Acting on a directive from the Anti-Mafia District Directorate of Palermo, the police have arrested five individuals—two of whom had already been definitively convicted of mafia association—accused of repeated acts of extortion and illegal competition with threats or violence, aggravated by mafia methods, and of facilitating the mafia association known as Cosa Nostra. According to investigations conducted by the SCO, the SISCO of Palermo, and the mobile squads of Agrigento and Palermo, it was hypothesized that there was "pervasive control and illicit management of agro-pastoral activities" in the areas of Santa Margherita Belice, Montevago, and Sambuca di Sicilia in the province of Agrigento, extending to the border with Contessa Entellina in the province of Palermo.
Imprisoned are 33-year-old Giovanni Campo, 45-year-old Piero Guzzardo (who was first taken to the police headquarters in Agrigento), and 58-year-old Pasquale Ciaccio. A precautionary measure was also notified in prison to 72-year-old Pietro Campo, who was already detained. Domenico Bavetta, 42, is under house arrest. A sixth person is also under investigation.
The suspects, using the undisputed intimidating force stemming from being recognized as leading figures of the Santa Margherita di Belice mafia command, allegedly exerted significant control over the area’s agro-pastoral economy and the use of agricultural funds from the Belice hinterland.
In particular, several incidents were recorded where the suspects, employing mafia methods, forced the owners and managers of agricultural lands to surrender large areas of land for the illicit grazing of livestock, demanding the payment of minimal rents which, in some cases, were not even paid. This control over agricultural lands sometimes also translated into a prohibition on conducting ancillary agricultural activities that would alter the free grazing of flocks, thus imposing a stringent dominance over others’ real estate, also functional to maximizing profits from dairy production.
"In this context," explain the investigators, "there was sometimes an absence of explicit threats, as the suspects could impose their will using silent intimidating behaviors, echoed by the subjugation capacity stemming from their recognized criminal role, along with multiple episodes of damage (arson, crop cutting, and livestock theft)—perpetrated by unknown individuals—suffered over the years by owners who had decided instead to dedicate the lands to crops that would limit the grazing of the flocks."
The investigations also relied on statements from some victims who opposed the "control system" of the sector, also revealing episodes where, after the harvesting carried out by the owners, the goods would be improperly acquired and packaged by the suspects in prison without any payment.
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