Of Simona Pletto
The bestial crime committed in the attic of horrors a Macerata, the slaughter inflicted by three Africans on the body of the beautiful 18 year old Pamela Mastropietro, torn to pieces the 30 last January and locked inside two suitcases abandoned on the side of the road and all this without a reason yet, has put the spotlight on an alarming reality: the Nigerian mafia. Criminal groups that continue to stand out for the particularly aggressive ways in which they commit crimes.
A well organized and rooted structure, second General Antonio Basilicata, head of the preventive department of the anti-mafia investigative directorate (Yes). Basilicata also leads the Analysis Division, where foreign criminal and mafia structures are studied.
General, there is a lot of talk about the Nigerian mafia. How it is moving in our cities?
«The phenomenon has been known for years. There is even a ruling from the Supreme Court of Cassation 2007 which recognized these criminal organizations the 416 Bis. The same sentence was issued in the Turin courts, Brescia, Milano. Then there are cases like Castel Volturno, where in the 2008 two criminal associations got into a serious relationship and six Nigerians died. This is because they act as if they were affiliated with the mafia, sometimes in some southern cities they also make agreements with the clans, with the gangs, in others they act autonomously, leveraging only on ties with fellow countrymen. The difference compared to the Italian mafia is that Nigerians enhance the mystical-religious component".
What does it mean?
«It means that they use forms of violence linked to their rituals, in a sort of associative bond that remains firm between the families of origin and those of the people who manage it here in Italy. An example are Nigerian prostitutes: to obtain their obedience they are also blackmailed with mystical arguments. Anyway, for clarity it must be said, they do everything between themselves".
And Pamela's case could not have been the exception?
"I do not believe. The Nigerian mafia does everything it can to not show off. Avoid external violence, so as not to end up in the crosshairs, so as not to come out into the open. They are sectarian, aggressive and violent".
Every six months the Dia draws up a report on the mafias, even foreign ones. Which are the cities where the Nigerian mafia has taken root?
«Mainly Turin, Novara, Alexandria, Verona, Bologna, Roma, Napoli, Palermo. Thanks to a reticular structure distributed throughout the world, they manage to secure illicit deals in specific fields: drug dealing, prostitution and trafficking of migrants. In Italy the Nigerian association called “Black axe”, the black axe, a gang with a mafia-like and very violent structure, with a strong mystical-religious component. The members of the tribes are chosen and arrive in Italy via Libya, the Mediterranean Sea. Their families remain in Africa, where a pact is already created from which there is no going back. And once we get here, they engage in illicit trafficking, including that of migrants, and they send the money to their tribes".
Among them there are also asylum seekers?
"Yes, among them there are also asylum seekers".
In Italy in 2017 c’ there were 17 thousand Nigerians, of which approximately nine thousand women.
«We study mafias of all kinds and every six months we report everything to the Ministry of’ Interior which in turn makes the report known to Parliament. In regions like Lazio, Calabria, Campania, Sicily, Puglia, Veneto and Piedmont, the three historical nuclei, Meaning what “Black axe”, “Eiye” e “Aye brotherhoods”, have now assumed a hegemonic role, monopolizing the markets dedicated to prostitution in the most important cities, drug dealing, arms trafficking, betting racket, migrant routes".
Among the cities held hostage by the Nigerian mafia c’ it is also Macerata?
«We don't know, not at least at the moment. We'll see in the next report we'll make in June.".
The prosecutor's office yesterday denied acts of cannibalism, and other tribal ceremonies over the girl's remains. Dall’ top of his observatory, has ever recorded the presence of tribal ceremonies in Italy, phenomena of cannibalism behind crimes or murders?
"Absolutely not. I would like to exclude this practice from being done in our country. There is no act d’ investigation in this sense. I don't follow it’ Macerata investigation into the girl, but as an outsider I can say that the reasons seem to be different and the investigators must be given time to carry out all the investigations before making any conclusions".
Source: http://www.liberoquotidiano.it/news/italia/13310256/pamela-mastropietro-macerata-generale-dia-antonio-basilicata-mafia-nigeriana-black-axe-come-colpisce-ammazza.html