THE DIA SEIZED HUGE REAL ESTATE ASSETS OWNED BY AN AGRICULTURAL ENTREPRENEUR INVOLVED IN DRUG TRAFFICKING AND USURY

The Direzione Investigativa Antimafia, a directorate of the Department of Public Security, in cooperation with the police station in Leonforte, carried out an order of seizure issued by the court in Caltanissetta – Section Preventive Measures – on the proposal of the Public Prosecutor’s Office in Caltanissetta against an agricultural entrepreneur coming from the province of Messina but living in Enna, who had been sentenced for usury and drug trafficking association. He was considered “to belong on a permanent basis to the local crime” and to be “in constant contact also with significant mafia members”.

The investigative results gathered by the DIA following an anti-mafia ban issued against the sole proprietorship, which was registered for the entrepreneur’s wife, highlighted that he had committed profit-making crimes also together with individuals linked to the mafia-scenario in Enna. He had been sentenced with final judgement.

The investigations highlighted that there was “unusual” disproportion between his huge financial and real estate assets and the income declared.

The estimated value of the seizure was approximately 6 million euros. The assets seized involved: no. 120 real estate assets, including 9 buildings and 111 plots of land covering about 75 hectares, as well as a car and several financial relations.     

Messina, 13 July 2023