 semiautomatic handgun and a shotgun. He was released on a 1,5 million dollar bail in November, but will be facing new charges. It is possible he will be sentenced to life behind bars. Leader of the massive drugnetwork is believed to be Montreal drugkingpin Jimmy Cournoyer, a close associate of Vito Rizzuto and the Hell's Angels. From 2002 on he and his henchmen formed a cartel that since then have smuggled large amounts of marijuana into the United Stated valued at approximately 1 billion dollars. Money which was then used to buy cocaine from the Mexican Sinaloa cartel. Cournoyer lived the flashy lifestyle, driving around in a Bugatti Veyron and dating Brazilian top model Amelia Racine, who also happened to be an accomplice. Cournoyer was caught in 2012 after stepping off a jet plane in Mexico. (Source: dailymail.co.uk, silive.com)  |2013-04-16|   Investigators find new clues in Giovanni Falcone murder It's been almost 21 years ago since the Italian people heard the devastating news that Giovanni Falcone, a courageous judge who fought the Mafia, was murdered. To this day Falcone and fellow judge Paolo Borsellino, who was murdered several months later, are treated as national heroes. It was May 23, 1992, when half a ton of explosives was detonated underneath the main road in the city of Capaci. At that exact moment the Falcone convoy was passing by. Three people were instantly killed that day, being Falcone, his wife and a bodyguard. In the aftermath several Cosa Nostra members, all linked to the violent Corleonesi, were arrested and trialed for the murder, but there were still doubts about the involvement of others. New clues, given by informants, point out that members of the Brancaccio clan were also involved. Eight new arrest-warrants were handed out against Mafiosi, from which most of them are already behind bars. Amongst them are Brancaccio clanleader Salvo Madonia en Cosimo D'Amato, a Sicilian fisherman who was arrested last year on suspicion to have helped organize the 1993 and 1994 bombings of Firenze, Milan and Rome, at a time when the Mafia was terrorizing the country. (Source: ilfattoquotidiano.it)  |2013-04-03|   Police seizes a staggering 1,7 billion dollars in assets from Sicilian businessman Italian police has confiscated a record total of 1,7 billion dollars in assets from 57 year old businessman Vito Nicastri. The Sicilian businessman, also known as "Lord of the wind", is a successful entrepreneur and prominent renewable energy developer. The confiscated goods include 43 companies, all sorts of shares, about 100 buildings and 66 bank accounts. The investigations started in 2010 when police already froze a large part of Nicastri's assets. The Italian renewable energy industry is known to have been infiltrated by the Sicilian Mafia and Nicastri is suspected of having close ties to wanted Sicilian mob boss Matteo Messina Denaro, who has been on the run since 1993. (Source: theverge.com, theaustralian.com.au)  |2013-03-05|   Police arrests 20 'Ndrangheta members in Southern Italy Today police nabbed 20 men belonging to the 'Ndrangheta and confiscated about 450 million euros worth of goods and real estate. The men are presumed to be part of the Morabito and Aquino clans, and were primarily active in the tourist industry in the Calabria region. Their main goal was to launder money through the construction of holiday villages and luxury hotels. Amongst the arrested men were crime boss Rocco Morabito, two Spanish associates and one British man, believed to be a former IRA militant. (Source: lifeinitaly.com, italpress)  |2013-01-28|   New views on Montreals Mafiawar The homecomming of Montreal boss Vito Rizzuto hasn't changed a thing as violence still erupts in the city. Experts now believe that Rizzuto has begun to take revenge. At least 2 men have been murdered since his release. Both victims, Gaetan Gosselin and Joseph Di Maulo, were relatd to Raynald Dujardins, who is currently on trial for murder. Although Dujardins was a close associate of the Rizzuto's, it is believed he was the one who has targeted the Rizzuto family since 2009 in order to take control. In the last couple of years several leading figures of the organization have been murdered, including the former acting boss of the Bonanno family, Salvatore Montagna, who was believed to have tried to mediate between both factions. 2012  |2012-12-13|   Sicilian mob boss arrested in Bali Last Friday Italian and Indonesian law enforcements combined forces to arrest 40 year old Antonino Messicati Vitale on Bali. By bugging telephones and surveying his associates the police discovered that the reputed leader of the Villalba Maffia was hiding in Indonesia. He was staying in a luxurious residence near the town of Kuta, where he is believed to have lived for several months. Since April Messicati Vitale was wanted for murder, human trafficking and arms trading. In the next few days he will be extradited to Italy to face trial. Messicati Vitale was born into the Mafia. His father Pietro was murdered in July 1988 in Bagheria. (Source: bbc.co.uk, ibtimes.com)  |2012-12-06|   Camorra member shot dead at kindergarten Yesterday a 50 year old man, Luigi Lucenti, was shot dead on the courtyard of a kindergarten school after being chased by 2 assassins. Luckily the children were inside the building when the killing occured. They were rehearsing Christmas songs. The victim has been charged with drug dealing and other crimes in the past so was no stranger to the police. The town of Scampia, in the suburbs of Naples, has been plagued by Camorra violence for a long time. (Source: www.ibtimes.co.uk)  |2012-11-06|   New murder hits Montreal Mafia Last sunday the Montreal police discovered the dead body of Joseph Di Maulo outside his home in Blainville. Di Maulo was the brother-in-law of Raynald Desjardins, an influencial associate of the battered Rizzuto family. He has been a member of organized crime for a long time and was part of the Cotroni gang during the '50s before the Rizzuto's took charge. Di Maulo, who was born in Italy, was 70 years old. The murder occured just a month after Vito Rizzuto was released from prison. (Source: news.nationalpost.com, theglobeandmail.com)  |2012-10-06|   Last of Casalesi bosses arrested Massimo Di Caterino, the last of the runaway Casalesi bosses, was arrested today in a fortified bunker near Naples. The bunker was hidden after a shower in a house in Francolise. The 40 year old Di Caterino, nicknamed "Pistuolo", was armed and had about 10.000 euro's with him. He was on the run since March 2010. (Source: napolitoday.it)  |2012-08-24|   Public beach scene of a Camorra execution Yesterday a gunman shot and killed Scissionisti clan leader Gaetano Marino while he was leaving a beach in Terracina, in Central Italy. Marino was heading towards a hotel where his family was staying on vacation. The 48 year old Camorra leader was hit with several bullets, including 4 shots to the head. The shots fired caused panic on the crowded beach while the gunman fled in a grey car. Years ago Marino led a revolting crew during a turf war against the Di Lauro clan. He was nicknamed "Moncherino", or stump, after he lost both hands due to a bomb which went of too early. Recently Marino was seen on national television sitting in the front row during a singing performance of his 12 year old daughter. His public appearance created turmoil amongst the Italian citizens. (Source: hosted2.ap.org, napoli.ogginotizie.it)

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