Over 300 carabinieri from the Provincial Command of Catania are carrying out an order of personal precautionary measures. 17 people under investigation for various reasons of association in the provinces of the Etna capital, Syracuse and Teramo.
The investigation - called 'Athena' - was started after the complaint of a local entrepreneur threatened by some mafiosi to make him withdraw a plot of land from the auction. During the investigations, the Carabinieri seized a total of approximately 71 kilograms of narcotic substances, including marijuana and cocaine, and arrested eight people in flagrante delicto. The Morabito-Rapisarda group operating in Paternò and attributable to the Catania Laudani clan, were also the interests of the organization in the systematic control of auctions of properties. The gang involved the 'physical' intervention of its associates during the sales procedures to remove, even with violence, the participants and guaranteed its 'customers' the purchase or repossession of the goods.