A HIT IN THE FAMILY: 19-year-old female Mafia cousin shot dead in Italian nightclub – Authorities suspect settling of scores between rival Mafia clans | The Gateway Pundit

The blood feud between criminal gangs in Italy’s Puglia region spares no family members, not even women and children.

A young woman was shot dead in a nightclub. Authorities believe the cause of death was a war between two mafia families.

The Telegraaf reported:

“Antonia Lopez, 19, the niece of a murdered gangster, was gunned down in the early hours of Sunday morning at the Bahia Beach nightclub in the historic town of Molfetta.

It is believed that Lopez’s murder was the result of a fierce feud or settling of scores between rival clans involved in drug trafficking, extortion and other crimes in Puglia.”

Yesterday (23), 21-year-old Michele Lavopa was arrested by the Carabinieri as a suspect in the shooting and remanded in custody.

Lopez, the victim, had no criminal history herself, but she did have ties to one of the largest crime families in the region.

“One of her uncles, Ivan Lopez, was murdered three years ago, shot dead near his home in the nearby port of Bari as he rode a scooter. Another uncle, Francesco Lopez, became a ‘pentito’ or turncoat, and collaborated with the police and investigators.”

The Lopez brothers are members of the Strisciuglio clan, which happens to be at war with the rival Parisi-Palermiti crew.

And here’s where the story gets strange, because four other young people were injured in the shooting, including Eugenio Palermiti, an alleged member of the Palermiti clan.

So what does a Strisciuglio woman do with a Palermiti ‘soldier’? Was there a Romeo and Juliet-esque affair going on between sworn enemies? Or was it the old adage ‘Keep your friends close, but your enemies closer’?

And it wasn’t just any gang member: Palermiti’s father is serving a life sentence for murder, and his grandfather is said to have long been the gang’s leader.

Italian authorities fear an escalation of the conflict, with revenge sought for Lopez’s murder. A specialized anti-mafia unit is investigating the killing.

“Michele Emiliano, the governor of Puglia, said: ‘This is yet another clash between criminal gangs fighting for control of nightclubs and drug trafficking’.

Michele Picaro, a member of the European Parliament from the region, said: “We have reached the point where people’s safety is seriously compromised, even in places of entertainment and relaxation. Our cities must not fall into the hands of criminal gangs.”

Puglia’s mafia gangs once made their money from the relatively innocent smuggling of cigarettes from Albania, but now they have moved into drug trafficking and are investing the proceeds in legitimate businesses in the region.

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