Italian police have dismantled a network and seized assets totaling over 200 million euros, or about 7.58 billion baht, belonging to Matteo Messina Denaro, the deceased former head of the Cosa Nostra mafia gang. Investigations found that drug trafficking proceeds were laundered through real estate and luxury resorts in Europe, as well as secret foreign accounts and cryptocurrencies.
Italy's financial police, together with the National Anti-Mafia Prosecutor's Office, announced the seizure of assets worth over 200 million euros (approximately 7.58 billion baht) belonging to Matteo Messina Denaro, former leader of the Cosa Nostra mafia group in Sicily.
The operation deployed over 150 officers equipped with advanced technology including drones and thermal scanning devices to detect hidden compartments containing money. IT experts were involved in tracing digital wallets and cryptocurrency holdings. Video footage showed armed police breaking down doors and scaling walls to search several luxury villas surrounded by palm trees.
Police revealed that the operation began following a report from Andorra about an Italian woman possessing unusually large assets. Further investigation uncovered that she was married to a drug trafficker closely linked to the Cosa Nostra and to Denaro himself.
In-depth investigations found that the massive funds derived from over 40 years of drug trafficking, laundered back into the legal economy through various assets, especially in upscale areas of Spain’s Costa del Sol coast such as Marbella, Benahavís, and Puerto Banús, where luxury resorts were developed.
Authorities also seized assets and eight nominee companies used to manage real estate, bank accounts, and stock portfolios across multiple countries including the Cayman Islands, Gibraltar, Lebanon, Luxembourg, Monaco, Switzerland, and Italy. Three suspects connected to the case were arrested.
Giovanni Melillo, head of Italy’s National Anti-Mafia Prosecutor’s Office, described the operation as strategically significant. "This is not just about seizing ill-gotten assets accumulated over decades in Sicily, but it represents a 'block and delay' of Cosa Nostra's efforts to rebuild its power structure after Denaro's death," Melillo said at a press conference in Palermo.
Italian media referred to the seized assets as merely "Denaro's drug treasure trove," believing this is only a fraction of the total wealth the network has invested worldwide.
Matteo Messina Denaro is considered one of Italy’s most notorious mafia bosses. He evaded arrest for 30 years since 1993, living covertly in his native western Sicily with support from his sister and close associates, allowing him to command the mafia network even while in hiding.
Denaro was sentenced to life imprisonment six times for numerous heinous crimes, including masterminding the bombings that killed anti-mafia judges Giovanni Falcone and Paolo Borsellino in 1992, as well as bloody bombings in Rome, Florence, and Milan in 1993.
One of the most brutal cases involved ordering the kidnapping of a 12-year-old boy, son of a former mafia member turned state witness. The boy was held captive for two years before being strangled to death and his body dissolved in acid to prevent discovery.
Denaro’s three-decade escape ended on 16 January 2023, when he was arrested outside a medical clinic in Palermo while receiving cancer treatment under a false identity. He died in hospital under heavy guard in August 2023 at age 61.