Mafia suspects arrested in raids across Italy, NYC
Italy/us
Italian police and FBI agents arrested 19 mafia suspects in Sicily and New York yesterday in a co-ordinated crackdown that brought to the fore the enduring transatlantic ties between organised crime families in Italy and the United States, according to Italian authorities.
About 200 Italian police and FBI officers carried out the raids in the Palermo region of Sicily and in the New York area early yesterday, CBS News reported. Eighteen people in Italy and one in New York were arrested.
The arrests marked the culmination of a nearly year-long joint investigation by Italian and US law enforcement that delved into an organised crime network that has regrouped and strengthened its cross-continental collaboration, according to Rodolfo Ruperti, the chief investigator for the Palermo judicial police.
Yesterday’s operation, called ‘‘New Connection,’’ particularly homed in on the Passo di Rigano mandamento – a district allegedly ruled over by several mafia families – and the notorious New Yorkbased Gambino crime family.
The Sicilian mafia, also known as Cosa Nostra, has long exerted influence over the Mediterranean island, where rival crime families have fought bloody battles against each other and against Italian law enforcement for decades. A mob war in the 1980s between the rising Corleonesi mafia family and the Inzerillo family forced the Inzerillos to flee to the United States. That family strengthened relationships with the Gambinos in New York and, in recent years, had begun to reestablish itself in Sicily.
Among those arrested yesterday was Thomas Gambino, an American citizen and member of the New York crime family whom authorities apprehended while he was vacationing in the Sicilian beach town of Cefalu, according to Palermo prosecutor Salvatore De Luca. Authorities arrested others including Rosario Gambino, several members of the Sansone family, and Tommaso and Francesco Inzerillo.
‘‘All mafia associations, if they’re not attacked, will get stronger, acquire local consensus, pursue their investments and, thus, get even stronger,’’ Ruperti said in an interview. ‘‘Now we’ve delivered a blow to this very important mandamento, which has been able to regrow itself and create relationships with all the most important Mafiosi of Palermo.’’
De Luca said his office contacted the FBI after they noticed that two Italian mafia suspects they had been monitoring were ‘‘constantly in touch’’ with Thomas Gambino and Franky Cali, a reputed Gambino family crime boss who was killed outside his Staten Island home in March.
According to De Luca, Italian authorities then began coordinating with Keith Edelman, the assistant US attorney for the Eastern District of New York, and FBI officers.
De Luca said they put in motion a joint plan.