Blood money. Italian authorities have seized €100m from the estate of Matteo Messina Denaro, the Sicilian Mafia boss who died last year. The haul includes villas, luxury cars, and offshore accounts. But the real story? The intelligence share with the UK’s new anti-gang taskforce.
Whitehall sources tell me this is not charity. It is leverage. The taskforce, launched by the Home Office in a blaze of publicity, has been quietly tapping into European databases. The Italian operation? A dry run. If they can follow the money from Palermo, they can follow it from Peckham.
Word is the National Crime Agency has a dedicated team combing through the Denaro files. They are looking for links to UK-based ‘Ndrangheta cells. The Italian anti-mafia prosecutor told me: “This is a global network. The money does not have a passport.”
Inside the Lobby, the chatter is about the politics of it. The PM’s tough-on-crime agenda needs wins. Seizing assets from dead gangsters is a good headline. But the real game is data sharing. Whitehall wants more. They are pushing for a UK-Italy intelligence treaty on organised crime. The Italians are cautious. They remember the last time UK intelligence was shared widely. (A certain Iraq war dossier comes to mind.)
Still, this seizure is a coup. It shows the State can still dig up ghosts. Even dead ghosts. Denaro’s money will now fund anti-mafia projects in Sicily. But the UK taskforce? They want more than press releases. They want arrests.
One senior officer told me: “This is blood money. We will trace every penny back to the UK. It is only a matter of time.” Time, yes. But also trust. The Italians are watching. They want to see if the UK can protect their sources. The last time they shared sensitive data, it ended up on the front page of the Mail.
Expect more announcements. The Home Secretary is due to visit Rome next month. The agenda is clear: asset seizures and intelligence sharing. The dead godfather’s millions are just the beginning. The game is on.
