Editing Sacra Corona Unita

{{Short description|Criminal mafia-type organization}}
{{more citations needed|date=December 2006}}
{{use dmy dates|date=November 2023}}
{{Infobox Criminal organization
| name = Sacra Corona Unita
| image = 
| caption = 
| founded = Early 1980s<ref name="Massari 2014 pp. 101–116">{{cite book | last=Massari | first=Monica | title=The 'Ndrangheta and Sacra Corona Unita | chapter=The Sacra Corona Unita: Origins, Characteristics, and Strategies | series=Studies of Organized Crime | publisher=Springer International Publishing | publication-place=Cham | volume=12 | date=2014 | isbn=978-3-319-04929-8 | doi=10.1007/978-3-319-04930-4_7 | pages=101–116}}</ref>
| founding_location = [[Apulia]], Italy
| years_active = Early 1980s–present
| territory = Mainly active in the [[Salento]] area in [[Apulia]]. Its also present in other [[#Presence outside Apulia|italian regions and countries]].
| ethnicity = Apulians
| membership = approximately 2,000<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.fbi.gov/about-us/investigate/organizedcrime/italian_mafia|title=FBI — Italian/Mafia|work=FBI|access-date=17 July 2015}}</ref>
| activities = [[Cigarette smuggling]], [[arms trafficking]], [[drug trafficking]], [[human trafficking]], [[money laundering]], [[extortion]], [[political corruption]], [[prostitution]], [[usury]]
| allies = [['Ndrangheta]]<br />[[Camorra]]<br />[[Società foggiana]]<br />[[Albanian mafia]]<br />[[Balkans]] criminal organizations
| rivals = Internal wars between clans of the SCU
}}

{{lang|it|'''Sacra Corona Unita'''|i=no}} ({{IPA|it|ˈsaːkra koˈroːna uˈniːta|pron}}; {{langnf|it||United Sacred Crown}}; acronym: '''SCU'''), also known as the '''Fourth Mafia''',<ref name="url(PDF) The Sacra Corona Unita: Origins, Characteristics, and Strategies">{{cite web |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/299847173 |title=The Sacra Corona Unita: Origins, Characteristics, and Strategies |format= }}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |date=2023-05-28 |title=Italy's 'fourth mafia' is spreading terror and death in Puglia |language=en |work=Le Monde.fr |url=https://www.lemonde.fr/en/international/article/2023/05/28/italy-s-fourth-mafia-is-spreading-terror-and-death-in-puglia_6028276_4.html |access-date=2023-11-22}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2023-03-17 |title='Fourth Mafia' emerges as most violent in Italy as major organized crime syndicates become less visible |url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/fourth-mafia-foggia-most-violent-italy/ |access-date=2023-11-22 |website=CBS News}}</ref> is a [[Mafia]]-type [[criminal organization]] from the [[Apulia]] region in [[Southern Italy]], and it is especially active in the areas of [[Brindisi]], [[Lecce]], and  [[Taranto]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Sportello Scuola e Università della Commissione Parlamentare Antimafia |url=https://leg15.camera.it/_bicamerali/leg15/commbicantimafia/documentazionetematica/28/105/schedabase.asp#:~:text=%C3%88%20un'organizzazione%20criminale%20di,soprattutto%20nella%20zona%20del%20Salento. |access-date=2024-03-06 |website=leg15.camera.it}}</ref>

==Origin of the name==
Informer Cosimo Capodieci said the SCU used "''Sacra'' (Sacred) because at the time of the affiliation the new member is "baptized", the ''Corona'' because it resembles a crown, meaning the [[rosary]] typically used in Church in order to carry out the functions of Jesus Christ and the cross, ''Unita'' because it was necessary to be connected to one another, similar to the rings of a chain."<ref>as quoted in ''The Global Mafia'', pg 69.</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.lastampa.it/2012/05/19/italia/l-ascesa-della-sacra-corona-unitae-il-deliro-di-diventare-la-quarta-stella-HfQ9k7xrxsdZAbqkUABZ0J/pagina.html|title=L'ascesa della Sacra Corona Unitae il deliro di diventare la quarta stella|newspaper= [[La Stampa]]|language=it |date= May 19, 2012}}</ref>

