Overview
- The Guardia di Finanza announced on Thursday that investigators seized over €200 million in assets tied to the late Matteo Messina Denaro, recovering funds prosecutors say came from decades of drug trafficking.
- Seizures and account freezes were executed across multiple jurisdictions, including Spain, Switzerland, Monaco, Luxembourg, Andorra, Gibraltar, the Cayman Islands and Lebanon, as well as locations in Italy.
- The probe traced money laundered through at least eight foreign companies and identified 22 high‑end properties on Spain's Costa del Sol as part of a broader web of investments and bank holdings.
- Three people were arrested in the operation after investigators used aerial surveillance, drones and thermal scanners to detect concealed spaces and follow financial flows tied to the network.
- Officials say the move is meant to recover illicit proceeds and to weaken Cosa Nostra's ability to rebuild after Messina Denaro's 2023 arrest and death, continuing a longer Italian strategy of hitting criminal groups through their finances.