VT Italia: The Nigerian Mafia

___di  Fabio Giuseppe Carlo Carisio per VT Italia

“With an extraordinary affinity with respect to the traditional Mafia model of Cosa nostra, which has been so often analyzed in the Palermo area, it must be noted that the association in question has firstly replied (…) even on a world level the organization of a State or rather of a State confederate, it has elaborate statutes of legislative and executive authorities of jurisdictional bodies, a sort of tribunal called upon to settle disputes within it, of its own Forces of the Order or of guards to whom it is demandated the task of keeping order and restoring it by inexorably carrying out the punishments decided by National Heads, or government leaders for each Italy, Spain, France, etc., in which there are littered cells called to meet in a sort of directory called EXCO. In other words, it is a real order in itself finite and self-sufficient completely analogous to the lawful state, so that the Black Ax, also called the New Black Ax Movement can certainly be defined as an Anti State whose purpose is to assert its dominance in the ethnic community to which they belong and to make unjust profits or benefits for themselves or others “.

These sentences do not come from the article by an alarmist commentator on immigration from Nigeria, are contained in the sentence issued on 21 May 2018 by the GUP of the Court of Palermo, with which he condemned the Nigerian defendants for mafia-type association recognizing the Black Ax, black ax, as a criminal association analogous to Cosa Nostra, ‘Ndrangheta and Camorra. It is not one of the many pronouncements of Italian justice following hundreds of arrests operated by the State Police, Carabinieri and Guardia di Finanza in the last five years and recalled in the second semester 2018 report of the Anti-Mafia Investigation Directorate to which we have already dedicated a previous report on the phenomenon in general .

Now let’s analyze the four main Confraternities now rooted throughout Italy thanks to drug trafficking, even child prostitution with enslavement of African girls, and trafficking in human beings from the Black Continent passing through Libya. These criminal associations were born from the university cults in Nigeria with a criminal planning that reminds of the “highly refined minds” pointed out by the late judge Giovanni Falcone to describe the leaders of Cosa Nostra. They have almost identical criminal offenses, so we will avoid mentioning the individual investigations to repeat them, but they are distinguished by operational connotations and ramifications.

If the Eye are the most organized so as to be able to boast in the Nest, the nests scattered throughout the peninsula, even a spy, the “dove”, called in English where, with intelligence tasks to report to the Ibaka (the local boss) the behavior of the affiliates, the Black Axs are among the most brutal both in the recruitment of the adepts and in their management through the thugs, called Butchers or butchers. Like the Vikings Vikings, historic enemies of Eye and Black Ax, from the even more primitive coterie and for this specializing in begging management and enlistments in reception centers, where they perform all kinds of sexual violence and not for intimidating purposes, besides that in the crimes already mentioned.

The Maphites, on the other hand, appear as those with the most sought after intellectual footprint and have called the Vatican Family the association in Emilia and Tuscany, the only one recognized by the Supreme Council of the motherland. Note that the term Supreme Council is the same term used to define the Masonic superloggers of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite, open only to brothers of the highest 33th grade. A very curious assonance that leads us to suspect that at the birth of the Nigerian phenomena, exponents of diverted international Freemasonry also contributed.

Beyond the objective warning launched by the Dia that has dedicated a “focus” to the Nigerian mafia in the six-monthly report to the Parliament, the investigators of the interforce group reveal the risk of a contamination of the Islamic culture in consideration of the always constant threat of the group Muslim extremist of Boko Haram in the country of origin. But let’s see in detail the organization, bloody rites of affiliation and crimes of the four brotherhoods declared outlaws from Nigeria since 2001, since all secret societies were banned in the country.

THE HISTORIC BLACK AX CONFRATERNITY

“Also known as Neo Black Movement Of Africa (NBM) , it was born in Nigeria, in Benin City, at a university campus, in the academic session 1976/77. The symbol of the Black Ax is characterized by an ax – from the English word ax – which symbolically refers to the instrument that severed the chains of slavery. They usually wear black pants, a white shirt, a yellow or red tie, yellow stockings, black shoes and a black beret, which sometimes has a yellow stripe. The black color represents the identification with the black race, the white color interprets the peace and purity of the mind and the soul, while the yellow represents the intellect »reads the Dia report.

