Italy Seizes €200M in Assets from Late Mafia Boss Messina Denaro’s Drug Network]

MILAN — Italian authorities have seized over 200 million euros ($232 million) in assets linked to the late mafia boss Matteo Messina Denaro’s drug trafficking network, according to anti-mafia prosecutors who called it a major blow to the Sicilian Mafia’s efforts to rebuild its financial power.

The asset seizures included more than 12 kilograms (26 pounds) of gold bars, millions in cash, premium watches, and approximately 20 luxury properties. Investigators disclosed the details at a news conference.

Messina Denaro died in a prison hospital nine months after his arrest in January 2023, ending three decades as a fugitive. He had been tried in absentia and convicted of numerous murders, including facilitating the 1992 bombings that killed top anti-mafia prosecutors Giovanni Falcone and Paolo Borsellino.

As part of the ongoing investigation into the network’s long-running drug trafficking operations, authorities arrested three individuals and ordered the seizure of assets, companies, and financial holdings valued at more than 200 million euros.

Over 150 Italian financial police officers conducted searches across Italy and internationally, including in Andorra, Gibraltar, the Cayman Islands, Switzerland, Lebanon, Monaco, and Spain.

Italy’s national anti-mafia prosecutor, Giovanni Melillo, stated that the seizures are part of a broader campaign to dismantle the Sicilian Mafia’s economic infrastructure and prevent the organization from rebuilding criminal networks capable of exerting global financial and social influence, including through intimidation.

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