==History==
Sacra Corona Unita was formed in the late 1970s and early 1980s and was formally established in a prison in 1983, according to a document found by investigators in the cell of the organisation's founder, {{Ill|Pino Rogoli|it|Giuseppe Rogoli}}. The Sacra Corona Unita was created to counter the overwhelming power in the prisons and on the Apulian territory of some of the more established mafia organisations, such as the Campania families united in [[Raffaele Cutolo]]'s [[Nuova Camorra Organizzata]].<ref name="Massari 2014 pp. 101–116" /><ref name=":2">{{Cite report |url=http://legislature.camera.it/_dati/leg11/lavori/stampati/pdf/36337.pdf |title=STUDIO SULLA CRIMINALITÀ ORGANIZZATA IN PUGLIA, CON PARTICOLARE RIFERIMENTO ALLA SACRA CORONA UNITA |date=1993 |publisher=[[Raggruppamento Operativo Speciale]] (Ros) dei [[Carabinieri]] della [[Puglia]] |pages=51–56}}</ref>

According to one account of Rogoli's rise to leadership, the foundations of Sacra Corona Unita were laid by Rogoli on Christmas night 1981. At the time, Rogoli was a 32-year-old tiler from Mesagnese who was serving a sentence in [[Trani]] prison for a bank robbery and murder in [[Giovinazzo]] in 1980.<ref name=":3" /> In prison, Rogoli had come into contact with exponents of the [['Ndrangheta|'ndrangheta]]. and had affiliated himself with [[Umberto Bellocco]], [[capobastone]] and founder of the [[Bellocco 'ndrina]]. Together with {{Ill|Vincenzo Stranieri|it|Vincenzo Stranieri}} of [[Manduria]] and Mario Papalia, linked to [[Sicilian Mafia|Cosa Nostra]], Rogoli set up the Sacra Corona Unita, whose structure and rituals closely resembled that of the 'ndrangheta, and was officially sanctioned as the supreme head of the newly formed organisation.<ref name=":3">{{Cite web |last=Argentiero |first=Piero |date=9 July 2018 |title=La Sacra corona unita, 37 anni fa il battesimo in cella di Pino Rogoli |url=https://www.lagazzettadelmezzogiorno.it/news/130-brindisi/1034827/la-scu-gli-scontri-e-il-sangue.html |access-date=2024-01-17 |website=www.lagazzettadelmezzogiorno.it |language=it}}</ref><ref name=":2" /> However, the "Statuto della S.C.U." (charter of the Sacra Corona Unita) seized from Rogoli by the Italian law enforcement agencies in 1984 states that the organisation was established on 1 May 1983.<ref name=":2" />  

Under Rogoli's leadership, the Sacra Corona Unita mixed Apulian interests and opportunities with 'Ndrangheta and Camorra traditions. While it is often referred to as the "fourth mafia", it remained only a loose association of some ten to fifteen criminal groups in southern Apulia, whose cohesion, stability and economic and political power were always far inferior to those of the 'Ndrangheta and the Mafia. After the defection of some of its leaders and the arrest of most of its members in the early 2000s, Sacra Corona Unita no longer exists as a single, viable organisation.<ref name="Paoli Paoli 2014">{{cite book |last1=Paoli |first1=Letizia |title=The Oxford Handbook of Organized Crime |last2=Paoli |first2=Letizia |date=2014-10-24 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-973044-5 |page= |chapter=The Italian Mafia |doi=10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199730445.013.025}}</ref>

