ROMA NEWS: Torino, the Nigerian mafiosi? The latest bosses arrive from Lampedusa
They are the Maphites, who join Black Axe, Bucaneer e Sea Dogs: «Groups clash and fight, they have their own clubs and bars. The people stabbed do not report, because they are afraid or do not have their documents in order"
The frightened man sits in silence in front of the agents of the anti-trafficking team of the local police of Turin. He wishes to remain anonymous, because he fears for his life and that of his family. But when he starts talking, his story turns into a raging river. «In the city everything is as before, nothing has changed", are his first words. «Eiye are back and Black Ax is still here. The Bucaneers are also with them, i Maphite e i Vikings. E poi i Sea Dogs e i Man Fight.
The groups clash and fight, they have their own clubs and bars. The people stabbed do not report, because they are afraid or do not have their documents in order". The latest arrivals are the Maphites. «They landed in Lampedusa and people are afraid of them, because they are more dangerous than those who preceded them. They can stab and kill. They have no respect for life, they have already suffered too much crossing first the desert and then the sea to get to Italy".
Mafia method
The complaint of the man who is afraid is now in the records of the investigation which has dissected Nigerian crime in the shadow of the Mole and demonstrated that it is a mafia. «Foreign mafia». An "associative structure" that operates as "the Sicilian mafia and the Calabrian 'ndrangheta" operate. Talking about "associative bonds" and the "mafia method", of «subjugation» and of «humertà» is judge Stefano Sala in the 686 pages with which he motivates the convictions (up to ten years in prison) inflicted the 12 January a 21 belonging to the Eiye and the Maphite. Groups that the judge defines as "secret cults", thus adopting the expression that is normally used in Lagos and Benin City. Within the Nigerian community of Turin - underlines the gup - the "secret cults" instill fear and cause fear, to the point of causing the onset of truly silenced attitudes". But "even without having control of all those who live or work in a specific territory", the Nigerian mafiosi "have the aim of subjecting an indeterminate number of people who have immigrated or been forced to immigrate illegally to their criminal power". And it is precisely on illegal immigrants that the judge insists in his sentence, especially when he writes that «the operational modules of the Nigerian criminal associations have been transferred to Italy coinciding with the massive migratory flows we are witnessing in recent years». “Couriers who swallow cocaine are recruited among the immigrants who have just landed in Lampedusa,” adds Sala., «reward yourself with 30 thousand euros" when they manage to pass the controls and bring the narcotic to its destination.
The "salaries": for the Don 35 thousand euros each 3 months
And speaking of money, those who confide in prosecutor Stefano Castellani reveal that the man who holds the "most important position" within the Nigerian mafia is defined as "Don" and receives a "salary of 35 thousand euros every three months". Almost as much as a manager of an Italian municipal company. After him there is the «Deputy Don», con 17 thousand euros (always every three months). Then the «Chief», con 11 mila. Down to a salary of "9 thousand euros every ninety days". «From belonging to the Maphite I have had economic advantages – says the informant –, I took 9.500 euros every three months and they paid them into my bank account. Those who have no tasks and propose a "business", takes a percentage of earnings. It may happen that a simple affiliate reports the arrival of a girl from Nigeria: if the Maphites decide to intervene, to kidnap the prostitute from the street and finally ask the "madame" for a ransom between the 10 and i 15 thousand euros, whoever proposed the deal takes it 2 thousand euros if everything goes well". Among the illegal activities managed by Nigerians there is naturally international drug trafficking. From Colombia cocaine arrives in the heart of Africa: in Benin, in Ghana, in Nigeria. «From here the narcotic must then return to Europe and to do so, couriers recruited from seriously ill people are used, who do not remain in prison for long due to their health conditions".
Violence and extortion
The mafia method, Then, it also foresees violence and retaliation against the families remaining in Nigeria: «A member of the Maphite went to the house of a member of Black Ax and killed his mother, cutting her body into pieces. Then he took the remains to the school where the woman's son was taking class and threw them there, triggering panic and terror. They all ran away. After two months from this episode, Black Ax went to the house of the mother of a Maphite member and gouged out her parents' eyes and then beheaded them with an axe.". On another occasion, the Maphites "went to Nigeria to pick up the children from school" of the man who had "made a mistake", «they took them home and shot their mother, killing her, and making them assist".
The lawyers
Even lawyers are afraid. In fact, the documents report the case of a prisoner who received threats in prison after he decided to "dissociate himself from the criminal association".. At that point, the judge underlines, the man «had been invited by his lawyer to think again and, if not, to find a new defender, being absolutely determined to remit the mandate in similar circumstances". A letter was then delivered to the prisoner's wife: «Italy and Nigeria are too small – it was written – to be able to escape the retaliations of the Maphites». «The fact is - as another former member explains - that once you have entered the group you can never leave it, you can only stop being part of it with death". And death haunts you everywhere, both in Italy and abroad. In the reasons for the sentence we read at a certain point about «a person who had decided to leave the organization. The Maphites made his life impossible, they went to his house in Italy, they burned it and their car. He fled to Finland, with the whole family. The Maphites also found it in Finland, they broke his feet and now he walks around on crutches. Finally this person was forced to move to Canada". Anyone who is not convinced that it is the mafia is one of the lawyers who represented the defense, Manuel Perga. In fact, in his appeal we read that «there is a complete lack of proof of a concrete and evident external manifestation of the intimidating force, of a clear link with the parent company and of a criminal program outlined in its essential features". For these reasons, concludes the lawyer, «the “mafia” origin of the association cannot be said to be proven». It will be up to the Court of Appeal to decide whether this is the case.
