It was well known that Matteo Messina Denaro was not one of those old-fashioned bosses holed up in farms where they survive on bread, ricotta and chicory. The head of the Castelvetrano district arrested in 2023 and died eight months later of cancer, he always loved surrounding himself with beautiful women and luxury cars, as the film also demonstrates Iddu- The Last Godfather recently broadcast on Rai 3 and available on RaiPlay (Read the review here).
But he has always maintained a low profile, with a very strong rooting in his territory of origin, Campobello di Mazara. Of the enormous assets accumulated in thirty years of hiding, however, only a small part had so far come to light. His very profile made investigators suppose that his “treasure” accumulated in thirty years of hiding did not consist so much in cash hidden in some vault, but rather in well-branched proceeds of illicit activities scattered who knows where, thanks to the contribution of efficient frontmen.
This scheme was fully confirmed by the financiers’ operation which led to the arrest of Giacomo Tamburello, 66, a historic drug trafficker close to Matteo Messina Denarowho like the boss resided in a small house in Campobello di Mazara, where he was already under house arrest. Despite numerous arrests and periods spent in Italian and Spanish prisons, he had never stopped his drug trafficking business on behalf of Cosa Nostra. And behind the modest house in which he lived, there were luxury villas in Spain, bank accounts in Andorra, Gibraltar, Lebanon, Luxembourg and the Cayman Islands. Furthermore, the financiers of the Gico of Palermo seized assets worth over 200 million eurosbelieved to be the result of drug trafficking and illicit money laundering which began in the 1980s under the protection of Matteo Messina Denaro and the Trapani mafia.
Tamburello’s ex-wife, Maria Antonina Bruno, and her son Luca, arrested in Spain, also ended up in the investigation. The latter, in particular, would be the financial mind behind this complex web of dirty deals, thanks to his degree in international banking and financial disciplines which led him to have work experience in important credit institutions, including Morgan Stanley in London.
The investigation by the Palermo District Anti-Mafia Directorate, coordinated by the prosecutor Maurizio de Lucia and the deputy Vito Di Giorgiostarted from the report of an Andorra bank suspicious of the millionaire movements present in the accounts of Tamburello’s ex-wife.
On the millionaire drug trafficking managed throughout Europe by the narco Giacomo Tamburello, Matteo Messina Denaro received 10%. The same percentage would also have been demanded by builders, wine and oil producers and local businesses.
The repentant Vincenzo Spezia, boss of the Campobello di Mazara mafia family, told the investigators. His statements come as part of the investigation that led to the arrest of Tamburello, his ex-wife and his son.
“The Tamburellos always gave the money to Matteo Messina Denaro because otherwise he would kill them. I am aware that the percentage of 10% was given to him for each load of drugs that arrived from Morocco”, he declared to the Palermo prosecutors.
According to the justice collaborator, Messina Denaro was informed about the shipments and their arrival thanks to relationships with those who distributed the drugs once they arrived from Spain in Brescia, from where they were then sold throughout Italy.
The repentant also describes a real corporate relationship between the mafia boss and the narcos who managed international drug trafficking also in the interests of the mafia association.
