TRAPANI - Police of the Provincial Command of Trapani have arrested 25 people facing allegations of mafia association, political-mafia electoral exchange, extortion and damage.

 Among those who have been arrested are two political figures. The first is ex regional deputy of the Democratic Party (PD) Paolo Ruggirello, accused of mafia association, as well as former councilor of Trapani Ivana Inferrera, who is being investigated in relation to charges of political-mafia exchange.

 Ruggirello, 52, from Trapani, was a candidate for the last political elections, however he was unsuccessful.

 According to investigators, the two politicians “offered” themselves to the mafia, proposing themselves as “points of reference” for the clans and, in some cases, even entrusting them with the management of the electoral campaign. 

 As part of the investigation, the military have identified a "cell" of Cosa Nostra, the Sicilian mafia, on the island of Favignana and seized assets of some 10 million euros.

 On the island brothers Francesco and Pietro Virga, the sons of Trapani mafia boss Vincenzo Virga who has been in jail since 2001, had taken over the prestigious Grand Hotel Florio, which is now under seizure. They too are among the 25 arrested in the police blitz in Trapani.

if