Big Sicilian Mafia bust

Thirty-seven arrested in Sicilian Mafia sweep
Suspects include Montelepre mayor, operation hailed

(ANSA) - Palermo, April 8 - Carabinieri police on Monday arrested 37 people in a major operation against the Sicilian Mafia.

Suspects include the centre-right mayor of Montelepre, Giacomo Tinervia.

He faces charges of corruption and extortion-driven criminal association for allegedly taking a kickback from a businessman interested in public works contracts and allegedly acting as intermediary for the payment of protection money.

The operation served to bust what investigators described as a 'super-clan' based in Camporeale, south of the regional capital Palermo.

This group was created by a merger between the 'San Giuseppe Jato' and 'Partinico' clans and was able to assert its authority over other local criminal gangs, prosecutors believe. ''This investigation has served to confirm the territorial nature of Cosa Nostra,'' said Palermo prosector Francesco Messineo.

''The Mafia continues to anchor its organisational structure to the local territory''.

Sonia Alfano, president of the European Parliament's Antimafia Committee, hailed the operation as ''one of the most important anti-Mafia operations in the Palermo province in the last 20 years''.

http://www.ansa.it/web/notizie/rubriche/...ep_8516852.html

What was left out of this article, but included in the Italian ones, is the link between this group in Sicily, and the Gambino's in the US.

More than half these guys will be released by Monday.

So Salvatore Lombardo really is a made guy in the Gambino family, Tag? Obviously I can't read that Italian report.

Yes absolutely. The Montelepre family just had to vouch for him.

felice over on RD said he had been in the U.S. for 20 years. Any idea when he went back to Sicily?

Yes, he was in the US for 20 years or so, but I don't when he went back, no.

Ok, thanks.

Thanks for posting this.

Originally Posted By: carmela

What was left out of this article, but included in the Italian ones, is the link between this group in Sicily, and the Gambino's in the US.

Interesting, why wouldn't they add such a big detail?
I know that Italian crime reporters have a huge lack of knowledge when it comes to Ital-Am Oc, but this is really bad...

I'm not sure. It's one of the biggest pieces in all this. All the Italian papers spoke about it, except for this ansa.it one. The American articles seemed to be an extremely short, condensed version, as usual.

not that i am insinuating anything.
the Saputo family (big cheese, milk company)from Montreal... if my memory serves me correctly, don't they come from Montelepre??