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Foggia Anti-Mafia Raids Target Suspects in Killings and Business Extortion

The sweep signals a push to blunt the Foggia mafia’s grip by pairing homicide arrests with restraints on an extortion network.

Overview

  • Police carried out 21 precautionary measures that combined three arrests tied to murders and attempted murders with 18 orders targeting an alleged extortion ring against local entrepreneurs.
  • Two alleged Gargano mafia figures were arrested over the 2017 double murder of Nicola Ferrelli and Antonio Petrella in Apricena.
  • Investigators arrested Giuseppe Robustella, 43, on suspicion of killing Stefano Bruno and trying to kill his father Pasquale and brother Saverio on April 29 on the outskirts of Foggia.
  • The extortion case covers at least 14 episodes that hit more than ten business owners in energy and farming, with payments scaled to each firm’s means and one €20,000 demand sent from prison through social media.
  • Prosecutors in Bari and Foggia led the operation under national oversight, with investigators saying proceeds flowed to the Moretti-Pellegrino and Sinesi-Francavilla crews and a briefing set in Foggia with national anti-mafia chief Giovanni Melillo.