A major operation by the Palermo Anti-Mafia Directorate, involving over 1,200 carabinieri, led to the arrest of 181 people, including bosses from various parts of the Sicilian capital and the province.
The investigation revealed the organizational scheme of the main families, the clan business and the attempt of Cosa Nostra to rebuild the provincial dome and react to the authorities that in recent years have led to the imprisonment of thousands of people.
The main districts involved in the investigation are those of Santa Maria di Gesù, Porta Nuova, San Lorenzo, Bagheria, Terrasini, Pagliarelli and Carini.
The arrested are accused, to varying degrees, of mafia-type criminal organization, attempted murder, extortion, committed or attempted, aggravated by mafia methods, association for the purpose of illegal drug trafficking, crimes against property, crimes against the person and illegal gambling.
The investigations revealed the new system with which the bosses met to reorganize the new provincial commission, already wiped out once and for all with the arrests in December 2018.
Mafia bosses in prison and those still free had access to microsim cards and encrypted cell phones, illegally inserted into their cells, with which they could talk without being disturbed from the outside and give orders to others.
Some of the arrested mobsters were ready to go into hiding. The boss’s brother-in-law, Nunzio Serio, for example, after finding a GPS in his wife’s Smart and fearing that a warrant would soon be issued for him, left Palermo to flee north. “We are all being bombed,” he said.
Another mafia boss, after escaping pursuit by a GdF patrol, had planned to take refuge abroad with his family and secure the accumulated wealth through online gambling.
"I have to get out of here... I have to change my place of residence... I'm leaving...", he said, adding that Italy has become uncomfortable for us.