Police in Rome has begun the demolition of eight illegal luxury homes built by an alleged mafia clan renowned for its violence and gaudy lifestyle, as Interior Minister Matteo Salvini swore to knock down ‘every last villa belonging to these damn people’
por hanneloresimonds | Oct 7, 2020 | Business::Home Based Business |
Police in Rome has begun the demolition of eight illegal luxury homes built by an alleged mafia clan renowned for its violence and gaudy lifestyle, as Interior Minister Matteo Salvini swore to knock down ‘every last villa belonging to these damn people’.
More than 600 officers kicked 30 members of the Casamonica Mafia clan out of their illegal abodes in a Tuesday dawn raid, and today many of those evicted were at the scene crying foul, claiming they had not been allowed to fetch their belongings.
Authorities showed no mercy as bulldozers tore walls apart and destroyed walls and garden fences in the Quadraro district of southeast Rome.
It’s going down: A police officer watches the start of the demolition of the eight illegal villas belonging to Clan Casamonica in the Quadraro district, Rome
Destruction: After months of planning the raid on the illegally built homes, the demolition began Wednesday
Bulldozers tore walls apart and destroyed walls and garden fences in the Quadraro district of southeast Rome
The demolitions were hailed by Mr Salvini, whose far-right League is vehemently anti-immigrant and who has courted controversy with his plans to carry out a census of Italy’s Roma population.
‘I’m not going to stop until we’ve knocked down every last villa belonging to these damn people,’ he said.
‘Today the demolition has begun of the first two villas,’ said Mayor Raggi, as police removed the last bits of furniture from the opulent houses, decorated with gold-plated animal statues, chandeliers and imitation frescoes.
‘All eight villas will be knocked down. We will not stop until we have returned this territory to the citizens of Rome,’ she said.
Police officers, local authorities and journalists were in attendance as the demolition project began today
Tacky: A kitchen with gold details is seen in one of the homes of the Casamonica crime family, known for their gaudy and extravagant taste in interior design, favouring gold and marble
Abandoned: A gilded cot stands next to a ‘normal’ one in the villas – both left behind by the crime family
Crime palace: One of the bedrooms has been abandoned during yesterday’s dawn raid
A police officer records on his mobile phone as a wall of an orange house is brought down
The Mayor of Rome Virginia Raggi attends the first day of demolition on Wednesday, having promised the homes would be gone before the start of 2019
As the walls toppled there were shouts of fury from members of the Casamonica, which has ethnic Romani-Sinti roots and reportedly runs drugs, fraud and extortion rings in Rome.
Some residents sat on the ground with their heads in their hands as the bulldozers got to work, while others shouted that they were being persecuted like the Jews under Italian dictator Benito Mussolini.
Those evicted claimed they had been given no warning and had nowhere to take their children. A lawyer for the Casamonicas told Italian media he would be challenging the demolition order.
The gang are known for their gaudy extravagance, decorating their houses like film sets in gold and marble, and wearing Rolex watches as their trademark.
They are proud of their gypsy roots and according to thestood up against the ruling nationalist party in June after they said they wanted to take a census of the Romani population.
The operation on the east side of the Italian capital was ten months in the making and involved hundreds of officers
Hole in the wall: One of the one-level brick homes, painted yellow, is turned into rocks, planks and dust
Before the bang: Officers check the area where the Casamonica clan had built their illegal luxury villas, before the demolition began on Wendesday
Personal belongings can be seen still inside the houses as the demolition began today
A police officer walks between the homes before the bulldozers arrived on Wednesday
The families appear to have either left their ornate gold decorations behind – or been forced to during the raid
A rearing golden stallion sits atop a porcelain base in the dining area – the family originally made their money in the horse trade in the 1960s before criminal diversification and muscling into Rome from the countryside
An elaborate glass chandelier hangs from a ceiling painted like the heavens, in a pale imitation of Michelangelo’s High-Renaissance works at the Sistine Chapel
Two leopards made from porcelain show their teeth beneath a window shrouded with heavy golden curtains, with a large stereo sitting in the fireplace
A golden bathroom featuring sinks on marble counters before a huge mirror, heavy golden curtains over the window, luscious roses in a deep vase and even a toilet seat wrapped in gold linen
An officer takes a photograph of a mirror within an archway, with Romanesque columns propping up a table with family photos and a porcelain tiger sitting below, as ginormous oriental vases flank the set-up
Mayor Raggi said: ‘Today is an historic day for the city of Rome and for Romans.’
She is a member of the anti-establishment 5-Star Movement who has been criticised for not doing more to clean up the Italian capital.
‘We are putting an end to years of illegality and are sending a strong statement to the Casamonica clan,’ she said.
The family were forced out of their homes bedraggled in the harsh winter morning as armed police trudged through the marble floors of their villas.
A large golden stallion in one room, with Persian carpets in another, golden curtains in the bathroom; and colossal vases and porcelain tigers throughout the hallways typify the Casamonica’s cinematic taste.
After years of operating in the shadows, the family came to public attention with a melodramatic funeral for one of its don’s, which included an orchestra playing The Godfather theme music, in 2015.
