Kidnappings for ransom, torture of the kidnapped, and firebombs planted in their cars or near their relatives' homes. The Carabinieri, in an investigation coordinated by the Rome Anti-Mafia Directorate (DDA), have dismantled a criminal group that for months had sown terror along the Roman coast and surrounding areas.
Six precautionary measures are being executed by the Investigative Unit of the Ostia Group, following an order from the Rome investigating judge: three men in prison, one woman placed under house arrest with an electronic bracelet, and two other alleged accomplices required to report to the police daily.
The crimes charged to the suspects, to varying degrees, include kidnapping for the purpose of extortion, aggravated extortion involving the use of weapons and multiple parties, and attempted extortion.
According to the investigation, the spiral of extreme violence was triggered by the disappearance of a bag—originally entrusted to the custody of some of the victims—which, according to the suspects' claims, contained cash and luxury watches with an estimated value of over a million euros, likely of illicit origin.
Specifically, investigations by the prosecutor's office and the Carabinieri have documented four kidnappings for extortion purposes (and one attempted kidnapping) that occurred between July and November 2025. The victims were subjected to severe torture, being forcibly picked up from the streets, locked inside apartments or ruined buildings, and tied up and subjected to threats and brutal violence in order to obtain information useful for recovering the contents of the bag. The threats and torture, in particular, were perpetrated using firearms, shears, hammers, baseball bats, rubber batons, and burning materials.
For the same purpose, the group has carried out attacks: from placing firecrackers on car windshields or near the homes of relatives of kidnapped victims, to damaging and setting fire to a car that completely destroyed it on the night of November 30, 2025.
The success of the operation, emphasized a statement from the Rome Provincial Command, is the result of "high-level investigative work conducted by the Carabinieri of Ostia, who operated effectively despite the climate of profound silence and terror surrounding the victims, some of whom were forced to flee during the night to other regions of Italy to cover their tracks."
(Unioneonline)
