A pair of amateur boxing brothers detained in the murder of a 21-year-old Italian-Cape Verdian man in a street fight near Rome in September were among six people arrested in an anti-drugs operation in the Castelli Romani on Wedneday.
The Bianchi brothers, experts in mixed martial arts, allegedly killed cook Willy DuarteMontero because he stepped in to help a friend in a scuffle at Colleferro on September 6.
Police said they have now uncovered a drugs network spanning the towns of Velletri, Lariano, Artena and other places, where the Bianchis and others allegedly operated.
The Bianchis were allegedly gang leaders but also provided muscle to threaten those behind with drug payments to cough up or face beatings, police said.
The brothers coordinated the gang's activities, police said.
The pair had not other sources of income than drugs, police said, and they did not declare any income.
Other members of the alleged gang were also martial arts practitioners and had taken part in national contests, police said.
The gang used code words for drugs including 'coffee', 'T-shirts', 'aperitifs', 'keys' and 'Gomorra CDs', police said.
The gang set up drops in various times and places to deliver the drugs and get payments, police said.
With the proceeds of the alleged racket the gang members bought powerful cars, designer clothing and expensive watches, police said, which they sported in the open-air night-life scene ('movida') in the Castelli Romani, police said.
On October 8 President Sergio Mattarella awarded one of Italy's top honours, the gold medal, posthumously to Duarter and another person also recently killed while trying to help others, 51-year-old priest Father Roberto Malgesini.
Duarte was beaten to death at Colleferro, near Rome, after trying to defend a friend who was being attacked.
Malgesini, who worked to help the poor and marginalised, was stabbed to death in central Como by a homeless migrant with mental-health problems.
Duarte's brutal alleged murder sparked calls for police to crack down on street violence, after a spate of other episodes.
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED © Copyright ANSA
