The ski resort of Roccaraso is at the centre of a new and unusual phenomenon which sees the "merchants of faith“People from Campania, pretending to be members of the Civil Protection, offer passers-by sacred images and bracelets in exchange for an offering of 20 euros.
They entered commercial establishments offering small bags with the image of the Madonna and the words “Jubilee 2025”, accompanied by a bracelet, asking in exchange for the “modest” donation of 20 euros.
They were immediately identified by the Carabinieri who are investigating a suspicious flow of cash that affected Roccaraso in the last weekends. The objective is to verify whether there is a strategy to launder money of dubious origin.
The Public Prosecutor's Office of Naples, which first initiated the investigation, is working in close collaboration with the Abruzzo military.
In the meantime, the small town It was stormed by thousands of tourists, especially Neapolitans, who arrived on numerous buses. Police checks were intensified to ensure safety and compliance with the rules.
“We came here to ski. They can do whatever they want” - was the first comment of a Neapolitan tourist, referring to the Roccaraso model. Last Sunday there were 10 thousand presences in the entire Alto Sangro area.
However, since yesterday, the town has been transformed into a sort of open-air barracks. A large number of law enforcement forces, including carabinieri and police, constantly patrolled the territory, the internal roads, the “Ombrellone” area – a point of reference for tourists – and state road 17, the main point of loading and unloading of visitors.
While in the Oviondoli, the challenge launched by the tiktoker Rita De Crescenzo, which expected the arrival of numerous tourist buses, was not successful thanks to the mayor's order limiting access to a maximum of 35 buses.
Article published on 9 February 2025 - 12:48
