Since dawn today, a vast anti-mafia operation coordinated by the District Anti-Mafia and Anti-Terrorism Directorate of Genoa has been underway, which has ordered searches and seizures in 12 penitentiary institutions throughout the national territory. The intervention, carried out by the DIA Operations Center in Genoa with the support of the Penitentiary Police, the State Police and the Carabinieri, aims to dismantle a criminal network that would have favored the introduction and illicit use of smartphones and communication devices in the High Security sections.
Searches in 12 prisons and 31 suspects
The searches are underway in the institutions of Fossano, Ivrea, Alessandria, Cuneo, Tolmezzo, Chiavari, La Spezia, Parma, San Gimignano, Lanciano, Rossano and Santa Maria Capua Vetere.
There are 31 people under investigation, for various reasons, for the crimes of procured possession or undue use of telephones in prison (art. 391-ter of the criminal code) and receiving stolen goods (art. 648 of the criminal code), with the aggravating circumstance of mafia purposes (art. 416-bis.1 of the criminal code). Twelve prisoners were directly involved.
According to investigators, smartphones and other devices were illegally introduced into penitentiary institutions and made available to restricted individuals for mafia crimes, allowing them to maintain illicit communications with the outside world and continue to manage relationships and activities of the gangs.
Over 150 phones and 115 SIMs monitored
The investigation, called “SMARTPHONE”, made it possible to reconstruct internal traffic of over 150 cell phones and 115 SIM cards in the High Security sections of the Genoa-Marassi prison through wiretaps, analysis of records and electronic checks.
The SIMs were activated in compliant shops in the historic center of Genoa and registered in the name of non-existent or unaware people, often foreign citizens. The phones, even very small ones, were introduced into prison through parcels, deliveries during family meetings or other clandestine channels. Some relatives of the prisoners are also among those under investigation.
Once inside, the devices were passed from hand to hand among the prisoners, allowing them to maintain contact with members of the criminal organizations who were free or imprisoned elsewhere. The communications also concerned the delivery of the so-called “embassies”, confidential messages useful for giving orders or coordinating the activities of the gangs, in particular the ‘Ndrangheta.
Seizures and strengthened circumstantial framework
Thanks to the collaboration with the Genoa-Marassi Penitentiary Police, numerous devices were seized during the investigations, the contents and communication flows of which consolidated the circumstantial framework against the suspects.