Italian police search 17 suspects including 14 minors over neo-Nazi network

Nationwide searches and seized materials

Italian security forces carried out coordinated searches on 25 September 2026 against 17 individuals across multiple regions of the country. The operation was executed jointly by officers from the Carabinieri Special Operations Group (ROS) and the State Police Division of General Investigations and Special Operations (DIGOS). Searches took place in residential properties across 14 cities, including Como, Catanzaro, Bologna, Rome, Milan, Reggio Emilia, Benevento, Genoa, Udine, Palermo, Trento, Verona, Naples, and Brescia. During the execution of the search warrants, law enforcement officers discovered and seized several edged weapons, including multiple combat knives, as well as banners and items displaying Nazi symbols. Officers also confiscated numerous personal electronic devices, including smartphones and computers, which suspects used to coordinate activities and distribute propaganda. The investigation focuses on a demographic consisting of 14 minors and three adults, with ages among the suspects starting from 16.

Minors14

Adults3

Minors

14

Adults

3

Data from the article text

Radicalization in closed Telegram channels

The network operated primarily through encrypted channels and social media groups on Telegram, centering around two main communities titled Chat del Nuovo Ordine Europeo (New European Order Chat) and Fronte Fascista Italiano (Italian Fascist Front). Participants in these forums regularly shared hate speech, violent slogans, and derogatory material targeting Jewish communities, LGBTQ individuals, and people of colour. In addition to ideological indoctrination, the network promoted the transnational white supremacist organisation The Base, circulating self-training guides and instructional documents detailing techniques for carrying out direct actions. The online channels functioned as active distribution points for manuals detailing the construction of improvised explosive devices and tactical weapon handling. Investigation decrees revealed that administrators in the Italian Fascist Front sought to expand their ranks by requiring prospective members to fill out formal admission questionnaires before granting access to internal discussions.

Attack discussions and extremist glorification

Conversations within the network centered on the veneration of historical dictators and contemporary white supremacist mass shooters. Members celebrated Adolf Hitler alongside Anders Breivik, who carried out a mass shooting at a political youth camp on Utøya island 15 years earlier, and Brenton Tarrant, the gunman responsible for the 2019 mosque attacks in Christchurch, New Zealand. Members circulated manifestos and detailed operational documents from past attacks, studying the specific weapons, ammunition, and tactical methods used in those massacres. Several members discussed executing direct attacks against civilian targets, explicitly proposing violent actions against local mosques, synagogues, and schools. Outside of text channels, members engaged in virtual multiplayer gaming environments where they simulated the murder of ethnic minorities. Authorities linked the spread of this online material to the case of a 13-year-old who stabbed a schoolteacher in Rome days earlier after consuming similar extremist propaganda online.

Inter-agency coordination and legal proceedings

The nationwide investigation was directed by the Venice Public Prosecutor's Office, which issued the search decrees executed by DIGOS officers from the Verona Police Headquarters and ROS Carabinieri units. Central operational coordination was managed by the Central Directorate of the Prevention Police, drawing on direct assistance from provincial Carabinieri commands in eleven provinces and DIGOS divisions in Naples, Benevento, Brescia, and Trento. All 17 suspects face preliminary charges of propaganda and incitement to commit crimes on grounds of racial and religious discrimination. Public prosecutors applied statutory aggravating circumstances of terrorism to the cases due to the circulation of bomb-making manuals and concrete discussions surrounding planned attacks on public institutions. Judicial authorities continue to examine the confiscated electronic media to identify further channel administrators and assess any remaining operational threats.