A Catholic monk arrested by Italian police for delivering mafia messages to prisoners

A Catholic monk was arrested by Italian police on Thursday for delivering mafia messages to prisoners, police said in a news release.

Sister Anna Donelli worked several times as a liaison between the Mafia group and the prisoners, according to Italian media. The gang used “the support of trusted and unsuspecting people,” a police statement said, and persuaded the monk to use a “spiritual assignment” where he had free access to prisons and inmates to deliver messages.

The Brescia Public Prosecutor’s Office launched an extensive investigation in September 2020 that led to the arrest of Donelli and 24 others. The police also arrested on Thursday citizens in the provinces of Brescia, Milan, Reggio Calabria, Como, Lecco, Varese, Viterbo and Spain.

During the big campaign, the police confiscated more than 1,800,000 euros and arrested two politicians. Police did not release the names of the politicians but said their arrests show ongoing links between the powerful mafia and elected officials.

The police said the suspects were involved in mafia activities such as extortion, arms and drug trafficking, receiving stolen goods, bribery and electoral fraud. The suspects were linked to a criminal organization of ‘ndrangheta origins, originating from Sant’Eufemia d’Aspromonte (RC), based for years in the province of Brescia and linked to the “Alvaro” group.

Italian authorities have worked to dismantle mafia operations for decades – usually scratching the area of the seemingly endless flow of mafia activity within the country. Last year Italian courts convicted 207 people and sentenced them to a combined 2,100 years for crimes related to their membership in Italy. ‘ndrangheta organized crime syndicate.

In March Italy decided expanding the controversial program removing children from their mafia families to break the cycle of criminal behavior that is passed on to new generations.