Stories and suggestions about Franco Coco Trovato: «He was the second after Totò Riina»
The bodies thrown into acid, the army of men at his command, the orders given by the prison: "He was in prison and people were dying"
Published on: 02/10/2023 – 7:00
by Alessia Truzzolillo


CATANZARO The figure of Franco Coco Trovato is generally linked to the 'Ndrangheta in the North, in Lecco in particular. Today he is an elderly 76-year-old boss, originally from Marcedusa, who finds himself restricted to 41 bis. But his charismatic figure has not stopped guiding and influencing the new generations. Even in 2019, stories and suggestions are still circulating about him: he allegedly commanded over 200 murders, he got rid of his enemies by dissolving them in acid (in a huge tank that he kept in a shed), he became the second boss after Totò Riina, he commanded an army of men, he gave orders from prison: "He was in prison and people were dying."
These are the dialogues that emerged in the latest investigation by the Catanzaro DDA, "Karpanthos", and trace that invisible thread that leads the gangs of Petronà and Cerva, towns hinged between the provinces of Catanzaro and Crotone, to the heart of the system created by Franco Coco Found.

Granddaughter Giusy
Suffice it to say that among those under investigation we find Giuseppina Trovato, known as Giusy, 38 years old, born in Lecco, daughter of one of the boss's brothers.
She is accused of mafia association, within the Carpino gang, in its territorial subdivision made up of the Cerva group. It is she who would have worked to convince her comrade Danilo Monti to interrupt the collaboration with the Catanzaro DDA. The heaviest lock pick used by Giusy Found on her boyfriend would have been their daughter. It worked. The district investigating judge reports that Monti "complained about missing his daughter and said he wanted to die". She would have convinced him to talk only about the murder of the butcher Francesco Rosso, for which he had been arrested, then she would have taken it upon herself to bring his statements outside to make them known to the coterie. «… She carried Danilo Monti's messages outside, written on handkerchiefs given during prison interviews, constantly keeping Monti updated on his relationships with his associates, reassuring him that he had no need to fear for his safety; maintained relationships with associates, both in the province of Lecco and in Calabria...", note the magistrates of the Catanzaro District in the request for precautionary measures written by prosecutors Veronica Calcagno and Debora Rizza and coordinated by the prosecutor Nicola Gratteri and the deputy Giancarlo New.

«He ruled all over Italy»
In the dialogues Coco Trovato is described as a person who "was in charge" throughout Italy, a high-caliber drug trafficker, even managing his affairs from prison. During the conversations, Luigi Colosimo, 36 years old, - also considered to be an insider to the Carpino gang - asked Giusy Trovato if she had visited her uncle in the recent past and the woman replied by saying that the last time she had been there was about five years ago. Before. Colosimo's father (not under investigation) turns out to be richer in anecdotes, having learned several stories from a certain "Sandrino", Franco Coco Trovato's long-time driver.
The young Luigi is very curious: «Franco was saddled with them, how many were they saddled with in Down?... 200 right!?... murders in Franco?– he asks Giusy Trovato – oh I know some people from here… do you know what they told me?… Calabrian?… where are you from?… I told you I'm from the province of Catanzaro… he says we only know one person from this province… who was in charge in Milan… what's his name?… Franco Coco…».

«The second after Totò Riina»
Claudio Gentile, of the Cerva criminal group, adds to the matter: «But in fact he had become the second after Totò Riina eh! ».
The dialogue helps to outline a picture of Franco Coco Trovato, a man who until the age of thirty bore his mother's surname Coco, until, in 1977, his natural father formally recognized it. A man who, from being the head of the Marcedusa club, had become the head of an alliance of 'ndrine from Milan and Lecco between the eighties and nineties.
A man who has brothers who are "very different" from him. Giusy Trovato's father, in fact, was a singer while another brother is a pizza chef.
Luigi Colosimo is curious to know from his father if Franco Coco Trovato had ever raised brothers "in the midst of these messes", or if he had other men.
" He had an army at the time ," replies the father.
Men he also commanded from prison: «He was in prison and people died… and he was in prison! (...) even in Sardinia he is in charge and I'm telling you that he was in prison and people were dying! ». A man who made a body disappear by throwing it into acid , in the silence of a shed: «He threw it in there, into that acid... and they melted (...) he had a shed, he had a tank bigger than this apartment, of acid, he threw live people in it... and they melted... he immersed them with all the stuff...".
«Dad – asks Luigi Colosimo – they told me that he was a very strong man!»
The comparison returns to the head of Cosa Nostra: «You spent a few years together with Totò Riina, do you know that?».

The feud and the influence of Coco Trovato's group
In 2001, the declarations of the justice collaborator Carmine Scarpino revealed how strong the bond and influence of the group commanded by Coco Trovato still were with the land of origin and the gangs that presided over it. The repentant reveals that in the territory of Petronà, in the 90s, there was a bloody feud between the Carpino gang and the Bubbo gang (which the Arena's intervention put an end to). In an ambush in August 1992, gang leader Alberto Carpino remained miraculously unharmed while one of the men traveling with him was killed.
Scarpino says that the Bubbos availed themselves of the support of the Iazzolino gang and that led by Franco Coco Trovato .
The failed collaborator Danilo Monti, however, told how the territories of Petronà and Cerva, on which the Carpino gangs and the Cerva group rage, were under the control of the local 'ndrangheta of Mesoraca, headed by Mario Donato Ferrazzo, alias "Baby mouse".
Statement which is reflected in those made in 2017 by the collaborator Giuseppe Liperoti: «Petronà as well as Sersale was an 'ndrina of Marcedusa since the 90s when the influence of Franco Coco Trovato was strong in Marcedusa. When Franco Coco Trovato, who had now moved to Lecco, began to lose interest in Calabria, the club moved to Mesoraca and Mario Ferrazzo, alias Topolino, was recognized as the boss. […]".
Coco Trovato's influence persisted, however, in the Calabrian territories where he grew up. So much so that in July 2020, Giuseppe Rocca, one of the promoters of the Carpino gang, turned to Tommaso Scalzi, regent of the coterie after the arrest of Coco Trovato, to ask him how to get a message to the boss, given that he was there a cousin of his who wanted to ask his permission to go on a "trip". And only Franco Coco Trovato could give certain "permissions". (a.truzzolillo@corrierecal.it)