Italian authorities have seized assets worth over €200 million (£173 million) linked to the financial empire of the late mafia boss Matteo Messina Denaro. The operation, described by police as the culmination of an intricate investigation, traced assets generated from drug trafficking profits reinvested since the 1980s across Europe and beyond.
Messina Denaro, a prominent leader of the Sicilian Cosa Nostra, was captured in 2023 after 30 years on the run. Nicknamed 'U Siccu' (the skinny one), he died of cancer months after his arrest. His criminal career included involvement in the mafia's war against the state in the 1980s and 1990s, including the assassination of top prosecutor Giovanni Falcone and the 1993 bomb attacks in Florence, Rome, and Milan that killed 10 people.
The seized assets include gold and luxury properties. The investigation led to three arrests and spanned Switzerland, Luxembourg, the Cayman Islands, and primarily Andorra. Authorities tracked funds in Andorra to a woman from Campobello di Mazara, the Sicilian town where Messina Denaro hid, married to a man with a history of drug offences.
Prosecutors identified eight companies tied to the money laundering network: five in Spain, two in Gibraltar, and one in the Cayman Islands. The group also held a 'very significant' stake in a Lebanese bank, alongside gold reserves and luxury real estate.
Palermo chief prosecutor Maurizio de Lucia said: 'We believe we have identified a significant portion of the investments made by the mafia, including abroad.' Giovanni Melillo, Italy's national anti-mafia prosecutor, stressed the importance of targeting the mob's financial power to prevent the re-emergence of Cosa Nostra's global influence.
