In a major operation against the mafia, the Carabinieri arrested a total of 14 people on August 1, 2025. The raid covered several Italian cities, including Agrigento, Palermo, Lecce and Taranto, as well as various prisons. The suspects, all Italian citizens, are strongly suspected of having joined a criminal organization dedicated to drug trafficking and using mafia-style methods to support the Cosa Nostra.
The current measures are the result of investigations by the anti-mafia district directorate in Palermo, which began in December 2024. They follow on from a previous operation in which 48 people had already been arrested. The aim was to reconstruct the organizational structure and criminal activities of the mafia families of Porto Empedocle and Agrigento-Villaseta. Despite previous setbacks, these families are said to still be fully functional and have considerable financial resources as well as an extensive stock of weapons.
The investigation showed that imprisoned mafia members systematically used cell phones to control their business and issue orders from prison. Analysis of a confiscated smartphone led investigators to the trail of a drug trafficking network led by an inmate named James Burgio. Burgio is said to have positioned himself as an important player and maintained contacts with leading heads of the Cosa Nostra in Agrigento, such as Pietro Capraro.
The group is accused of numerous violent crimes such as extortion, arson and weapons offenses. For example, the group allegedly forced a businessman to pay protection money by shooting at his house and setting fire to his car. During the searches, investigators seized a Kalashnikov, 1.6 kilograms of hashish, a bulletproof vest and thousands of cartridges. 13 of the 14 suspects were taken into custody, one person is under house arrest. The presumption of innocence applies until their guilt is proven in court proceedings.
