Swiss Attorney General Stefan Blättler and Italian anti-mafia prosecutor Giovanni Melillo have agreed to strengthen cooperation to fight mafia activity, which is on the rise in Switzerland.
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Suíça e Itália intensificarão a cooperação antimáfia
Meeting for the first time in Bern on Tuesday, they decided to establish a permanent exchange of information between the two countries’ judicial systems. From now on, the two men will also meet at least twice a year.
In its 2021 annual report, the Swiss federal police noted that Italian mafias have a strong presence in Switzerland. “From the crime analyses we have, we know not only that mafia phenomena exist in Switzerland, but that they are on the rise,” said Blättler, who took over as Attorney General at the start of this year, saying fighting economic crime would be one of his priorities.
“We are very concerned about the growing ramification of the ‘Ndrangeta [Calabrian mafia] throughout Switzerland,” Melillo told Swiss public broadcaster RTS. “The goal of mafia organisations is to transform violence into material wealth, that’s why they come to Switzerland.”
Mafia organisations are now present in all regions of Switzerland, according to the federal police. Some arrests have been made in recent years, but convictions of mafia members are rare. “What we need to do now is start more concrete investigations,” said Blättler.
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