Italian mafia related murder investigations

Italian authorities have conducted arrests in two separate investigations involving murders allegedly carried out using mafia methods.

In the first case, a suspect was detained in connection with the April 2025 premeditated murder of Francesco Diviesti. This investigation, involving authorities in Bari and Andria, is being treated as a crime committed using mafia tactics. The suspect also faces charges for the illegal possession of firearms and the destruction and concealment of a corpse. This follows a May operation involving 15 individuals suspected of roles in the murder, attempted extortion, and international money laundering through a group based in Tirana.

In a separate investigation, Carabinieri arrested two individuals regarding the 2019 murder of livestock farmer Francesco Giuseppe Madera in Cosenza. Following an order from the Catanzaro District Anti-Mafia Directorate, the suspects were detained in the Campana and Prato areas. They face charges of premeditated murder aggravated by mafia-style methods, the use of insidious means, and the intent to favor a criminal organization.

Investigators believe the killing was a revenge plot stemming from a decade-old grievance, as Madera had previously served time for the 2009 killing of the brother of one of the suspects. According to the prosecution, the victim was lured into a trap under the guise of a weapon sale. Bolstered by testimony from a justice collaborator, the investigation suggests the victim was shot in the abdomen before being struck in the head with blunt objects. The crime reportedly involved members of organized crime operating in the Cassano allo Ionio area.