Phone calls from the Santa Maria Capua Vetere prison to the Paola prison, and then a network of relationships, exchanges and operations managed from behind bars. This is the picture that emerges from the new investigation by the DDA into Luca Occhiuzzi, the 37-year-old originally from Cetraro, who was sentenced to sixteen years in recent days for attempted murder. According to investigators, the Cetrara native would have transformed the smartphone into a central tool to maintain an active role, despite his detention. A direct line that also connected multiple prisons and, above all, the territory of origin. The investigation describes, among other things, a widespread communications system between inmates. The phones, illegally introduced into penitentiary institutions, would have allowed Occhiuzzi to communicate with other prisoners (and in particular one detained in Paola), sharing information and updates.
Not simple conversations: for the investigators they would be functional contacts to maintain balance and relationships, even between subjects confined in different structures. A network that is difficult to intercept with traditional means of control. Then there is the chapter regarding money management. Again using his cell phone, Occhiuzzi made bank transfers, sent sums and granted loans to other inmates. A detail which, according to those investigating, could reveal a broader system: small economic circuits inside the prison, where money becomes a lever of consensus and influence. Despite his detention, the 37-year-old remained constantly updated on what was happening in Cetraro. A continuous flow of news, fed by external contacts, which would have allowed him not to lose track of the situation in his country.
For DDA investigators, this element confirms the ability of some prisoners to maintain an active role in their contexts of origin. For months he did what he wanted.
He would also have received a short video showing the action of a vehicle from the heliported squadron of the Calabrian Hunters. Luca Occhiuzzi, who will have to appear before the district Gup at the end of the month together with eight other people investigated in the proceedings of the District Anti-Mafia Directorate, was imprisoned for two months in the Cosenza prison and was then transferred to the Santa Maria Capua Vetere prison. According to the investigation, the 37-year-old activated his cell phone in the Campania prison until it was confiscated after about six months. It was discovered that the phone was shared with other inmates. Occhiuzzi would also have used some public applications such as Instagram and Tik Tok, using Whatsapp for messaging. The device was the illicit instrument for arranging the forwarding – evidently for prior advantages – of sums of money. Transfers were arranged on the IBAN of prepaid cards registered to different people. Luca Occhiuzzi also consulted “Chatgpt” to learn any news on possible charges against him.