Naples – To avoid being intercepted, they communicated through the PlayStation chat. This is the trick discovered by the Carabinieri of the Investigative Unit of Napoli as part of the investigations into the Troncone and Frizziero clans, already at the centre of a dense network of criminal activities and today hit by new accusations and precautionary measures issued by the investigating judge at the request of the District Anti-Mafia Directorate (PM Prisco, additional prosecutor Amato).
The background story dates back to May 15, 2020, but it only emerged recently, during a prison interrogation of Vitale Troncone, believed to be the head of the clan of the same name, and his son Giuseppe, both recipients of the new ordinances. In an intercepted conversation, Giuseppe tells his father that he had just chatted via PlayStation with Mariano Frizziero, a leading figure of the other clan involved.
To hide their real identities, Frizziero was codenamed “Aunt Maria”. Vitale asks his son to put him in touch with “Aunt Maria” and Giuseppe immediately tries to activate the conversation, but the other user is offline.
The channel used is the internal one of an online multiplayer video game, which allows players to communicate in real time within the same team. A mode designed to exchange game tips, but which the clans had transformed into a secure channel to transmit "embassies", or confidential messages between affiliates.
Subsequent investigations confirmed that video game chats were used for the most sensitive communications, taking advantage of the fact that they are more difficult to intercept than traditional channels. A strategy that, at least for a while, worked. Until the Carabinieri discovered its use.
Article published on 15 April 2025 - 15:33
