Italian Mafia Boss Salvatore De Santis Placed Under 41-bis Regime as Calls Grow to Reform the Measure

Justice Minister Carlo Nordio signed a decree placing 49‑year‑old Salvatore De Santis, known as “’o Buttafuori”, under the special 41‑bis prison regime. The decision follows an investigation that uncovered a smuggled mobile phone used to maintain contacts with the outside, and his participation in a violent assault inside Voghera prison alongside Antonio Zaccariello and other inmates. Police intervened to restore order, and the decree also references De Santis’s alleged rise within the Picca‑De Martino clan during his time free.

Legal scholars and anti‑mafia officials argue that the original 41‑bis framework, created by Giovanni Falcone three decades ago, no longer matches the tactics of “new mafias” that employ cyber‑crime, encrypted communications and cryptocurrency. They propose modernising the regime with signal‑jamming technology, enhanced financial monitoring, and extending restrictions to financial intermediaries linked to organised crime, while safeguarding constitutional rights.