56 Mafia Members Nabbed for Extortion, Drugs, Fraud at Sicily Migrant Centers

 A total of 56 alleged members of the Italian Mafia were arrested on Monday in the Italian island of Sicily on suspicion of having been involved in racketeering, fraud and drug trafficking at local immigrant processing centers, according to Carabinieri police sources.

A 400-strong anti-Mafia operation was involved in raids early morning in the province of Agrigento, on instructions of the Palermo Prosecutor’s office.

A total of 56 “Cosa Nostra” crime syndicate members, capos (bosses) and so-called foot soldiers were arrested during the anti-Mafia operation

Among those arrested were Santino Sabella, town mayor of San Biagio Platani, who was elected in November and is accused of negotiating his political candidacy with local Mafia chiefs and of pressuring third parties to assign public works contracts to the Mafia.

The official Carabinieri twitter account stated “Carabinieri of Agrigento arrested 56 people. Heads of the leadership and the mafia families of ‘Cosa Nostra’ of Agrigento have been deactivated,” adding that the mayor of San Biagio Platani was “in handcuffs.”

Those arrested are also under suspicion of criminal association, fraud and influence peddling, among other offenses.

The authorities successfully targeted 16 Sicilian mafia clans, dismantling the “Mafiosi districts” of Santa Elisabetta and Sciacca and arresting high-ranking Mafia “capos” in Caltanissetta, Palermo, Ragusa and Catania.

The police investigation shed light on what it described as the “close links” between the “prosperous” drug trafficking Sicilian clans and the ‘Ndrnagheta, the Calabrian Mafia, considered nowadays Italy’s most powerful and active Mafia branch.

In addition, the busted criminal organization demanded regular payment of the “pizzo” mafia tax to the humanitarian cooperatives managing the Italian centers attending migrants and refugee status claimants.

The arrested included Francesco Fragapane, 37, scion of the historical “Cosa Nostra” member, Salvatore Fragapane, currently serving a life sentence for committing multiple crimes and now is in solitary confinement.