The cult members , among the distinctive signs of belonging, flaunt tattoos on their arms and bodies depicting axes and greet each other using the slang expression ” aye “, or cross their forearms to simulate the chains of oppression. They celebrate their feast every 7 July and the number 7 is also used to represent the ax, symbol of the brotherhood. Finally, cult members use a cryptic language, even in social networks, to identify people outside their organization, or passwords.

Born to spread positive messages (peace, respect, tolerance and condemnation of all forms of racism), it soon turned first into a real secret cult , then into an international criminal organization like the other Nigerian associations. Surveys in recent years have highlighted the spread of Black Axs especially in Piedmont, Campania, Puglia and Sicily.

«While maintaining the typical elements of the confraternity, with religious and magical aspects linked to the tribal culture of belonging, it has also endowed itself with a strongly hierarchical and pyramidal structure, based on precise rules for the election of its leaders, a tax to be paid for enter, complex affiliation ceremonials with an oath of obedience to the values ​​of the congregation, formal and strict rules of interrelationship between the members, appealed as Brothers (“brothers” exactly as in Freemasonry – ed), with the use of a highly cryptic and symbolic language – explains the Anti-Mafia Investigation Directorate – Every Black Ax organization based in a foreign country is called a Zone, to which the Forums are subordinated which, instead, are the reference cells of the various cities. At the head of each Zone there is a National Head,a real head of government for each projection nation (Italy, Spain, France etc.) named directly by the supreme cult leader in Nigeria ».

In addition to “national leaders”, the “local chiefs”, also known as Lord , are expected to be part of the cult , which the “thugs”, called Butchers or Sluggers , are in charge of punishing particularly violent expeditions to maintain order and respect the rules. The lords would be entrusted with the task of recruiting new affiliates, if necessary also coercively, threatening the doubters or riots of violent retaliation even against the families left behind.

THE RITUAL PEST AND THE DRUG TO DRINK

It is not easy to join the Black Ax: it is reserved for men only, it must be presented by someone already registered and pass the Orientation phase , that is a sort of apprenticeship during which “test” beatings are also performed. In the first, the First Match, the affiliates are severely beaten by the Butchers in the presence of the so-called Minister of Defense , who decrees who is considered adequate to pass before the Chama Black Ax. The latter, the third national office and head of the council called Scioi, is the one who decides, independently, if the adepts should return to the Minister of Defensefor further training or if they are ready for the actual affiliation ceremony.

«This takes place through an ancient ritual in which seven candles are placed on the ground to form the perimeter of a coffin; moreover, a temple with an ax and a cup filled with liquid is placed in the designated place – containing a drug-based drink to be drunk by the new affiliates, so-called Ignorants, in the presence of the Priest (the priest) . While the latter, recites sacral formulas the affiliandi must swear, pronouncing the following sentence of obedience: ” If I had to betray the organization Black Ax, what I am drinking right now will kill me ” – reports the Dia – At this point , the new associates abandon their real name ( jew name ) and are baptized with onestrong name, name referring to subjects of African history, with which they will be recognizable within the cult. The adepts are then whipped with the kebobo / kobobo (a whip) by four wise men, while they walk on their knees to verify the ability of the new affiliate to face suffering with courage and firmness “.

A NIGERIAN ASSOCIATION OF MAFIOSO MOLD

In Italy the BLACK AX is, by number of adherents, the second Nigerian cultist organization operating on the national territory. It is present in almost all regions, with an important “cell” operating in Piedmont and Sicily, mainly in Palermo.

An important confirmation of the dangerousness of the Nigerian criminal groups is found in the complex investigation of the 2016 Palermo State Police, called precisely “Black Ax” in which it was discovered that the Head Zone (national leader) had a Forum (operating base) in the popular district of Palermo of Ballarò, territory historically controlled in a capillary way by Cosa Nostra. The defendants were challenged in the remand in custody for the constitutive elements of the mafia association reaffirmed in the sentence of May 21, 2018 by the GUP of the Court of Palermo: «…the ‘qualification’ of mafia association since the difference between the norm of art. 416 of the Criminal Code and the provision of art. 416 bis is precisely the fact that, in the first case, the association must be aimed at committing crimes, while the mafia-type association is characterized, among other things, by the condition of subjugation and conspiracy of silence deriving from it, depending on of his ability to instill fear and psychological subordination » .

