The first 12 sentences arrive for the date traders of the Gulf of Naples

The first convictions have arrived for the date palm harvesters who devastated the seabed of the Sorrento Peninsula and Capri.

The court of Torre Annunziata (judge Fernanda Iannone) sentenced Ciro Amodio, Francesco Mosca, Luigi Auletta, Salvatore Libero, Catello Massa, Antonio Del Gaudio, Vincenzo Viola, Raffaele Auletta, Carolina Balzano and Diego Visone to six years of imprisonment each, while Luca Visco and Mario Acquaviva were sentenced to three years.

All the defendants will have to separately compensate the various entities that joined the civil action (including the Ministry of the Environment, the WWF, and the Punta Campanella Marine Protected Area ). The court also ordered the confiscation of the seized assets, including boats and fishing equipment.

This is the first trial resulting from the major investigation by the Torre Annunziata Prosecutor's Office (prosecutor Nunzio Fragliasso, former Oplonti deputy Pierpaolo Filippelli, substitute Antonio Barba) which at the end of July 2021 led the Port Authority of Castellammare to arrest 21 people with 113 suspects and over twenty well-known fishmongers in Naples and the province.

The alleged leaders of the organization, Giuseppe Viola, his brother Elpidio and Catello Avella are instead being tried separately with ordinary procedure.