Italian authorities have seized assets worth more than $232 million tied to the criminal empire of late Mafia boss Matteo Messina Denaro, in one of the country’s largest anti-Mafia financial operations in recent years.
The investigation, announced on Thursday by Italy’s Guardia di Finanza financial police, targeted a vast network accused of laundering money earned through decades of organised crime activities, including drug trafficking and extortion.
Officials said the assets were spread across several countries, including Spain, Switzerland, Luxembourg, Monaco and Lebanon, as well as offshore jurisdictions such as the Cayman Islands and Gibraltar.
Authorities uncovered luxury properties, investment portfolios and company holdings allegedly used to channel illicit funds into the legal economy. Among the assets identified were high-end resorts and real estate on Spain’s Costa del Sol.
Three suspects were arrested during the operation, which involved advanced surveillance methods including drones, aircraft monitoring and thermal imaging technology to locate hidden assets.
Messina Denaro, considered one of Italy’s most notorious Mafia figures, led the Sicilian Cosa Nostra organisation for years while evading capture for three decades. He was arrested in Palermo in January 2023 and later died after a short period in prison.
Italian anti-Mafia prosecutor Giovanni Melillo described the seizures as a significant blow to the financial foundations of organised crime groups.
According to prosecutors, the operation also disrupted attempts by Cosa Nostra to reorganise following Messina Denaro’s death.
The Mafia boss had previously been convicted over several major crimes, including involvement in the 1992 assassinations of anti-Mafia judges Giovanni Falcone and Paolo Borsellino, as well as a series of bomb attacks carried out in Italy in 1993.
Investigators say the latest crackdown demonstrates Italy’s continued efforts to dismantle organised crime networks by targeting their financial infrastructure rather than only arresting individual members.
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