As mentioned in the incipit, the judge also noted ” that the Black Ax, also called the New Black Ax Movement can certainly be defined as an Anti State whose purpose is to assert its dominance in the ethnic community it belongs to and to make unjust profits or benefits for himself or others “. Also highlighting as «the littered cells called to meet in a sort of directory called EXCO of a system even of elections through which the various affiliates can express their preferences for the progression in the career of the others of an internal taxation system through which you must contribute to a common fund that meets the expenses of the organization “.A similar ruling (No. 24803) had already been issued issued by the Supreme Court of Cassation on May 5, 2010 in relation to two criminal prosecutions of the Public Prosecutor’s Office of Turin, in which the Eiye group and the Eiye group were involved in the Piedmontese capital of the Black Axs by detecting « management and control of economic activities; all of which committing crimes aimed at common intent, in particular aimed at preserving and strengthening the imposed social and territorial (environmental) predominance and, with this, the vitality of the association itself ».

 THE SUPREME EIYE CONFRATERNITY

He was born in the University of Ibadan, in the State of Oyo (Nigeria), following a split within the Black Ax, assuming the current name (in the acronym Sec) or more simply Eiye, but it is also known as the National Association Of Air Lords. The symbol of the EIYE (“bird” in the “Yoruba” dialect) is the Akalamagbo , a mythological bird depicted on a blue background in the act of capturing a prey, or like a bird of prey with a human skull in its claws.

“Founded with the intent to promote African development and culture as opposed to the politics of imperial colonialism, as the other confraternities soon abandoned university campuses and the initial social goals to transform themselves, since the 70s / 80s of the last century, in a secret and criminal organization. With migratory flows, the so-called Pioneers(affiliates who had attended colleges in Nigeria, where they had been “baptized”) began to establish themselves abroad and proselytize, repeating rituals, customs and hierarchical structures proper to the confraternity »writes the Anti-Mafia Investigative Directorate.

The surveys of recent years have highlighted the spread of EIYEs in Veneto1, Emilia Romagna, Lazio and Sardinia, while the results of the very recent “No fly Zone” operation of the State Police and Palermo DDA (April 2019) have provided the details of the current internal organization leading to the arrest of 13 prominent Nigerians.

«The Aviary national structure , aviary, is equipped with a top-down organization represented by a World Ibaka (O Ebaka ), a real boss , the summit of executive power that often enjoys international prestige and is in contact with the organization mother in Nigeria – investigators explain – Aviary is subdivided into provincial or local sections called Nest (nests), in turn guided by a Flying Ibaka. The associative structure is well structured and hierarchically organized, with its own internal rules, sanctions, its own affiliation rites for advancement in offices and for investitures. Unlike the other important cult, the Black Ax, the organization of the group is less structured (more horizontal than vertical); not all cities have a Nest ; the group is secret, therefore its affiliates ( bird ) do not advertise their membership except by necessity “. They meet periodically and the leaders are elected every two / three years on the basis of a vote in which the most important members of the cult participate (the ex Ibaka and the Ostrich). There are eight positions within a Nest , each with a well-defined role.

In addition to the Flying Ibaka, head of the Nest, there are: the ostrich : the ostrich , deputy of the Ibaka , whose directives he executes; the Nightingale : the nightingale , also known as Engine Infantry, which plays the role of secretary during Ibakacouncil meetings and deals with the defense of the associates, just as a security officer would do; the Eagle : the eagle,which is the head of the thugs (the so-called Butchers in the Black Ax); the Woodpecker : the woodpecker,the treasurer, takes care of collecting the membership fees paid by the Bird for the Nest ; the Parrot : the parrot, participates in all the ceremonies of the board, informing all the Bird of the ESXO meetings , that is the general assembly of all the members of the Nest or of the steering group (composed only of the eight), singing during the rituals of affiliation;

the Where : the dove, has the task to observe what happens inside and outside the Nest , referring directly to ‘ Ibaka , performing a sort of business intelligence in the group; the Flying Commandant : the flight commander , responsible for the organization of the events of the management and the logistics and the recording of the meetings.

