NAPLES – A large-scale Carabinieri operation to tackle the Moccia Camorra clan resulted in 52 arrests, of which 36 are in prison and 16 under house arrest, and the retrieval of 150 million euros’ worth of shares, local authorities said.

 The mafia association is accused of extortion, money laundering, fictitious registration of assets, goods or benefits of illicit origin, corruption, illegal possession of firearms, receiving stolen goods, among various other crimes.

 Andrea Guido, a municipal councillor of Lecce, is also under house arrest. Guido, currently city councillor of the centre-right opposition, was arrested for corruption dating back to 2017 when he held the role of councillor for the environment under the then mayor, Paolo Perrone.

 The Organised Crime Investigation Group of the Naples finance authorities also issued two temporary bans from carrying out business activities and seized property and company shares for a value of 150 million euros.

 Pasquale Finocchio from Bari is also affected by the precautionary measures. The former vice president of the city council of Bari, elected with the centre-right, is under house arrest on charges of trafficking, dating back to 2017, and for his alleged role as mediator between entrepreneurs by taking advantage of his political-institutional role.

  The investigation has shed light on the structure of the Moccia Camorra clan, organised on different levels of command and territorial competence. According to investigators, brothers Angelo, Luigi and Antonio Moccia, along with their brother-in-law Filippo Iazzetta, are considered the clan’s leaders. They “led the criminal association and gave directives to subordinates and entrepreneurs even from prison or from Rome, where two of the leaders [Angelo and Luigi] had long since moved.”

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