Rome - The Spada family, a Mafia clan that lorded over Rome's
seaside suburb of Ostia, has had more than 18 million euros (19.5
million dollars) in assets confiscated, Italian police said on
Wednesday.
They were stripped of bakeries, bars, petrol stations, gyms, dance
schools, gambling shops, car dealerships and other businesses, plus
more than a dozen vehicles.
The Spada had built up their business empire on profits from
extortion, loansharking and drug trafficking, the Guardia di Finanza
financial police said in a statement.
Rome Mayor Virginia Raggi, in a tweet, spoke of a "heavy blow for the
Spada clan" and thanked the Guardia di Finanza and Rome judges who
authorized the police sting.
One of the confiscated businesses was a boxing gym where a scion of
the Spada clan, Roberto, in 2017 assaulted a journalist from RAI
public television who had come to Ostia to report on his family.
Following the notorious incident, the Spada family was hit with a
wave of arrests and trials. In September, Roberto Spada and two of
his relatives were given a life sentence for Mafia association.
The Ostia area, where more than 200,000 people live, has long been
associated with organized crime. Its local government was suspended
during 2015-2017 for Mafia infiltration.