Caught at Genova the wanted Pasquale Bonavota, 49, included in the list of fugitives of maximum danger forming part of the «special research programme» of the Ministry of the Interior. The shutdown was triggered at the end of detailed investigations conducted by Ros and by the Carabinieri provincial commands of Vibo Valentia and Genoa. The suspect was wanted as the recipient of a precautionary custody order in prison issued, as part of the «Rinascita – Scott» del Ros investigation, by the Court of Catanzaro, as he was accused of mafia association with the role of promoter of the Bonavota gang falling within the `Ndrangheta di Sant’Onofrio area, in the province of Vibo Valentia. Bonavota was stopped after entering the cathedral of San Lorenzo. The carabinieri of the operations department, coordinated by Colonel Michele Lastella, from the Ligurian capitalthey followed him for a while and then, once inside the church, they arrested him. “Maybe I’m not the Pasquale you’re looking for, I was only here to say the rosary”. These are the words that the boss addressed to the carabinieri this morning, who had just intercepted him in the cathedral of San Lorenzo. Bonavota lived in an apartment in San Teodoro, had a document with a photo of him but made out to another person. In Genoa, for some time now, his wife has also been resident in the Sampierdarena district, who works regularly as a teacher.
The last fugitive from Operation Rebirth-Scott
Bonavota was the only suspect left on the run following the execution of the operation Rebirth – Scott which, on 19 December 2019, led to the arrest of 334 people believed to belong to the `Ndrangheta structures in the Vibonese province. The investigations were directed by the Prosecutor’s Office – District Anti-Mafia Directorate of Catanzaro, led by Nicola Gratteri.
Drug trafficking in Rome, Liguria and Piermonte
The capture program included Giovanni Motisi, 64, Renato Cinquegranella (73), Pasquale Bonavota (49) and Attilio Cubeddu (75). Bonavota had disappeared the day after the life sentence of the Catanzaro investigating judge at the end of the trial with abbreviated rite after the “Conquest” operation. It was November 28, 2018. Boss of the Calabrian ‘ndrina of Sant’Onofrio (Vibo Valentia), the youngest of the wanted, known as “Pasqualino”, son of the super boss Vincenzo, also escaped the maxi blitz “Rinascita-Scott” of the 2019. The Antimafia has also identified Rome among its interests, in particular for drug dealing, as well as Piedmont and Liguria. It is suspected by those who investigate to be the instigator of the murders of Domenico Belsito, Raffaele Cracolici and Alfredo Cracolici.
“Those who have drugs do what they want”
In October 2022, the District Anti-Mafia Directorate of Rome reported on the «Evolution of the gangs in the Capital» reported: «The boss Pasquale Bonavota, at the top of the operating clan since the early 2000s in the Capital, over the years has been able to impress important changes in his cosca, extending its business to Rome where its treasure was seized». The report traced the presence of Calabrian crime in the capital thanks also to the investigation called “Propaggine” in the summer of 2022, which highlighted relations with the Casamonicas. The report reporting the words of a collaborator of justice: «Those who have drugs in Rome do what they want and the Calabrians always have drugs. Sometimes there are conflicts, the Romans have squares here in Rome and the Calabrians supply them».
«What Calabria is and what it will become»
Another interception cited in the report and originating from the “Enclave” operation of February 2021, which highlights contacts between Calabrian clans and Colombian drug traffickers, reported beatings and various intimidations against a trafficker who was late delivering the goods already paid for; and a company used to launder illicit capital:«You remember: the world is divided in two, what is Calabria and what will become», a boss intercepted in the car prophesied to his son. Also
The evolved ‘Ndrangheta of cryptocurrencies
Bonavota’s connections extend as far as Hungary. With accomplices such as the businessman Giovanni Barone whom the Catanzaro public prosecutor’s office arrested a few weeks ago on charges of having put together a millionaire empire in cahoots with the gang headed by the fugitive Pasquale Bonavota, considered exponent of the “evolved ‘Ndrangheta”, as defined by the prosecutor of Catanzaro, Nicola Gratteri; the one that “positions itself at a higher level than article 416 bis” and which, starting from a small town in Calabria, “manages to have an international dimension”. THEn Hungary, say the papers of the investigation that brought 25 suspects into handcuffs, the gang had taken control of a credit institution for iinvest in cryptocurrencies and launder the dirty drug money from Aspromonte. A system that neutralizes any type of asset investigation. The ‘Ndrangheta bank had also planned to purchase an “indefinite quantity” of Venezuelan bolivar which was unsuccessful only due to a technical problem.