The police tear into the master bathroom, featuring a luxurious Jacuzzi bath, green marbled counter tops and golden taps
Police officers make their way through the huge villa, a chandelier can be seen above the living room through a Romanesque archway, as bottles of white wine sit on the kitchen table
The police inside one of the villas, with a gold-leafed Greco-Roman border decking the ceiling, as a chandelier lights the golden room with a cabinet full of crystal glass
One of the bedrooms, with a large flat screen TV, an Apple laptop on the bed, and lacquered furnishings to appear like marble
A dining area and kitchen, with cabinets full of glass, a bouquet in the corner on top of a column and a Persian rug on the black marble floor
A bedraggled resident opens the front door to a crowd of cameras and cops, as he gets a rude awakening at the crack of dawn
The don’s coffin was pulled in by six black stallions, as a helicopter dropped rose petals on mourners and posters reading, ‘You have conquered Rome, now conquer paradise,’ were strung over balustrades.
Some have compared their homes to the set design in TV series, Gomorrah, which tells the story of the Mafia in Naples and is based on the Camorra crime family.
The crime boss in the TV show has a similar penchant for gold and animal statues and furthermore, the real-life Camorra family is known to have had links with the Casamonicas.
The Casamonica family has been associated with crime in the south-eastern quarters of Rome for several decades, but the high profile funeral sparked a fierce backlash with politicians demanding a comprehensive legal assault on the clan.
In this picture from the hit Sky Italia series, the Don’s son sits beside an all gold jaguar statue, a style which is echoed in the Casamonica villas
A photo from the TV series Gomorrah which tells the story of Pietro Savastano’s Mafia clan in Naples, the don is played by played by Fortunato Cerlino (pictured) and he has a similar penchant for gold decor like the Casamonica family
Another angle of the dining area shows the signature golden drapery on the windows and a ceiling decorated with the Medusa head of Greek mythology, or perhaps a nod to designer brand Versace
A crowbar is used in the dawn raids on one of the Roman villas targeted by a massive police operation on Tuesday morning
Gilded decorations can be seen on the wall, as well as on a plush sofa within the large wooden doors adorned with a brass lion head knocker
The weather station is showing on the large screen in one of the golden rooms, however they were not expecting to be forced out into the cold this morning
Mayor of Rome, Virginia Raggi, joined the police and said: ‘Today is an historic day for the city of Rome and for Romans’
A Roman police officer takes photos of the extravagant decorations outside one of the villas for evidence
A resident is surrounded by police officers outside one of the Casamonica villas this morning, where men, women and children were turfed out
A resident is taken away from one of the colossal villas, as he carries a bag full of his belongings, surrounded by officers
Another resident struggles with her belongings as the Mafiosos are surrounded by police and media crews
In July, 33 members of the group were arrested in raids on extravagant homes filled with gilded mirrors, marbled sculptures of animals and regal furniture.
A total of 11 women and 22 men were arrested including an alleged chief of the outfit.
Their absurd homes were filled with expensive goods – including a life-size marble leopard – in gaudy settings with gilded and marble furniture.
Instagram pictures emerged of one of those arrested in July, Ottavio Spada, who posed with bottles of Champagne and diamond encrusted jewellery.
Debora Cerreoni, the wife of one of the alleged senior mobsters, Massimiliano Casamonica, turned supergrass to give vital information to police.
She told them that the Rolex is the gang’s favourite type of watch, their symbol.
Horses are a common motif for the Casamonica crime syndicate – they catapulted to global fame in 2015 when their don’s coffin was pulled into his funeral by six black stallions, while The Godfather’s theme music was played by an orchestra
A police officer stands in the large dining area of the house, which includes a large corner sofa, with a picture of the New York skyline showing on the wall
Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini, who heads the far-right League party joined in the operation as he vowed to demolish the villas, saying, ‘The party is over’
Roman police take footage and pictures of one of the villas’ interiors – fine china can be seen in a white cabinet which is dazzled in generous lighting fixtures on the ceiling
A heavily armed officer stands in the dining area which has a black marble floor and features a huge flat screen TV framed by a golden border – a common theme throughout the house
A woman evicted from her home is bundled out in a blanket along with a boy in pyjamas into the cold morning light
A police officer surveys the typical aesthetic of the Casamonica crime family, which incorporates neo-Classical elements and Hollywood portrayals of the Sicilian Mafia
The gang are infamous for terrifying anyone they encounter to ensure nobody testifies against them.
‘They are animals who chop people up,’ one police witness said.
An Italian comedian became one of their victims, after he allegedly handed over 600,000 euros to repay a 10,000 euro loan.
The summer raids turned up 50,000 euros in cash, current accounts, cars and dozens of luxury watches.
Anti-mafia prosecutor Michele Prestipino said: ‘They didn’t need to use violence, the Casamonica name was enough.’
Further intelligence led police to storm these eight homes in the early hours of Tuesday morning.
Raggi said some of the villas confiscated on Tuesday had been built in areas of archaeological interest.
‘Some houses had even incorporated whole features of the historic Felice Aqueduct,’ she said, referring to a 16th century city waterway.
She accused the Casamonicas of replacing public authorities in the area and of ‘terrorising’ honest Romans.
In previous raids, cops arrested 39 Casamonica members in 2012 but that failed to make an impact due to the widespread structure of their powerful network.
As part of another raid in 2010, they seized 10 million euros-worth in assets from luxury cars, properties, land and bank accounts.
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