Investigation on Organized Crime Involving House Burglaries and Car Thefts in Italy

Association to commit crimes aimed at house burglaries, attempted robbery in homes, car thefts, handling stolen goods, forgery, and violation of special surveillance. These are the crimes charged to eight people reached this morning by a pre-trial detention order (three ended up in prison, five under house arrest) issued by the investigating judge of Bari, at the request of the Prosecutor's Office and executed by the carabinieri. The crimes would have been committed between the provinces of Bari and Barletta-Andria-Trani. Among the arrested, also Giovanni Cassano, stepbrother of the former footballer Antonio Cassano. The man, already detained for another reason in Taranto, would have been the leader of the gang of criminals. On TikTok, he publishes several videos under the pseudonym 'Giovanni u curt'.

The Investigation

The investigation originates from events reported in the months of November and December 2020 in the towns of Bari of Castellana Grotte and Conversano, the investigators have reconstructed how the suspects were skilled in acquiring information on the lifestyle and economic availability of the victims (also through stalking and ambushes) before attempting and carrying out the blows.

The criminal structure, according to the carabinieri, was 'inclined to the use of threats and violence to the person, with the sole purpose of appropriating large amounts of money and valuable objects that the victims kept inside the safes installed in their homes, shattered with the use of the oxyacetylene torch'.

The suspects also used high-displacement stolen cars, radio transceivers and frequency jammers, flexible and other cutting and burglary tools. According to what was reconstructed, the suspects used both keys stolen from the victims and those reproduced with the help of the owner of a hardware store in Bari, to whom were provided photos of the keys to be duplicated.

Thefts with Women's Wigs

But the association could also count on the complacent help of operators of a car registration agency in Triggiano (Bari), with which they illegally accessed the database for license plate inspection. The owner of the hardware store and the owner of the agency are under investigation without arrest. The suspects, during the thefts, 'usually wore women's wigs, caps, masks, and balaclavas', the carabinieri further write, 'making identification difficult'.