The police, on behalf of the Palermo anti-mafia district directorate, have arrested five people – two of whom have already been definitively sentenced for mafia association – accused of a series of repeated acts of extortion and unlawful competition with threats or violence, aggravated by the mafia method, and of having facilitated the mafia association known as Cosa Nostra. According to the investigations carried out by the SCO, the Sisco of Palermo, and the mobile teams of Agrigento and Palermo, it has been hypothesized the “pervasive control and illegal management of agro-pastoral activities” in the territories of Santa Margherita Belice, Montevago, and Sambuca di Sicilia in the province of Agrigento, up to the border with Contessa Entellina in the province of Palermo.
Destined for prison are Giovanni Campo, 33, Piero Guzzardo, 45, and Pasquale Ciaccio, 58. The detention measure was notified to Pietro Campo, 72, who was already in prison. Domenico Bavetta, 42, is under house arrest.
The suspects, leveraging the undeniable intimidating force derived from being recognized as top figures of the Santa Margherita di Belice mafia region, would have exerted a strong control over the agro-pastoral economy of the area and the use of agricultural funds in the Belice hinterland.
In particular, several episodes were recorded in which the suspects, using the mafia method, would have forced the owners and managers of agricultural land to make vast areas of land available for unauthorized grazing of livestock, imposing the payment of meager rents that, in some cases, were not even paid. The control of agricultural land in some cases also resulted in a prohibition of carrying out collateral agricultural activities that would interfere with the free grazing of flocks, thus enforcing a strict dominance over other people’s real estate, also functional to maximize profits from dairy production.
“In this context,” explain the investigators, “the absence of explicit threats has sometimes been recorded, as the suspects can enforce their will by resorting to silent intimidating attitudes, echoed by the subjugation capacity derived from their recognized criminal role as well as the numerous episodes of damage (fire, crop cutting, and livestock theft) – committed by unknown individuals – suffered over the years by the owners who decided, instead, to use the land for crops that would limit flock grazing.”
The investigations also relied on statements from some victims who opposed the “control system” of the sector, revealing some episodes where, after the threshing carried out by the owners, the produce was improperly acquired and packaged by the suspects in prison without paying any compensation.
Colpo alla mafia dei pascoli di Santa Margherita Belice: cinque arresti
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