Italian Doctor Detained over Ties to the Cosa Nostra and Drug Deals

News

Italian police detained a high-profile surgeon from Palermo and his son over their alleged links to the Sicilian Mafia and attempts to smuggle drugs from South America to Europe with the help of an Albanian man and an Alitalia flight attendant.

Related Articles

Calls for Anti-Corruption in Ukraine’s Post-War Rebuild
As Ukraine looks toward recovery from the ongoing conflict, international partners and reform advocates call for embedding anti-corruption measures in post-war restoration efforts.
Mining Crimes Pose a Challenge for Law Enforcement, Experts Say
A recent report found that only one in three of environmental crime cases in the Amazon produced a parallel financial crime investigation from authorities.
Kyrgyz Elite Targeted as Japarov Allies Gain Key Assets
After the killing of crime boss Kamchy Kolbaev, Kyrgyz authorities have intensified their crackdown on prominent business figures suspected of financing organized crime. But is it justice—or something else?
Calls for Anti-Corruption in Ukraine’s Post-War Rebuild
As Ukraine looks toward recovery from the ongoing conflict, international partners and reform advocates call for embedding anti-corruption measures in post-war restoration efforts.
Mining Crimes Pose a Challenge for Law Enforcement, Experts Say
A recent report found that only one in three of environmental crime cases in the Amazon produced a parallel financial crime investigation from authorities.
Kyrgyz Elite Targeted as Japarov Allies Gain Key Assets
After the killing of crime boss Kamchy Kolbaev, Kyrgyz authorities have intensified their crackdown on prominent business figures suspected of financing organized crime. But is it justice—or something else?

Reported by

Vinicius Madureira
February 20th, 2022
Drugs Health Threatened Journalists
Italy, Netherlands, Togo

Giuseppe Guttadauro, 73, aka 'the Doctor', and his son Mario Carlo Guttadauro are “under investigation for mafia-type association as they are believed to belong to the Cosa Nostra family of Palermo - Roccella,” the carabinieri tweeted.

The arrests are “a severe blow to drug trafficking and to the Mafia,” said a statement issued by the administration of the town of Bagheria.

Guttadauro, the former chief of a Palermo hospital who moved to Rome, allegedly tried to organize a drug trafficking operation that would bring cocaine to Rotterdam and established contacts with an Albanian crime suspect and an Alitalia flight attendant who was supposed to carry cash to South America, local media reported.

Investigators played to the Court of Palermo numerous wiretaps in which Guttadauro talked about mafia affairs and drugs. He discussed with his son the “unloading of a hundred kilos a month in Rotterdam. “There are customs officers, who take 25 percent,” the doctor could be heard as saying, according to reports.

Nicknamed “the Doctor,” Guttadauro served as the head of the Civic Hospital of Palermo before he moved to Rome to continue to pursue his ties to the criminal world, according to local media.

Guttadauro allegedly intervened in mafia style on behalf of a rich woman from Rome in her dispute with UniCredit bank over 16 million euro (US$18.1 million). He allegedly threatened to use violence against anyone who would stand in her way.

Guttadauro, who was arrested for the first time 22 years ago also for Mafia association, has been put last week under house arrest while his son has been taken to a jail.

Related Reporting