COSTA DEGLI DEI - - The Guardia di Finanza, an Italian militarised police forced, seized 11.5 million euros worth of assets on Thursday morning on the Costa degli Dei in Calabria.

 The tourist villages are reported to be controlled by the ‘ndrangheta, a prominent Mafia-style gang based in Calabria. The seizures are part of an operation by the police which has led to four arrests issued by the Catanzaro DDA. The DDA is the District Anti-Mafia Directorate, a section of the Public Prosecutor’s Offices which carries out investigations into organised crime offences.

 The emergency preventive seizure order included a number of buildings, company complexes, properties and cars in Vibo Valentia. A total of 14 people are under investigation in the enquiry.

 According to the news agency ANSA, in one of the hotel complexes seized by the Guardia di Finanza during the operation, meetings were allegedly held between members of the Sicilian Cosa Nostra and the 'ndrangheta, aimed at implementing the so-called “stragista strategy”. 

 During the meetings, which allegedly took place after the murders of magistrates Giovanni Falcone and Paolo Borsellino, representatives of the Sicilian mafia, according to reports by several informers, proposed to those in the 'ndrangheta to join the terrorist strategy carried out at that time.

 The four arrests represent the conclusion, ANSA reports, of a complex investigation carried out by the Guardia. Those arrested were charged with mafia-type criminal association, extortion, usury, fraudulent transfer of funds, aiding and abetting, and absconding.

 The control of the tourist-hotel structures would have allowed the 'ndrangheta to influence the management of the hotels, especially in the identification of suppliers of goods and services and of the staff to hire. 

 Over 100 financiers were employed in the operation, with the help of anti-terrorism and rapid deployment units.

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