Prato – A wide-ranging investigation is shaking up the Prato prison, where the Public Prosecutor's Office has launched a complex investigation that aims to shed light on a dense network of illegality within the penitentiary facility.
Among the suspects are both penitentiary police officers and inmates. At the center of the accusations: corruption, drug trafficking and illicit entry of cell phones, even in the High Security units that house mafia inmates.
A network of illegality between agents and prisoners
According to what has emerged, there are four prison officers formally investigated for alleged corrupt conduct, while four others are under suspicion for anomalous contacts with cleaning staff. A total of 127 inmates were searched, and 27 of them are under investigation. Among them, some mafia bosses are said to have enjoyed freedom of movement despite the restrictions provided for in High Security.
The situation is considered so critical that it requires the intervention of 263 operators including penitentiary police, carabinieri, financial police and state police. 60 officers in riot gear were deployed to guard the facility.
Hidden Phones and Drugs in Cells: The Map of Illicit Activities
During the searches, five illegally held cell phones were found: three hidden inside a television in a cell in the AS section, one hidden in the telephone box and another thrown out of the window in a sock. Cavities dug into the walls and then covered with lime were also discovered. In the Medium Security section, blocks of hashish were discovered hidden in a cell and in a refrigerator.
The prosecutor: “Massive rate of illegality and critical conditions”
The picture outlined by Prato's chief prosecutor, Luca Tescaroli, is dramatic: "The Prato prison structure is marked by an apparently massive rate of illegality and serious structural deficiencies. Added to this is the chronic lack of personnel - with shortages of 47% for inspectors and over 56% for superintendents - and the absence of stable management figures, which compromises the overall management of the structure."
There is no shortage of health and social problems: two suicides in the second half of 2024, numerous inmates suffering from psychiatric pathologies and very few opportunities for re-education and work. “All this – Tescaroli underlines – seriously compromises the re-educational function of the sentence and the dignity of the inmates.”
A prison under siege
Investigations are made even more difficult by the freedom of movement of prisoners, the lack of suitable environments for wiretapping, and the inefficiency of control tools, such as parcel scanners, which are often found to be non-functional.
The Prato prison currently houses 596 inmates of 16 different nationalities: 285 Italians, followed by 102 Moroccans, 40 Albanians, 32 Chinese, 28 Tunisians, 20 Nigerians, 17 Romanians, 14 Pakistanis and 9 from Gambia.
An investigation that aims high
The investigation, which is supported by the Regional Investigative Unit of the Penitentiary Police, the GOM (the Mobile Operations Group for prisoners under the 41 bis regime), the Mobile Squad of the Prato Police Headquarters, the Carabinieri and the Guardia di Finanza, aims to dismantle a collusive system that would have transformed the prison into a breeding ground for illicit activities.
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Comments (1)
The investigation into the Prato prison is very serious and highlights serious problems. It is surprising to see how prisoners can have access to phones and drugs. The situation requires immediate attention and adequate measures to ensure safety.