==Activities==

Originally preying on the region's substantial wine and olive oil industries, the group moved into [[cigarette smuggling]], arms trafficking, drug trafficking, [[human trafficking]], [[money laundering]], extortion, and [[political corruption]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.fbi.gov/investigate/organized-crime#Italian-Organized%20Crime/Mafia |title=FBI — Italian/Mafia |work=FBI}}</ref>

According to a survey conducted by the ''Eurispes'' the main sources of income of the organization are:

* [[Drug trafficking]] — €878 million per year
* [[Prostitution]] — €775 million per year  
* [[Arms trafficking]] — €516 million per year
* [[Extortion]] and [[usury]] — €351 million per year<ref name="corriere.it">{{cite web|url=https://www.corriere.it/cronache/12_maggio_19/brindisi-sacra-corona-scheda_ad627da2-a1be-11e1-8681-fb83092733eb.shtml |title=In Puglia la Sacra Corona Unita Una costola della 'ndrangheta |newspaper=[[Corriere della Sera]]|date=May 19, 2012}}</ref>

==Structure ==

The SCU is made up of three distinct groupings or levels. Members can 'graduate' from one level to the next by going through ''riti battesimali'' (baptismal rites). The religious symbolism is probably left over from the SCU's association with the Camorra.

* Società Minore – The lowest level, made up of lower-level criminals who do street-level activities. Members start out as ''picciotti'' and go through a 40-day trial to ensure they are suitable for criminal work and are not associated with the police. They are then inducted into the next phase of the level, the ''manovalanza'', or worker. The candidate must also swear an oath of devotion to SCU.
*Società Maggiore – The second level, made up of two positions.
*Lo Sgarro – The position is given only to members who have killed at least three people for SCU, and from now on members cannot leave,  on pain of death. Members can now form their own crew of picciotti, known as a ''filiale''. Upon indoctrination into the ''La Santa'' position the member is given a firearm (to symbolically use on oneself upon failing SCU), a [[cyanide]] pill, [[cotton]] (representing [[Mont Blanc]], which is considered sacred), a lemon (treating the wounds of one's comrades), a needle to puncture the index finger of the right hand, handkerchiefs (representing purity of spirit) and a ''spartenza'' (a gift of some sort, usually cigarettes).<ref>{{cite web|url=http://americanmafia.com/Feature_Articles_337.html |website=AmericanMafia |title= The Fourth Mafia: La Sacra Corona Unita}}</ref>
*Società Segreta– The top level, the core of the organization where key decisions are made.

The Sacra Corona Unita consists of about 50 clans with approximately 2,000 members and specializes in [[Illicit cigarette trade|smuggling cigarettes]], [[drugs]], [[Arms trafficking|arms]], and people. The Sacra Corona Unita collects payoffs from other criminal groups for landing rights on the southeast coast of Italy.

The SCU uses a hierarchical structure when running its organization, and the higher you climb the more responsibility and money you gain. Men are the predominant rulers of the group. In recent years, the SCU has been finding ways to exploit people online by scamming and hacking individuals for money. This money is then laundered into countries across Europe, such as the U.K., Spain, and Germany.<ref name="url(PDF) The Sacra Corona Unita: Origins, Characteristics, and Strategies" />

==Presence outside Apulia==

The Sacra Corona Unita has the Apulian region as their main territory, however, they are known to have a presence in other parts of Italy, especially in [[Modena]], [[Mantua]], and [[Reggio Emilia]]. Outside Italy, the organization has a presence in Albania, Spain, Germany, United States and the United Kingdom.<ref name="corrieredelmezzogiorno.corriere.it">{{cite news|url=https://corrieredelmezzogiorno.corriere.it/bari/cronaca/16_agosto_04/identificati-alcuni-affiliati-scu-usa-firmato-fbi-b30d5082-5a20-11e6-bcad-5bbe799fb1a7.shtml?refresh_ce-cp |title="Identificati alcuni affiliati" La Scu negli Usa, firmato Fbi |trans-title='Some affiliates identified' (signed FBI)- The SCU in the USA|newspaper=[[Corriere del Mezzogiorno]]|language=it |date= August 4, 2016}}</ref>