THE AFFILIATION COATED WITH THE RITUAL OF THE BLOOD

«Access to the group is not always the result of a free choice, but often derives from a real imposition: it is managed and regulated by the top management; it is sanctioned by a real affiliation ritual that includes, in addition to the use of violence, the use of blood-based drinks mixed with water and other alcoholic substances, such as gin mixed with water and chilli or pepper, with rice portions and tapioca; the obligation of active participation is in force, through the payment of an entrance fee for the financing of the cult , which provides, just as happens in the Italian mafia organizations, to support the families of its affiliated detainees, according to a social security assistance constraint »reports the Dia file.

In Italy the organization is rooted in the North (in Turin, Brescia, Verona, Padua), in Rome and in the South, in particular, in Naples and Castel Volturno (CE), a location that emerged in numerous investigations, as a place linked to members of the Eiye organization by residence, transit, family ties, criminal episodes and more. For its hierarchical structure and its modus operandi, the organization has assumed the characteristics of a mafia-type association. The members of the brotherhood, during meetings, wear a blue cap and / or scarf and use “a language incomprehensible to strangers, created and used to stand out and identify any hostile people”. An element that obviously makes even environmental interceptions very difficult.

Numerous investigations have been concluded with final convictions – first, in order of time, in Piedmont and in Lombardy. Among the first there is the operation ” Eiye”, concluded in 2006 by the Brescia State Police with the arrest of 23 Nigerian citizens, held liable, in various capacities, for a mafia-type association aimed at crimes against the person, the facilitation of illegal immigration, the exploitation of prostitution, and drug dealing of drugs, falsification of documents, monetary falsity, as well as cloning and fraudulent use of credit cards, crimes aggravated by the use of weapons and committed with the aim of imposing control over the territory to the detriment of other criminal groups active in Brescia. In the month of May of the same year the Carabinieri of Turin executed an order of custody in prison against 23 Nigerian citizens,

FROM THE CHILD PROSTITUTE TO THE HEROINE KILLER

In the same investigative context, in the following December 2006 the Guardia di Finanza of Turin carried out an additional order of custody in prison for a group of Nigerians, also belonging to the Eiye and the Black Ax, held responsible, in various capacities, for association mafia-type, illegal possession of weapons, production and trafficking of drugs, robbery and attempted murder. In October 2007, as part of the ” Eiye 2″ operation, the Brescia State Police had arrested 40 Nigerian citizens belonging to the mafia association of the cultist grouphomonymous, committed to the commission of crimes against the person (among which emerged the commission of extortion against compatriots) as well as the facilitation of illegal immigration, prostitution, cloning and fraudulent use of credit cards.

“It also emerged that the intimidating force exerted by the association was favored by the spread, among Nigerian immigrants, of an attitude of total silence, aggravated by the fear that retaliation could also affect families of origin – Dia officials write – The clashes and intimidation, perpetrated also with the use of broken bottle necks, knives and, sometimes, of guns, have often resulted from the refusal opposed by the compatriots to the proposal of affiliation to the group in word “.

Still in the Turin area and many years after the aforementioned judicial inquiries, the recent law enforcement action once again gave an account of the aggressive operating methods. An important element comes from the decision taken by some Nigerian citizens to report the violence suffered, thus allowing the start of investigations, concluded at the end of 2018, as part of the ” Snoopy” operation, with the execution of a restrictive measure that it involved 15 Nigerian citizens, members of the cult Eiye, held liable, in various capacities, for mafia-type associations aimed, among other crimes, at trafficking in human beings, aiding illegal immigration, exploitation of child prostitution, extortion and scams.

“The investigators were able to ascertain, among other things, the planning for migrant men and women traveling from Nigeria to Italy with the collaboration of compatriots in the Libyan territory, who were involved in the passage of migrants on the barges for the crossing final of the Mediterranean Sea. Once arrived at the destination, the mafia organization was thinking about regulating documents and taking young women, who were entrusted to maman to be sent to prostitution on the street “reports the report of the Anti-Mafia Directorate.

