Casalesi Clan operating in the southern part of Lazio, illegally acquiring numerous commercial activities, mostly car dealers

mafia group, connected to the Casalesi Clan was discovered after two years of investigation by the Roman branch of the Carabinieri. The criminal organisation was operating in the southern part of Lazio, illegally acquiring numerous commercial activities, mostly car dealers, that were gathering enormous patrimonies. 40 arrest warrants were released form people accused of association with the mafia, money laundering, fraud, extortion, falsified invoices, tax evasion worth millions of Euros and fraudulent transfer of goods. Over 500 agents from the Carabinieri were involved in the investigation in the provinces of Rome, Latina, Frosinone and Caserta. Numerous seizures are in progress in different areas of Italy and abroad of goods and businesses controlled by the criminal organisation worth over 80 million Euros.

Antonino Fortunato Morreale, the suspected "postman" apprehended in Palermo, recently was convicted of Mafia association by a tribunal in Palermo

Two men believed to be the "postmen" who delivered notes to accused Sicilian Mafia boss Bernardo Provenzano have been arrested, Italian police said Saturday.One suspect was arrested at his Palermo home Friday evening and the other was picked up at a Rome airport last month, police said.Through them, Provenzano was able to oversee and communicate with a Mafia network that stretched across Sicily, said Col. Jacopo Mannucci Benincasa of the Carabinieri police in Palermo, the Sicilian capital.Provenzano was captured in 2006 after decades on the run and 13 years as the leader of the Sicilian Mafia. He has been convicted in absentia and sentenced to life in prison for more than a dozen murders of mobsters and investigators.
During his years as a fugitive, Provenzano sent handwritten notes — known as "pizzini" — about the administration of Cosa Nostra. He used codes to conceal business interests and the identities of those he dealt with.Provenzano relied heavily on the "pizzini" and their delivery, investigators say.
Antonino Fortunato Morreale, 40, the suspected "postman" apprehended in Palermo, recently was convicted of Mafia association by a tribunal in Palermo and sentenced to a nine years in prison.The other suspect, Andrea Panno, had eluded capture during a massive anti-Mafia operation in 2005, the Palermo Carabinieri said. He was picked up in June by U.S. officials, who had been alerted by Italian investigators that the fugitive was living in Guilford, Connecticut, with his family, the Carabinieri said.
Panno, 47, arrived in Italy on July 12 and was immediately arrested at Rome's Leonardo da Vinci airport, police said. He remains in custody in the Italian capital.

Seifert's extradition has been welcomed by groups campaigning for Nazi war criminals to be brought to justice

Michael Seifert arrived in Rome from Canada where he had been fighting a battle against extradition. An Italian military tribunal convicted him in absentia in 2000 of 11 murders at a prison camp in the northern city of Bolzano. Seifert admits to having been a guard at the camp but denies being involved in atrocities. Seifert arrived shortly before dawn from Toronto on a military jet. The military prosecutor behind the case, Bartolomeo Constantini, described him as "a little wobbly" after leaving the plane. Mr Constantini says Seifert has a pacemaker but is generally healthy. Seifert was taken to a prison near Naples and was to undergo a medical examination. He may serve the sentence under house arrest because of his age.
The Verona-based military tribunal that convicted him heard testimony that Seifert committed acts of brutality while an SS guard. Seifert disguised his past while living in Canada Witnesses accused him of leaving a prisoner to starve to death, raping and killing a pregnant woman and gouging an inmate's eyes out. Towards the end of World War II, the Bolzano camp was used to house Jews, resistance fighters and German army deserters who were being transported further north.
Seifert was born in Ukraine and went on to work as a Nazi guard after the German occupation. After the war, he concealed his past and entered Canada in 1951.
In 2002, he was arrested after a request from Italy. His attempts to resist extradition reached a dead end in Canada's Supreme Court last month when it refused to hear his appeal. His lawyers argued that he had been convicted unfairly in Italy. They also accused the Canadian authorities of bias.
Seifert's extradition has been welcomed by groups campaigning for Nazi war criminals to be brought to justice. Avi Benlolo, of the Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Center for Holocaust Studies in Canada, said it was critical that Seifert faced justice in Italy. "It sets an example for other war criminals, not only Nazi war criminals, but war criminals related to Rwanda, Bosnia, Darfur or any other genocide," he said.