*The organization has long been present in Albania, partly because of the proximity of Apulia and Albania and the diffusion of the Italian language. Albania is a point of arrival for huge quantities of smuggled cigarettes and drugs from Afghanistan.<ref name="corrieredelmezzogiorno.corriere.it"/>
*Spain is considered a logistical base for the trafficking operations of the organization. SCU fugitives have been stopped in seaside resorts south of [[Barcelona]].<ref name="corrieredelmezzogiorno.corriere.it"/>
*While the organization does not have consolidated structures in Germany, it is known that the ''Rogoli-Buccarella-Donatiello clan'', the ''Padovano'' clan, the ''Tornese clan'' and the ''Mesagnesi clan'' have a presence in the country. The ''Coca-family'' investigation documented large cocaine trafficking from Germany to the province of [[Brindisi]].<ref name="corrieredelmezzogiorno.corriere.it"/>
*The US [[FBI]] say: "Very few members of the Sacra Corona Unita have been identified in the United States, although some individuals in [[Illinois]], [[Florida]] and [[New York (state)|New York]] would have ties with the organization."<ref name="corrieredelmezzogiorno.corriere.it"/>
*In the United Kingdom the Sacra Corona Unita is believed to invest dirty money in hotels and in the tourism sector.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.lecceprima.it/cronaca/alberghi-ristoranti-e-traffico-di-droga-la-sacra-corona-investe-anche-all-estero.html|title=Alberghi, ristoranti e traffico di droga. La Sacra corona 'investe' anche all'estero|trans-title=Hotels, restaurants, and drugs - the Sacra Corona even 'invest' abroad|newspaper=lecceprima.it|language=it |date= August 21, 2014}}</ref>
 
With the decreasing importance of the Adriatic corridor as a smuggling channel as the situation in the Balkans normalises, and a series of successful police and judicial operations against it in recent years, the Sacra Corona Unita has been reduced to a fraction of its former power, which peaked around the mid-1990s.<ref>{{Cite journal |date=2014 |editor-last=Serenata |editor-first=Nicoletta |title=The 'Ndrangheta and Sacra Corona Unita |journal=Studies of Organized Crime |volume=12 |doi=10.1007/978-3-319-04930-4 |isbn=978-3-319-04929-8 |issn=1571-5493}}</ref>

==Alliances of Sacra Corona Unita==

==='Ndrangheta===

Giuseppe Rogoli, one of the founders of the SCU, was an affiliate of the 'Ndrangheta in Apulia, even before the creation of the Sacra Corona Unita.
The SCU, after Cutolo's downfall, can be considered an offshoot of the 'Ndrangheta in the region, due to Rogoli asked for the permission of the [[Capobastone]] [[Umberto Bellocco]] to create an "Apulian 'Ndrangheta", which becomes the today's Sacra Corona Unita.<ref name="corriere.it"/>

On 13 November 2017, the operation Lampo ended, lasting three years and started from the Sant'Anna operation, which arrested 10 alleged affiliates of the SCU and its alleged head Cataldo Caporosso operating in [[Massafra]], [[Statte]], [[Palagiano]] and in the Tamburi district of [[Taranto]]. The coterie had entered the fish and local cocaine market. The criminal activities of the criminal association would always have been endorsed by the 'Ndrangheta boss Umberto Bellocco who, after 21 years in prison, would have met the Sacra Corona Unita member Cataldo Caporosso and conferred on him the dowry of ''padrino''.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://bari.repubblica.it/cronaca/2017/11/13/news/la_ndrangheta_aveva_il_suo_padrino_in_puglia_arrestato_il_boss_caporosso_e_10_affiliati_al_clan-180977169 |title= Taranto, arrestato il boss Caporosso con 10 affiliati: la 'ndrangheta lo aveva scelto come padrino |newspaper=[[la Repubblica]] |language=it |date= November 13, 2017}}</ref>

