Organized crime in the Verona area
«The latest investigative activities carried out in the Verona area have shown evidence of a strong presence of the ‘Ndrangheta, therefore of organized crime of Calabrian origin. This does not exclude the presence of other structures such as the Cosa Nostra, Camorra and Sacra Corona Unita. The territory is characterized by a presence that is not belligerent and military, but is substantiated more from an economic-financial point of view, without forgetting, however, the exercise of the mafia method. In fact, the rulings of the Court of Cassation have, among other things, established that the method is based on not saying, on intuition and on being perceived ». It was the provincial commander of the carabinieri of Verona Pietro Carrozza who painted the Scaligero territory in this way, answering the question of which was the main mafia organization currently operating in the Veronese area.
The commander participated in a seminar organized by the Verona Chamber of Commerce, in collaboration with Public Notice, in which he spoke of some cases of intimidation of agricultural entrepreneurs with theft of vehicles and fires. “These are cases that represent the ways in which the mafia modality method is substantiated, since intimidation goes from unspoken to action, even stronger, especially when you have to convince someone to perform certain actions – explained Carrozza – During one of our investigative activities demonstrated that an entrepreneur had tried to react, understanding the gravity of the situation in which he found himself. The consequence was that the man was accompanied to a basement where they simply showed him some strings, chains and knives. So there was no violence, but only a demonstration in itself sufficient to substantiate the criminal intimidation of the Mafia ».
Then interviewed in the context of an in-depth study by the Council of Legality of the Chamber of Commerce, Commander Carrozza also spoke about foreign mafias. «The Albanian crime is mainly concerned with the trafficking of drugs, tendenzialmentecaina, and to a lesser extent with the management of the pro – he said – In addition, a Moldovan criminal organization called Patron is interested in the commission of thefts in a structured way. Lastly, the third foreign criminal organization present is the Nigerian one, which we now know to be of the cultist type, which mainly manages the marijuana and prostitution markets ».
During the seminar, the commander of the Scaligeri carabinieri also explained what are the so-called spy-crimes, or illegalities that can indicate the presence of organized crime: “Certainly the fires, the explosions of firearms, the theft of machinery agricultural value, personal injury. Particular attention is clearly paid to these crimes precisely because they can conceal a criminal organization operating in the area “.
Finally, Pietro Carrozza provided a hint on how much the crisis linked to Covid-19 has affected criminal organizations. “Surely the pandemic we are experiencing has changed the habits of all of us and therefore also the dynamics of the economic and social fabric – declared the provincial commander of the Verona Carabinieri – One of the sectors that has remained most in difficulty is the one defined by the acronym Horeca (hotel-restaurant-cafeteria). Entrepreneurs in these sectors were the most exposed. There have been sudden changes in the activities and we have already carried out interventions that have ended with the closure of some structures, while we are monitoring others ».