Italian police have seized assets worth more than €100 million from organised crime networks following the murder of a high-profile Mafia boss in a escalating gangland war. The raid, executed in the early hours of Tuesday, targeted holdings across Sicily, Calabria and Lombardy, including luxury villas, construction firms and agricultural land. The operation comes three weeks after Salvatore 'The Bulldog' Mancuso, 54, was gunned down outside a Palermo cafe in what investigators describe as a 'ruthless power play' by a rival clan.
Mancuso, a leading figure in the Porta Nuova family, had survived three previous assassination attempts. His death has triggered a bloody turf war over control of drug routes and extortion rackets in the southern city. 'This is a significant blow to their financial infrastructure,' said Deputy Prosecutor Elena Rizzo.
'We have dismantled shell companies and trusts that laundered millions from heroin trafficking and illegal waste disposal. The people of Palermo deserve to live without the shadow of organised crime.' Workers at a seized construction site told reporters they feared for their jobs, though authorities vow the businesses will be placed under state administration.
The crackdown is part of a broader government offensive against 'ndrangheta and Cosa Nostra, which the interior ministry estimates cost the Italian economy €24 billion annually. For many in the industrial north, this is a distant story. But as union leaders often remind us, illegal money undercuts legitimate wages and fuels the black market.
The real cost of this feud will be paid by ordinary workers.