On 14 November 2018, the operation Galassia of the [[Guardia di Finanza]] ended, in which the presumed member of the [[Pesce 'ndrina|Pesce]]-Bellocco 'ndrina, Antonio Zungri, some members of the [[Giovanni Tegano|Tegano 'ndrina]] and perhaps of the [[Piromalli 'ndrina]] together with the Camorra and Sacra Corona Unita's Capriati and Parisi clans were illegally included in the commercial network of the online betting companies ''Planetwin365'', ''Betaland'', ''Enjoybet'' and ''Planetwin''. The Apulian clans set up its own foreign bookmaker with interests and projections in Brazil, Colombia, Nigeria, Romania, Vietnam, Panama, Paraguay, Argentina and Russia. In this operation were seized assets worth over €1 billion, while over 80 searches have been carried out throughout Italy.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.repubblica.it/cronaca/2018/11/14/news/le_mani_di_mafia_e_ndrangheta_sul_gioco_on_line_68_arresti_sequestri_per_un_miliardo_di_euro-211602210|title=Le mani di mafia e 'ndrangheta sul gioco online: 68 arresti, sequestri per un miliardo di euro|newspaper=[[la Repubblica]] |language=it |date= November 14, 2018}}</ref>

===Camorra===

Although the first structured criminal organization in Apulia was created by the [[Nuova Camorra Organizzata]], preceding the SCU, the Apulian underworld frowned upon their region being dominated by an outside organization. Taking advantage of the downfall of [[Raffaele Cutolo]], the local criminals distanced themselves of the Camorra and get more aligned to the 'Ndrangheta.<ref name="corriere.it"/>

However, according to the pentito Antonio Accurso, the Camorra's [[Di Lauro clan]] has several links to the Sacra Corona Unita in question with regards to drug trafficking.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://internapoli.it/74561-la-puglia-e-roba-di-marco-di-lauro-per-il-pentito-e-o-cavallar-a-gestire-la-droga-con-la-sacra-corona-unita/|title="La Puglia è roba di Marco Di Lauro". Per il pentito è 'o cavallar a gestire la droga con la Sacra Corona Unita|first=Redazione|last=Internapoli|date=August 30, 2017}}</ref>

===Balkan organizations===
The Apulian mafias have long been rooted in Albania, a neighbouring country where the Italian language is widespread. The [[Albanian mafia]] collaborates with the SCU to make Albania a sorting centre for large amounts of smuggled cigarettes, and [[drug trafficking|drugs from Afghanistan]], much of which enter Italy through the coasts of Montenegro, Croatia and Albania.<ref name="corrieredelmezzogiorno.corriere.it"/><ref name="ReferenceB">{{citation |title=The Threat Posed by the Convergence of Organized Crime, Drugs Trafficking and Terrorism (written testimony to the U.S. Committee on the Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime) |author=Ralf Mutschke (Assistant Director, Criminal Intelligence Directorate) |publisher=Interpol |date=13 December 2000 |url=http://www.globalsecurity.org/security/library/congress/2000_h/001213-mutschke.htm }}</ref> On 27 July 1999 police in Durrës (Albania), with Italian assistance, arrested one of the godfathers of the Sacra Corona Unita. This Albanian link seems to confirm that the Sacra Corona Unita and the Albanian mafia are "partners" in Apulia and delegate several criminal activities.<ref name="ReferenceB"/>

