The men, originally from Rome, tried to profit from the Olympics by exercising mafia-like control over the drug trade and nightlife in the Alpine resort of Cortina, which is co-hosting the Winter Games with Milan from February 6 to 22.
The arrested men are said to have posed as high-ranking members of the Roman underworld and flaunted their friendship with the late leader of the “Irriducibili”, Fabrizio Piscitelli, who was shot dead in a park in Rome in 2019. “Irriducibili” loosely translated means “diehards”.
Dragged into Bos, beaten up and held at gunpoint
The brothers terrorized business rivals in Cortina, prosecutors said. For example, a nightclub owner was dragged into the woods, beaten up and held at gunpoint. A man who owed them drug money was locked in a trunk and threatened with death.
In 2022, they approached a member of the Cortina city council and offered election support, but the politician did not accept it. Later they asked for Olympic contracts with a threatening message, prosecutors report.
The brothers are accused of extortion, aggravated by ‘mafia-like’ methods. Five other suspects faced the same charges but were not arrested.