European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - July 3, 1988, Darmstadt, Hesse A file photo ruthlessly ambitious Young men have begun to replace folkloric dons in baggy pants and hit men still take their toll. Italy is ill equipped to protect informers and families from mafia vengeance. Hammerlock trials alone Are not enough Baymor Rosenblum associated press he sicilian mafia far from beaten by mass arrests is diversifying its drug operations and reverting to lucrative extortion and kidnapping italian officials in Palermo say. Pressure on the mafia has Cut its share of the american heroin Market from one third Down to barely 10 percent . Officials say but sales have been channelled instead to Western Europe. Mafia wholesalers Are pushing cocaine into new european markets. They Exchange heroin directly for colombian cocaine eliminating the Cash transfers that make them vulnerable. A defector has implicated two recent Cabinet ministers echoing others statements that senior political figures protect the mafia but police say they have no proof to move against politicians. Trials alone Are not enough said Giusto Sciacchitano a senior prosecutor interviewed in the Concrete Bunker where a team of magistrates piece together evidence for continuing under new Laws italian authorities have seized $200 million in suspect earnings since 1982. In december 338 mafiosi were Given 2,665 years of sentences after the first Maxi trial. In april a joint .-italian operation disrupted the pizza connection which markets mafia heroin in America. Police arrested Emanuele Adamita a fugitive sicilian drug lord and 101 Public fear official corruption Lack of evidence foreign refuges and Italy s Legal system were All obstacles Sciacchitano said. The mafia is very hard to beat. Very after the Maxi trial verdicts were delivered hit men on a motor Scooter murdered Giuseppe Insalaco a former Palermo mayor who fought corruption As he sat at the wheel of his car in Rush hour traffic. In Italy prosecutors cannot plea bargain nor can police infiltrate. requires that All crimes be punished even when committed by undercover officers or state s witnesses As part of an investigation. Italy is ill equipped to protect informers and their families from mafia vengeance. Tommaso Buscetta the mafia Boss informer behind the first Maxi trials took Refuge in the United states. Buscetta helped convict Vito Ciancimino sex mayor of Palermo but Sciacchitano said politicians were difficult to put on trial. A parliamentary committee linked Ciancimino to the mafia in 1976. The mafia has always been at the edges of Power said Attilio Bolzoni a journalist who was arrested recently after reporting on an informer s confession that named two ministers. He was held six Days then released. . Authorities say privately that although Italy has scored important victories Little will change if Public officials close to the mafia were not rooted out. Apart from outright graft diplomats say some politicians court the vital sicilian vote by going easy on the Issue. Italian authorities Are divided on How far the mafia reaches into the state. Giuseppe Grassi director of the anti crime department of Italy s National police Force said we have no evidence. Of course there is some official corruption. That is Normal. But politicians belonging to the mafia i Don t think Grassi contends that with uncounted billions of dollars in drug Revenue with sanctuaries provided by latin american governments the mafia no longer needs political Protection. Authorities have arrested 4,100 suspected mafiosi since 1982, he said. But they can replace them overnight in Sicily with All its unemployment and poverty he added. For Many sicilians going after the mafia is tantamount to trying to suppress the weather. Hah snorted an entrepreneur named Napoli when asked if the mafia had been weakened. He drove his questioner by the Leafy Piazza where Joe Petrosino a Page 16 the stars and stripes sunday july 3,1988