Even the Veneto is not immune to the presence of the cult in question. In Venice, the ” San Michele” operation in July 2018, gave an account of the remarkable operation of an EIYE cell in the sale of drugs and in the subsequent recycling of illicit proceeds. “The investigations involved more than 30 Nigerian citizens, affected by precautionary measures, and were started following several deaths and numerous hospitalizations in the Venetian city due to the so-called” yellow heroin “, the new drug from Afghanistan, widespread especially among adolescents, which can be lethal since it is packaged with a very high active ingredient. The group of pusherNigerians had managed to settle in the Piave district of Venice Mestre, near the local railway station, replacing a gang of Maghreb drug dealers “ .

As part of this investigation, the recycling of the related proceeds also emerged with the seizure of the sum of 250 thousand euros in cash, contained in the suitcases of some Nigerian women about to leave the Venetian airport “Marco Polo” to Nigeria. The sums were collected in a shop selling miscellaneous goods, subjected to preventive seizure, located in the area of ​​interest and managed by a Nigerian citizen. The head of the organization, who could not be found at the time of capture, was located in Germany, where he was extradited on 10 May 2019.

«Also in the month of July, this time in Perugia, the « Nigerian Cultism »operation has retraced the classic operational clichéof cultist groups , for which 8 Nigerian citizens were arrested, (including the Ibaka of the local cultist brotherhooddegli Eiye), dedicated to organizing and financing the clandestine entry into Italy of a plurality of African women, led up to the Libyan coast in view of the subsequent crossing of the Mediterranean Sea to be destined for prostitution – highlights the Dia – The proceeds came, as always, entertained by way of reimbursement of transport and accommodation expenses in Italy, generating in these women a state of absolute subjection through the threat of unfavorable magical-religious consequences if they had not regularly paid the exploiters their proceeds activities. ”

Even Sardinia is not immune to the presence of Nigerian organized groups. On 21 November 2018, the results of the ” Calypso Nest ” operation carried out by the State Police shed light on the operation in the province of Cagliari of the Nigerian mafia-type criminal cell, mainly devoted to drug trafficking, as well as to the exploitation of prostitution and trafficking in human beings. The organization was found to be an offshoot of the Nigerian structure called Vatican Aviary, which in turn belonged to the Eiye Supreme Confraternity, whose presence is recorded in various locations on the peninsula. Among those arrested, respectively in Padua and Treviso, are also the Grand Ibaka and the World Ibaka, top figures of the Italian organization of the Supreme Eiye Confraternity.

The operation allowed to identify, inside a shed located in Selargius (CA), all the components of the Sardinian cell of the Nigerian brotherhood, with the arrest of some of the couriers and the seizure of about kg. 7.5 between heroin and cocaine, coming from South Africa, from Mozambique and from Holland, through the intermediation of other Nigerians residing in Como, Naples and Castel Volturno (CE).

THE PARA-MASSONIC INTELLECTUALS OF MAPHITE

 This confraternity was founded in 1978 in Nigerian universities, the term that distinguishes it is the acronym of Maximo Academyc Performance Highly Intelectual Empire , governed by the Suprime Maphite Council , which is based in Nigeria. It is subjected to the cult present in the countries of projection. The confraternity is characterized by the use, by its members, of a language that uses a terminology foreign to a typically criminal context: it is a caution, sometimes also used by Italian criminal organizations, in an attempt to make conversations incomprehensible during the course of technical activities. The cultaffiliate only male people, without religious discrimination. His feast is celebrated every year, on May 11, the day on which the deceased “in action” are remembered. On this occasion, the Maphites used to wear a green hat, while their symbol consists of two palms of the hand, united and facing upwards, and a flame in the middle that burns.

Surveys in recent years have highlighted the spread of Maphites especially in Emilia Romagna and Piedmont. In past years, as already illustrated, the Turin DDA was largely occupied by the Nigerian cults , leading to important final convictions that concerned the mafia connotation of the Eiyes and the Black Axs. However, ” after a period of calm and careful camouflage, some cults dedicated to drug trafficking and illegal immigration have been reactivated in the territory, especially of women to be used for prostitution”. In this context, the operation of a new criminal group, that of the Maphites, was shared, a transnational structure supported by a very strong internal silence, dedicated to the intimidation and threats of cult members ready to punish, even in Africa, the families of those who dissociate or betray the organization.

