DIA Operation in Lombardy: Repeat Offender Arrested, Four Companies Seized

The Anti-Mafia Investigation Directorate carried out an operation in Lombardy, arresting a 53-year-old man of Calabrian origin and seizing assets worth over 5.5 million euros. The man, Pietro Paolo Portolesi, previously convicted for drug trafficking and mafia association, is considered seriously suspected of fraudulent transfer of assets and valuables.

Four business complexes were seized, with annual revenues exceeding 8 million euros in the last year, along with movable and immovable assets and bank accounts. According to the investigation, the man was part of a 'ndrangheta clan based in Volpiano, in the Turin area, and was considered the "factotum" of an alleged drug trafficking boss.

Investigative activities revealed that Portolesi, using frontmen including even his daughter, managed to operate as a subcontractor by circumventing anti-mafia regulations, infiltrating major construction sites such as the Novara Bypass and remediation works in Buccinasco. One of his seized companies, Legnano Ecoter, was also a disposal site for rubble from the construction site of the Olympic Village in the Porta Romana railway yard area in Milan.

The presence of mafia organizations in Northern Italy, particularly the Calabrian 'ndrangheta, is a phenomenon that has been established for decades. These clans have infiltrated the legal economy, especially in the public procurement and major infrastructure sectors, exploiting their ability to control territory and intimidate. Anti-mafia legislation, created to prevent individuals convicted of mafia-related crimes from participating in public tenders, is often circumvented through the use of frontmen and formally "clean" companies.

Investigations typically start from territorial monitoring activities and the analysis of suspicious financial flows. In this specific case, the investigations were coordinated by the local District Anti-Mafia Directorate and prosecutor Silvia Bonardi, resulting in a precautionary measure of over 140 pages. The operation demonstrates how mafia clans seek to infiltrate strategic economic sectors, exploiting the cover of companies regularly listed in "white lists" and thus apparently authorized to operate in the public procurement supply chain.

This case fits into the broader context of the fight against mafia infiltration in the North, where criminal organizations have progressively shifted their interests from traditional activities (extortion, drug trafficking) toward controlling high-yield legal sectors, such as demolitions, remediation, and major infrastructure projects, often using money laundering to acquire operational companies.