Italy: 150 million euros confiscated from fruit and veg Mafiosi

Palermo’s Antimafia Investigations Directorate (DIA) has confiscated assets worth 150 million euros from a pair of brothers who for years orchestrated the mafia infiltration of the city’s largest fruit and vegetable market.

Angelo and Giuseppe Ingrassia had strong ties to the Cosa Nostra and exercised hidden control over the sale of fruit and vegetables in the market on Via Montepellegrino on behalf of the Galatolo clan, working through nominee directors.

The pair secretly controlled road transport of the agricultural goods to and from western Sicily. They also controlled the main supply centres, managing internal trading activities and fixing the price of the products sold in the market, creating an illegal monopoly.

According to Ansa the goods confiscated by the police include a number of real estate assets including buildings, apartments, land, shops, and warehouses, as well as trucks, cars and motorcycles, company shares, and various banking and financial products.

According to thelocal.it, the confiscation comes just four days after the DIA reclaimed 400 million euros from former Sicilian regional deputy Giuseppe Acanto, who was found to have ties with top-level members of the Cosa Nostra.