The centre-left Democratic Party
(PD) on Tuesday called for a Senate candidate for the
anti-establishment 5-Star Movement (M5S) to quit the March 4
election race after unearthing a photo of him dancing with a
member of the Spada crime family in the Roman coastal district
of Ostia.
"'Dancing with...Spadas', paraphrasing Kevin Costner's famous
film, that seems to be one of the favourite pastimes of some of
the M5S members in ostia," said PD Lazio region councillor
Eugenio Patané on Facebook, posting a clip of M5S Senate
candidate Emanuele Dessì dancing with Domenico Spada.
A PD Senator, Claudio Moscardelli, said "the 5-Star candidate
shows at the very least that he is unfit and dangerous for
citizens, in behaving so recklessly.
"He would do well to withdraw his candidacy".
Moscardelli added: "Those who would like to govern Italy and
Lazio cry 'honesty' but frequent people who are embarrassing to
say the least".
PD MP Marco Miccoli said: "The righthand man of (M5S Lazio
governor candidate) Roberta Lombardi, Emanuele Dessì, has a
video shot showing backing for his Senate bid from Domenico
Spada, aka Volcano, condemned for loan sharking and who is even
banned from residing in Rome".
The Spada clan, who are of Roma origin, have long ruled the
underworld in Ostia, Rome's ancient port and now a popular beach
resort.
Last Thursday police and Carabinieri officers in Ostia
arrested 32 people including the alleged chief of the Spada
mafia clan.
The suspects included his brother Roberto Spada, who was
previously arrested late last year for the November 7 attack in
Ostia on RAI TV journalist Daniele Piervincenzi in which he
headbutted the reporter and broke his nose.
The suspects face charges of mafia criminal association.
Police said Roberto and his brother Carmine, the clan boss,
ordered the murders of rival bosses Giovanni Galleoni and
Francesco Antonini, which were carried out in 2011.
These murders "marked the definitive rise of the Spada clan",
police said.
The preliminary-investigations judge who signed the arrest
warrants, Simonetta D'Alessandro, said a decade-long probe
"highlighted the deep penetration of organized crime in the
economic activities of the coast".
The mafia association attributed to the Spadas "has caused a
significant degradation of the territory, enabling the
proliferation of very serious crimes", she wrote in the arrest
orders.
The Spadas have been investigated on charges including drug
trafficking, loan-sharking, gambling, social housing scams, and
for clashing with a rival clan over control of the Ostia area.
In one wiretap, a victim of extortion described how Carmine
aka Romoletto Spada came to his restaurant with a flame-thrower
saying "this isn't threatening you, it's going to kill you".
Another victim said "these people aren't going to stop at
anything, and if Romolo (Carmine) doesn't get the money he'll
kill us all".
photo: the January 25 arrest of Carmine 'Romoletto' Spada in
Ostia
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