==Rivals==
The internal difficulties of the SCU aided the birth of antagonistic criminal groups such as:
*''Remo Lecce Libera'': formed by some leading criminal figures from Lecce, who claim to be independent from any criminal group other than the 'Ndrangheta. The term Remo indicates Remo Morello, a criminal from the [[Salento]] area, killed by criminals from the [[Campania]] region because he opposed any external interference;
*''Nuova Famiglia Salentina'': formed in 1986 by De Matteis Pantaleo, from Lecce and stemming from the Famiglia Salentina Libera born in the early 1980s as an autonomous criminal movement in the [[Salento]] area with no links with extra-regional Mafia expressions, the organization fought a [[SCU-NFS mafia war|feud]] against SCU's clans in Lecce;<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://ricerca.repubblica.it/repubblica/archivio/repubblica/1989/06/16/ucciso-in-un-agguato-un-boss-del.html|title=UCCISO IN UN AGGUATO UN BOSS DEL SALENTO - la Repubblica.it|website=Archivio - la Repubblica.it|date=16 June 1989}}</ref>
*''Rosa dei Venti'': formed in 1990 by De Tommasi in the Lecce prison, following an internal division in the SCU.<ref>Le criminalità organizzate nell'Italia meridionale continentale: camorra, 'ndrangheta, sacra corona unita Carlo Alfiero, Generale di Brigata - Comandante Scuola Ufficiali CC</ref>

==Internal divisions==

===Società Foggiana===
{{main|Società foggiana}}
The murder of Giuseppe Laviano, lieutenant of the Sacra Corona Unita in [[Foggia]] (whose body was never found), in January 1989, marked a turning point in the mafia war and the rise of Rocco Moretti, known as ''il porco'' (the pig),<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.ilrestodelgargano.it/cronaca/2017/10/news/fermato-un-pezzo-da-novanta-della-mafia-foggiana-ecco-chi-e-rocco-moretti-21208.html |title=Fermato un pezzo da novanta della mafia foggiana: ecco chi è Rocco Moretti|trans-title=A big gun of the Foggia mafia has been stopped: this is who Rocco Moretti is|newspaper= ilrestodelgargano.it |language=it |date= October 10, 2017}}</ref> in the context of the Foggia organized crime at the expense of Laviano himself. After the murder, Moretti became the head of the new criminal organization ''[[Società foggiana]]'' in Foggia. Following the arrests made by the police in the ''Mantide'' operation, among the many details, macabre revelations also emerged, such as the photo of Laviano's severed head, shown to the main members of the ''Società Foggiana'' during the summits.<ref>{{cite news |url= https://ricerca.repubblica.it/repubblica/archivio/repubblica/2005/07/09/colpo-alla-mafia-foggiana-decapitavano-nemici.html |title=Colpo alla mafia foggiana 'Decapitavano i nemici'|trans-title=Blow to the Foggia mafia who 'beheaded their enemies' |newspaper= [[la Repubblica]] |language=it |date= July 9, 2005}}</ref>

The relations between the Foggia delinquency and the Camorra are probably the oldest and deepest ones. The Foggia delinquency has managed to make the qualitative leap thanks to the Camorra, particularly the [[Nuova Camorra Organizzata]]; during the NCO period many "Cutoliani" spent periods of imprisonment in the prisons of [[San Severo]] and Foggia, making contacts with and recruiting local criminals. Raffaele Cutolo's sister [[Rosetta Cutolo]] spent time in San Severo.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://notizie.tiscali.it/cronaca/articoli/tribunale-quarta-mafia-ha-ordinato-strage |title= L'inchiesta, Il tribunale della Quarta mafia ha ordinato la strage. Ed ha un esercito di mille soldati |website= notizie.tiscali.it|language=it |date= August 9, 2017}}</ref> Cutolo even organized a sort of offshoot of the NCO in northern Apulia, the ''Nuova Camorra Pugliese''; the killing of Don Peppe Sciorio, Lieutenant of Cutolo for Foggia, was another clear sign that the Foggia criminals wanted to become independent.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.foggiatoday.it/cronaca/strage-del-bacardi-giosue-rizzi-societa-foggiana.html|title= Giosuè Rizzi, la strage del circolo Bacardi e la "Società" foggiana" |newspaper= FoggiaToday.it |language=it |date= January 12, 2012}}</ref>

