“This humble Calabrian family simply inherited some land located between parcels belonging to the Mancuso family,” said De Pace, referring to the Vincis. “Their son paid for his sense of justice with his life.”
Last week, police revealed that a Calabrian farmer who disappeared in 2016 and whose remains were never found was murdered and probably fed by pigs for refusing to sell land he owned to a clan near the Mancusos in southern Calabria. .
Mafiosi also used to kill their own affiliates if they did not follow their rules. The police search for the remains of a 35-year-old clan member who was shot and buried in a field in 2002, with the help of his own cousin, who later regretted and now collaborates with prosecutors. The murder was prompted by suspicion that the man was gay, police officers in Calabria said.
The charges against the 325 defendants include murder, extortion, usury, money laundering, drug trafficking, corruption and belonging to a criminal union. Prosecutors hope to prove the collusion between mobsters and public officials, politicians, businessmen and members of secret stores, an inextricable web of interests and favors, in Calabria and other parts of Italy.
Mr. Gratteri, a Calabrian who has been under police protection for three decades, entered the court surrounded by bodyguards.
He said he was even more cautious now with the trial going on. But he said that conducting the trial in Calabria, where residents were “harassed and humiliated” by mobsters for decades, was an important statement.
“It is a sign that the state is capable of giving an answer,” he said, adding that the courtroom was built in a few months and allowed almost 1,000 people to attend the process, sitting a meter away to obey the distance. coronavirus rules, with 150 screens connecting inmates sitting in prisons across the country.