It has announced that it has proceeded with the freezing of assets and companies worth more than 200 million euros, as part of an investigation into money laundering linked to the late infamous Matteo Messina Denaro.
Messina Denaro was arrested in 2023 after 30 years on the run for his role in the Sicilian Cosa Nostra’s war against the state in the 1980s and 1990s, which included the assassination of top prosecutor Giovanni Falcone.
Nicknamed “U Siccu” (the skinny one), Messina Denaro died of cancer a few months after his arrest, leaving prosecutors with the task of tracing the proceeds of his criminal empire and those who helped him evade justice.
Police said the operation was the result of a complex investigation that uncovered a vast network of assets, which came from the reinvestment of drug-trafficking proceeds from the 1980s in several European and non-European countries.
“We believe we have identified a significant part of the investments made by the Mafia, including abroad,” said Palermo’s chief prosecutor Maurizio de Lucia.
Gold and luxury real estate
Messina Denaro, the son of a mobster, hailed from the western Sicilian town of Castelvetrano, near Trapani, and led the local Cosa Nostra faction.
Closely linked to strongman Salvatore “Toto” Riina, he was involved in the 1993 bombings in Florence, Rome and Milan that killed 10 people, and is believed to be responsible for several murders in the 1990s.
Three people were arrested as part of the investigation, which took place in areas including Switzerland, Luxembourg and the Cayman Islands, with a focus on Andorra, the small principality in the Pyrenees.
Police said they traced money flows to a woman from Campelungo di Mazara, the Sicilian town where Messina Denaro’s last hideout was located, who was married to a man with a history of drug offences.
“Based on these findings, investigators speculated that the funds in Andorra were linked to drug trafficking,” the statement said.
Prosecutors identified eight companies linked to the money laundering ring – five in Spain, two in Gibraltar and one in the Cayman Islands. The group also held a “very significant” stake in a Lebanese bank, as well as gold and luxury real estate.
Italian anti-mafia prosecutor Giovanni Melillo said it was crucial to target mafia wealth.
“This means continuing the process of deconstruction needed to prevent the re-emergence of structures capable of projecting again, on a global scale, the full intimidating power and economic influence of Cosa Nostra.”