The ''Società Foggiana'' is considered the most brutal and bloody of all the Italian mafias.<ref name="vice.com">{{cite news|url=https://www.vice.com/it/article/societa-foggiana-mafia-italia/ |title= Come la Società Foggiana è diventata la mafia più brutale e sanguinosa d'Italia |website= vice.com/it |date= March 21, 2016}}</ref>

The most powerful clans inside the Società Foggiana are the ''Trisciuoglio clan'', the ''Sinesi-Francavilla clan''  and the ''Moretti-Pellegrino-Lanza clan''.<ref name="vice.com"/>

In September 2019, the Italian police dismantled an international [[Drug-trafficking|drug trafficking]] alliance between the powerful Gionta clan of the Camorra, the Società Foggiana, and Moroccan drug traffickers.<ref name="ilmattino.it">{{Cite web|url=https://www.ilmattino.it/napoli/cronaca/spaccio_internazionale_di_droga_accordo_tra_mafia_foggiana_e_gionta-4744882.html|title=Spaccio internazionale di droga: accordo tra mafia foggiana e Gionta: operazione a Trento|website=www.ilmattino.it|date=19 September 2019|access-date=2019-09-19}}</ref> The investigation started in 2016 against a [[Maghreb]] gang based in the region of [[Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol|Trentino-Alto Adige]]. The vast network of drug traffickers, extended from Morocco, passing through Spain, Switzerland and the Netherlands to finally arrive in [[Trentino]] and in [[Bolzano]]. Arriving in Italy, the drugs were sold in parks, historic centers and near schools by mainly Tunisian and Moroccan pushers. Nineteen people were arrested, with four still being wanted in Italy, Spain and in the Netherlands at the time, and seventy-three under investigation. Over one ton of hashish and 2&nbsp;kg of cocaine were seized.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.lavocedelnordest.eu/operazionecarthago/|title=Operazione 'Carthago' della Finanza di Trento: scovati 73 trafficanti e 1 tonnellata di hashish, spacciavano vicino alle scuole – LaVocedelNordEst|language=it-IT|trans-title=Operation "Carthago": by Trento Finance Police: 73 traffickers and 1 ton of hashish were found, peddling near schools|date=19 September 2019}}</ref><ref name="ilmattino.it"/>

In January 2020 two bomb attempts were made in Foggia to murder a key witness in a major trial against mobsters; nobody was injured. The anti-mafia task force was reinforced after the attacks, and 20,000 people marched through Foggia in a protest organised by the anti-mafia group [[Libera. Associazioni, nomi e numeri contro le mafie|Libera]].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/jan/16/italy-to-strengthen-anti-mafia-task-force-after-bomb-in-foggia |title=Italy to strengthen anti-mafia task force after bomb in Foggia |newspaper=The Guardian|agency=AFP|date= 16 January 2020}}</ref>

==See also==
{{Portal|Italy}}
<!--♦♦♦ Please keep the list in alphabetical order ♦♦♦-->
*[[Albanian mafia]]
*[[Banda della Magliana]]
*[[Camorra]]
*[[Sicilian Mafia]]
*[[Società foggiana]]
*[[Stidda]]

==Notes==
<!-- Use MLA style citation format for books, encyclopedias, and periodicals -->
{{Reflist}}

== Further reading ==
* {{cite journal | author = Maria Grazia Pasculli | url = https://periodicos.ufpb.br/ojs2/index.php/primafacie/article/view/10171/6700|  title = Organized crime in Italy: the Puglia mafia | pages = 40 | oclc = 1031892311 | journal = Prim@ Facie | issn = 1678-2593 | volume = 10 | issue = 18 | year = 2011}}

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[[Category:Sacra Corona Unita| ]]
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