770April 28 – May 11, 2016

www.islandconnections.eu

037

1,80 €

1984-2016

Talk abouT language

Barriers and bridges

Pages 6 & 7

Travel

Isla de Sal in Cape Verde

Page 19

SpoTlighT on aaron

Family’s fight with DMD

Page 30

Tragic SceneS

Los Cristianos in mourning

Page 15

Money laundering

Italian Mafia in TenerifeThe trial continues in the Spanish National Court in Madrid of over a dozen suspected members of the Camorra clan who were arrested in the south of Tenerife in 2011.The italian Mafia is said to have been active on the island since the 90s when the organisation suppos-edly took full advantage of the con-struction boom of residential and vacation properties to hide the prof-its from criminal activities such as drug trafficking. it’s believed that the money laundering began in 1996 with the founding of a company in Callao Salvaje. The construction and sale of just one apartment complex is alleged to have allowed the clan to whitewash over €8 million.The arrests of the 13 suspects back in 2011 were part of ‘operation Pozarro’ which involved over 100 members of the security forces in the mop-up manoeuvre. The heart of the Mafia headquarters at the time was an apartment in the Marina Palace complex,

Calle el Horno, adeje; a building which belonged to the late Mafi-oso giuseppe Felaco, aka Peppe nazzaro. at the time the police action took place, he was receiv-ing medical treatment in France, however, his British wife, two of his children and several grandchildren were on the island and arrested. in another house search in Fañabé,

two Ferraris, a motorcycle and two scooters were seized by police and €150,000 in cash was found in the apartment of one of the suspects and confiscated.There are 21 people currently lined up in the dock, allegedly from the Mafia families of nuvo-letta and Polverino, branches of the Camorra. The prosecution is

asking for a total of 210 years in prison for money-laundering and membership of a criminal organi-sation. attempts to stop the trial in January this year were foiled by the anti-corruption prosecutors Juan José rosa and José grinda. The cases were heard in three courts that specialise in terrorism and organised crime.

Flashback

it’s believed that the neapolitan Mafia extended its tentacles into Tenerife, and specifically in the bor-oughs of arona and adeje, in the 1990s. The alleged family ‘seat’, Marina Palace (with over 5,000 apartments), was built by Felaco in 2001.in addition the clan is said to have been involved in other activities such as trading in luxury cars and yachts, the hotel business and so-called ‘protection’ extortion.

Canarywood!

Bravo for Brad and Bourne

Continued on page 3Continued on page two

Hordes of people gathered in front of the Miller Building in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria recently, where there was a cast-ing day for extras in the movie Allied.

The casting was so popular because this upcoming movie, directed by rob-ert Zemeckis (Back to the Future, Forrest Gump, Cast Away), will feature the Holly-wood star Brad Pitt in the lead role. The romantic thriller, written by Steven Knight, and set in Casablanca during world war ii is based on the true story of two assassins, Max Vatan played by Brad Pitt, and the French underground spy Marianne Beause-jour, played by Marion Cotillard. The couple fall in love and get married before Max dis-covers that his wife had apparently worked as a double agent for the nazis.

One Mafia suspect, outside Marina Palace in South Tenerife

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Brad Pitt’s recent arrival in Gran Canaria caused quite a stir

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