Trieste. Armed raids and extortions against street vendors: the hand of the Camorra on the Bibione Fair in the province of Venice.
Nine arrests were ordered by the investigating judge of the Court of Trieste, at the request of the District Anti-Mafia Directorate of Trieste and carried out by the Anti-Mafia Investigation Directorate and the men of the Economic and Financial Police Unit of Trieste.
The arrested persons must answer, to varying degrees, for several episodes of extortion aggravated by mafia methods, for having forced - with repeated intimidating conduct - numerous street traders from Friuli and Veneto to not carry out their business activities and for the purpose of preventing the regular running of the trade fair event 'I giovedì del Lido del Sole', in Bibione, a well-known tourist resort in the municipality of San Michele in Tagliamento in the province of Venice.
According to the DIA, the suspects who ended up in prison had organized "the criminal activity with the aim of obtaining direct control of the aforementioned economic activities and thus influencing the free market and the economic and social development of the renowned tourist resort".
Numerous episodes were recorded by investigators during the investigations, including "punitive expeditions with weapons against those who did not submit to the hegemony imposed by the head of the criminal group, also in other trade fairs on the Friuli-Veneto coast.
D'Antonio's activity was supported by his sons Renato D'Antonio, 27 years old and Beniamino 39 years old, both residents in Veneto.
Also arrested with the D'Antonios were Gennaro and Salvatore Carrano, father and son, and Raffaele and Salvatore Biancolino, They too are Neapolitans but have been living in the North for years, except Salvatore Biancolino who lives in Naples and spends long periods in Bibione where he works as a street vendor, helping out with the family business.
The last person arrested is Zefferino Pasian, 55 years old, officially the owner of a farm, but in reality unemployed. According to the investigators he had the role of 'collector', in fact he was sent by D'Antonio to intimidate the traders and collect the extortions.
The searches by the police were ordered by the investigators at the homes, shops and some warehouses owned by or attributable to the suspects and scattered between Naples, Lignano, Latisana, Pordenone, Sesto al Reghena, Portogruaro, Bibione.
The criminal group, led by D'Antonio, had the objective of obtaining control of commercial activities, particularly in the trade fair and street vending sectors, and thus influencing the free market.
The investigations started from some episodes that occurred during the 2020 Bibione Fair, when the group of arrested traders had threatened their colleagues authorized to participate in the weekly fair.
The retaliations arose in the aftermath of D'Antonio & C.'s exclusion from the trade fair for not having paid fees to the association that organizes it.
Hence the violent reaction and the series of episodes that investigators documented through shadowing and wiretapping.
On one occasion, for example, some of the suspects allegedly used a truck to block access to the market and thus prevent street vendors from setting up their stands. And those who, despite the threats, had continued to work at the fair, allegedly continued to show up in front of the stall showing their fist on their open hand.
The D'Antonios[mfn] Acquitted see correction below[/mfn], the Carranos, the Biancolinos and Morsanutos are accused of having prevented, by threats and by placing obstacles in the way, other street vendors from participating in the “I giovedì del Lido del sole” markets in Bibione.
In particular, according to the prosecution, they prevented four traders with threats and intimidation from opening their sales stalls.
The plan, according to the anti-mafia prosecutor's office of Trieste, was to remove the inconvenient 'colleagues' who did not submit to their threats in order to take control of the non-permanent commercial activities in the Bibione area.
For this reason they had come to threaten the president and vice president of the association organizing the event, Alessandro Peloso and Stefania Dolci, to prevent them from holding the market.
But the group who acted with the Camorra method had also forced the municipal council of Bibione, and in particular Councilor Annalisa Arduini and Mayor Pasqualino Codognotto to reduce the space provided for the event, thus reducing the presence of commercial operators who are “unwelcome” to the band.
Finally, to definitively assert themselves, D'Antonio and Pasian threatened to kill another street vendor they disliked, with the excuse that he had copied some items of clothing sold by members of the group.
"Particularly significant - the DIA underlines - are some episodes in which punitive expeditions with weapons were organized against those who did not submit to the hegemony imposed by the head of the criminal group also in other trade fairs on the Friuli-Veneto coast". The investigations are coordinated by the district prosecutor, Massimo De Bortoli.
Article Updated[mfn]Correction[/mfn] https://www.cronachedellacampania.it/2022/03/fiera-di-bibione/
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