Over the past decade, crime syndicates have siphoned off millions in EU agricultural funds, according to a vast investigation in Sicily
on January 15. Bontempo was among those detained, accused of fraud, extortion and mafia association. A document from the Italian Senate listed him as a mafia boss, but his lawyer said he maintained his innocence over the grounds of his arrest.
Besides strong-arming farmers, the clans leased thousands of hectares of publicly owned land put up for tender by the state. Honest farmers avoided these auctions, so explicit threats were rarely needed."A simple surname is enough to provoke fear, there is no need to shoot," explained Col. Gerardo Mastrodomenico, head of the Guardia di Finanza fraud police in Messina.
January's raids targeted two mafia clans based around Tortorici in the Nebrodi mountains, an area of protected land covering 86,000 hectares. But the EU-funded good times appear to have put the clans in the mood for peace. They reached an amnesty with an agreement to divide the land and spoils.
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