Six arrests in Foggia for mafia association: 'Sinesi-Francavilla' battery of the Società Foggiana targeted
The State Police and Carabinieri have executed six precautionary measures against suspected members of the Società Foggiana, a clan active in drug trafficking and extortion.
Six arrests in Foggia for mafia association: 'Sinesi-Francavilla' battery of the Società Foggiana targeted
On 24 June 2026, officers of the State Police and military personnel from the Carabinieri carried out a precautionary custody order issued by the investigating judge of the Bari court at the request of the prosecutor's office. The measure resulted in the arrest of six people residing in Foggia, all believed to belong to the criminal consortium known as the "Società Foggiana".
Particularly in the sights of the investigators was the "Sinesi-Francavilla" battery. Two of the arrested are brothers, identified as top figures of the group. Three others are said to be mere members. The sixth arrested is a building contractor, accused of facilitating the laundering of illicit capital.
The investigations began following the "Corona" trial conducted by the ROS, which had documented the association's activities between 2005 and April 2016. Since then, police and carabinieri have continued to monitor the clan's evolution, establishing its continued operativity.
The organisation, according to the reconstruction, controls illicit trafficking of various kinds: drug dealing, crimes against property, extortion of businessmen and shopkeepers. Notably, the charges include plans to physically eliminate rivals.
One aspect that drew particular attention was the ability of the leaders to direct the group's activities even from behind bars. One of the arrested, in the course of 2021, allegedly used a mobile phone smuggled into Tolmezzo prison in Friuli. The aim was to keep the Sinesi/Francavilla clan alive and safeguard the strategic pact with the Li Bergolis group, which holds sway in the Gargano.
In September 2016, following a failed murder attempt against Roberto Sinesi, representatives of the Sinesi/Francavilla clan and the Li Bergolis clan allegedly met in Foggia to plan the elimination of members of the opposing "Moretti-Pellegrino" faction.
In 2022, a dispute emerged over control of the drug market in Vieste, in which one of the recipients of the precautionary measure allegedly mediated to assign management of the market to a member of the Li Bergolis clan, in exchange for a monthly fee of 10,000 euros.
Between 2012 and 2013, one of the arrested allegedly entrusted the building contractor a sum of at least 600,000 euros in cash, the proceeds of illicit activities, to be used in property transactions. This mechanism allegedly allowed the clan to infiltrate the legitimate economy through a chain of corporate transactions.
On 8 June 2026, on the occasion of a previous arrest warrant, additional communication devices found in the possession of suspects subject to house arrest measures were seized.
Source: State Police - Foggia Questura
Source: Google News IT — Crime (it)