A TRANSNATIONAL CRIMINAL SODALITY

The aforementioned is reflected in the ” Athenaeum ” inquiry , concluded, on September 13, 2016, by the Carabinieri, assisted by the Turin Local Police, with the execution of a restrictive measure against 44 Nigerian citizens, members of Eye and Mpahite, active in the province of Turin, in Novara and Alessandria, who have been accused of belonging to a mafia-type association, in addition to other crimes such as drug dealing, aiding illegal immigration and serious injuries. The investigations of the Turin judiciary have also identified the international screenings of the cult, with presences in Canada, United Kingdom, Holland, Germany, Malaysia and Ghana. The contribution made by a Nigerian subject who decided to collaborate with the Turin judicial authority was decisive, revealing rules and related punishments in the event of transgression, hierarchical structure, affiliation rites, roles and offices within the organization.

To join the organization you must pay a sum of money and submit to a very cruel tribal affiliation, a sort of endurance test, at the end of which you are baptized with a new name that identifies the subject as belonging to the cult .

«Even for the Maphites, sometimes the affiliation is imposed and does not constitute a free choice, it passes through the selection of people who serve to the organization, like the young Nigerians who have just landed who are destined for the shop – note the Dia – Si Can enter the cult both in Nigeria and in the various states in which the organization resides and is present, but it is necessary to be “presented” by someone who is already a part of it and who covers a leading role. The affiliation that took place in Nigeria, on the other hand, gives greater importance to the new member, who, in the event of expatriation, will be addressed to those belonging to the cultof the country of arrival. Once joined, you gain benefits and privileges. Crimes can also be committed individually, but others belonging to the cult must have communication with them ».

In Italy the Maphites are territorially divided into four families : the Vatican Family, with its main office in Emilia Romagna, and also “controls” Tuscany and the Marche; the Latino Family, “ competent” on Piedmont, Liguria and Lombardy; the Roma Empire Family , active in the Capital and on Lazio, Campania, Abruzzo and Calabria; the Light House Of Sicily Family , active in Sicily and Sardinia.

As far as is known, the Vatican Family is the only expression of the Maphites to be officially considered by the Supreme Maphite Council for having paid the sum necessary to be “recognized” in their homeland. The cult in question is also organized in a top-down manner. At national level there is a single head, the national Don and a deputy. Each family is led by a decision-making body, called Don In Council ( DIC , Council of Heads ), while in each region (except for Piedmont and Lombardy, where this body would be unique), there is a Coordinator In Council ( CIC, Council of Coordinators), DIC operative arm that coordinates all the illegal activities on the areas of competence, also carrying out an intelligence function (information gathering).

«At the national level there is the Council of Professor ( COP, Council of Professors ), led by a Chairman (” president “) and composed of” essays “, which monitors and supervises the activity of the DIC, determining, if necessary, punishments for affiliates who do not comply with cult rules – reports the Antimafia report – The illegal activities carried out by the aforementioned families are managed by specific Sections – headed by a person appointed by the Don and seven collaborators who remain in office for two years – distinguished by type of illegal activity, so called: Tyrus , for narcotics1470; Jazibel-Rhaba, for prostitution; Mario Monti , for the transfer of money; Operation Sanyo-Sanyo , for weapons; Operation Canaland , for extortion. The top management of the organization would receive a monthly fee from the central office in Nigeria, through legal banking circuits, in the currency of the State in which they operate.

THE VIKINGS: ACTIVE IN THE RECEPTION CENTERS 

The cult was established in 1984, at the University of Port Harcourt (Nigeria), by a Buccaneers spill, who created a new brotherhood called Supreme Vikings Confraternity (also known as Arobaga or Adventurers or, alternatively, De Norsemen Club Of Nigeria). Once landed in Italy the cult has further shortened its name by simplifying it into Vikings. Exactly as it happened for the other confraternities, also this last one was born with aims and social purposes, soon set aside, characterized, compared to the others, for the massive presence of very young and particularly aggressive male subjects.

