Mayor Flavio Stasi among 41 arrested in 'ndrangheta operation in Calabria

The operation

Carabinieri from the Special Operations Group (ROS) and the Cosenza provincial command carried out an anti-'ndrangheta operation on the morning of 28 October 2026 in the Sibaritide area of Calabria. They arrested 41 people, 24 of whom were placed in prison and 17 under house arrest. The measures were issued by a preliminary investigations judge (gip) in Catanzaro at the request of the district anti-mafia directorate (DDA). The suspects face charges applied in varying combinations, including mafia-type association, murder, possession and carrying of firearms, extortion, robbery and theft. The list also includes fictitious assignment of assets, aiding illegal immigration and a political-mafia electoral pact, with all charges aggravated by mafia method or purpose.

In prison24

House arrest17

In prison

24

House arrest

17

Data from the article text

The mayor and the 2024 election

Flavio Stasi, the centre-left mayor of Corigliano-Rossano, is among those placed under house arrest. Il Giornale reports that he faces a charge of political-mafia electoral exchange. According to investigators, the case centres on an alleged deal during the June 2024 municipal elections, which ended with Stasi returned as mayor. The custody order signed by judge Fabiana Giacchetti says he benefited from vote-gathering by Annibale Matalone, whom the investigation links to a 'ndrangheta clan operating in Rossano. In return for support, Matalone and his relatives were allegedly promised jobs with the municipality, the cemetery or affiliated bodies. An intermediary, Vincenzo Curia, allegedly put the candidate in touch with Matalone. A recorded conversation at a restaurant on 6 May 2024, among Matalone, Curia and Antonio Mingrone and a little over a month before the vote, forms part of the reconstruction.

Councillor and alleged boss

Pietro Lucisano, an opposition city councillor, was also placed under house arrest. Il Fatto Quotidiano identifies him as a Forza Italia councillor. Investigators describe Damiano Pepe as a prominent member of the Abbruzzese-Pepe group, and he was among those detained. Pepe had been wounded in an ambush in the Lattughelle area of Cassano allo Ionio, when more than thirty long-gun shots, possibly including a Kalashnikov, were fired at the gate of the couple's house as they drove back in. His partner, a woman, was killed in the attack. Pepe was taken to hospital in Cosenza, where he is not in danger of his life. Reports give different dates for the ambush, with Il Fatto Quotidiano giving 24 October.

Stasi and the farmers' protests

Il Giornale notes that a few days before the arrest, Stasi had attacked the Meloni government for, in his view, trying to criminalise Calabrian farmers and fuelling suspicion of criminal infiltration in their protests. In October he had sided with farmers protesting rising diesel prices. Defending them, he said:

“Far from criminals, I have seen the despair of people who work from dawn and can no longer cover their costs.”

He also framed his support as political rather than charitable:

“We stood by their side not out of solidarity, but out of political support.”

Open's report also records his criticism of ministers who referred to criminal infiltration among southern farmers. The measures are precautionary custody orders issued before any trial, so no verdict has been reached and the allegations remain to be tested in court.