AC Milan and Inter Ultras arrested for alleged organized crime

Hardcore supporters of AC Milan and Inter Milan were arrested on Monday for alleged organized crime offenses as part of an investigation into illegal profits made around matches and the infiltration of mafia gangs into so-called ‘ultras’ groups. Italy’s financial police said leading figures among the “ultra” groups have been arrested for “criminal conspiracy aggravated by mafia methods, extortion, assault and other serious crimes.” “The suspects are almost all members of the ultra groups of the Milan teams, while the crimes are related to income from football,” the financial police said in a statement.

A total of 19 people were arrested, including the two heads of Inter and Milan ultras, Renato Bosetti and Luca Lucci, after a long investigation that included two years of phone taps.

The alleged crimes involve activities around the San Siro Stadium on match days, from selling tickets to checking parking spaces, selling concession stands and taking payments from people without tickets and letting them into the stadium.

Bosetti’s predecessors as leaders of the Inter-ultras, Marco Ferdico and Andrea Beretta, were accused of allowing the Bellocco clan of the powerful ‘Ndrangheta mafia’ to be represented in the stands by a person who had already been convicted of mafia-related crimes’, Milan prosecutor Marcello. Viola said.

That representative was Antonio Bellocco, who, according to magistrate Domenico Santoro, was the only serious mafioso among those investigated and who was murdered by Beretta earlier this month.

Beretta, who himself has a lengthy criminal record, stabbed Bellocco to death during an altercation outside a boxing gym in a Milan suburb, reportedly after realizing his life was in danger.

Bellocco’s death was a shock due to his status within the ‘Ndrangheta, leading to Beretta’s family being placed under special surveillance by police for fear of violent reprisals.

Beretta played a leading role in the Curva Nord section of San Siro, home to Inter’s hardcore fans, after career criminal Vittorio Boiocchi was shot dead outside his home in October 2022.

Italian media widely reported at the time of his assassination at the age of 69 that Boiocchi had bragged in wiretapped conversations about earning 80,000 euros ($88,000) a month from his position as ultra leader.

Extortion and violence

However, Viola did not specify how much money the ultras of the two teams earned from their activities.

Asked by AFP at a press conference on Monday, Viola highlighted just one unnamed businessman who managed a parking garage and was extorted for 4,000 euros a month.

Milan’s ultras are not accused of mafia-related crimes, Viola added, “even though there were a series of attempts, which never led to agreements, with people close to organized crime.”

Police said no drug offenses appear in the charging documents, although several of those arrested, including Lucci, have previous convictions for narcotics trafficking.

But leading Milanese ultras, who also started working as bodyguards, are also accused of extorting nightclubs in Sardinia.

Viola told reporters that neither Inter, nor Milan, nor anyone from the management of the two clubs, are being investigated by authorities who believe that the two clubs have suffered damage from the alleged criminal behavior of those arrested.

“It would be wrong to say that all ultras are criminals, but it is clear for everyone to see that a significant part of the ultras world is involved in criminal activities,” said Giovanni Melillo, head of Italy’s anti-mafia and anti-terrorism organization. authority.

Inter will take on Red Star Belgrade in the Champions League at San Siro on Tuesday evening, a match that fans of the Serbian club cannot attend for fear of violence.

Coach Simone Inzaghi told reporters at the pre-match press conference that “the club has told us not to say anything because an investigation is underway”.

Santoro said Ferdico had contacted Inzaghi, with widespread reports of phone taps saying the latter was pressuring the former Italy striker to ask the club for more tickets for the 2023 Champions League final, which Inter lost to Manchester City.

Clashes between fans have already marred several matches involving clubs in Italy’s top division, Serie A, with serious disturbances between Genoa and Sampdoria fans before and after their local derby in the Italian Cup last week.

Genoa had to face Juventus behind closed doors on Saturday after local derby violence that left dozens of fans and police injured, while Samp fans were not allowed to travel to their 3-1 Serie B victory in Modena.

(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)