Like other confraternities, the Vikings were also the object of conflict by the Nigerian Authorities, which, to try to stem the phenomenon, sometimes intervened during the celebration of some bloody affiliation rites. In our country the presence of the Vikings, in clear contrast to the Eiyes and the Black Axs, has been found only recently, to a greater extent in Piedmont, Marche, Emilia Romagna (in Ferrara and Reggio Emilia, in particular), in the province of Bari, in Sicily and Sardinia. Some contacts with fellow countrymen in other European countries have proved to be functional for the importation of drugs also through the employment of couriers recruited from young Nigerians, including women.

“Like other Nigerian organizations, VIKINGS exploit migratory flows often using reception centers as places of first settlement and, at times, real enlistment. This assumption has found a recent confirmation in the “Catacata-Norsemen” operation , coordinated by the DDA of Catania and merged into a decree of arrest of a suspect of crime, executed by the State Police against 26 members of the “Catacata MP (Italy Sicily) – De Norsemen Kclub International », active in Catania and province, with operational base at the CARA of Mineo (CT). The same must respond, in various capacities, to a mafia-type association, an association aimed at illicit drug trafficking, sexual violence and group sexual violence“Reports Dia

The investigations shed light on the dense network of affiliates of the Vikings brotherhood in various national reception facilities, where they imposed their supremacy. More often than not the oppression was carried out to extract the affiliation to the cult , others to establish the hierarchies and the power, others to recover the money advanced to support the journey of the migrants from Libya to Italy. All taking advantage of the vulnerability of compatriots recently arrived in Italy.

The affiliation ritual is characterized by tribal songs in praise of the strength of the confraternity, during which the new followers continually repeated “I want to be Norseman” and ” to mark the liturgy, they simulated gunshots, slamming objects” . The figure of a leader and of his own lieutenants is envisaged , who have the task of managing the illegal activities in the areas of competence and of recruiting new followers, even removing them from the opposing groups; going down the hierarchical scale, other subjects subjected to the disposal of the drug and the control of the racketbegging (also functional to territorial control). Once again the role of the maman is highlighted , which is entrusted with the management of the girls to start prostitution. The cult does not disdain the appearance on social media , where it is present with a dedicated facebook profile . During the holidays they usually wear a red hat.

THE ANTIMAFIA CHALLENGE AND THE ALARM BOKO HARAM

 “We are thus faced with a mafia, tribal and ruthless, difficult to decipher in the internal dynamics, which from Northern Italy has gradually spread throughout the national territory, up to Sicily, where it has found its own space, even with the substantial placation of Cosa Nostra . To counter a phenomenon of this magnitude it is necessary, then, to understand well and above all to make known the characteristics of this new mafia »conclude the investigators Dia.

«It is a challenge that does not catch us unprepared. Italy has the great advantage of having accumulated a solid, we would say unique investigative and judicial experience that in the coordination and in the ability to work together has its point of strength. All the investigative tools tested positively against the national mafias can certainly be effectively applied also to the Nigerian mafia and to the other non-traditional Mafia expressions – the Antimafia Investigative Directorate still points out – On an investigative level then the vision will have to be increasingly oriented to invest in the analysis of the international routes of the potential ” cells ” of this network, whose strategy certainly aims to do business through international drug trafficking and the trafficking of people reduced to slavery, often camouflaged among the flows of illegal immigrants ».

For the interforce group it is necessary to monitor this « network with significant signs of criminal aggression, which is based on cultural models that are distant from those in the West, in constant contact with the motherland» not only to assess its dangerousness «but also to prevent contamination by part of pro-Islamic extremist expressions also present in Nigeria, where Boko Haramcontinues to spread. In this context, it will not be possible to avoid paying the utmost attention to the penitentiary institutions, in order to avoid radicalization pathways. In this regard, the National Anti-Mafia and Anti-Terrorism Prosecutor has activated and consolidated a connection channel with the Nigerian Judiciary for a constant exchange of information, which will certainly be the harbinger of more targeted and therefore more effective judicial investigations “.

Fabio Giuseppe Carlo Carisio