This night the Carabinieri of the Investigative Unit of Reggio Calabria and of the Melito Porto Salvo Company, following investigations coordinated by the Public Prosecutor’s Office of Reggio Calabria, executed a precautionary custody order in prison against a 78-year-old suspect, resident in Montebello Jonico.
The activity originates from the complaint of an entrepreneur, owner of a company active in the construction sector and in the field of public works with which he represented that he had been the victim, since 2015, of multiple extortion conduct, aggravated by the mafia method, by the suspect. The man would have been forced to pay, over the years, a total of around 30,000 euros in extortion and, in any case, he would have been asked for 6% of the value of each contract, every time his company managed to win jobs in the Melito Porto Salvo area. The continuous requests would have driven the entrepreneur to desperation, considering the exorbitant sums requested. Several extortion attempts were also reported, for a total amount of 114,000 euros, in relation to public works obtained by the victim in the Melito Porto Salvo district, under threat of serious retaliatory actions, such as damage and arson. The suspect, in particular, would have flaunted his relationships in the ‘Ndrangheta environment and would have boasted of his criminal “career”. The suffocating imposition on the victim by the suspect would have been exercised through the mafia method, which would have expressed itself in repeated ambushes on construction sites, insistent requests made to the workers and continuous threats.
An investigative hypothesis accepted by the investigating judge of Reggio Calabria, who issued an order for the application of a precautionary measure against the suspect.
At the end of the ritual operations, the arrested person was taken to the Arghillà prison, at the disposal of the Judicial Authority.