Through the testimony of a
former mafioso, authorities have discovered a sunken ship allegedly carrying
tonnes of highly toxic waste, just 12 miles off the coast of Calabria. According to the informant, Francesco Fonti, the
ship was deliberately sunk in the Tyrrhenian Sea in 1992
by members of the ‘Ndrangheta mob clan.
Fonti told police he was
personally involved in the sinking of three ‘toxic’ ships, and he said he knew
of at least 30 more vessels sunk by the mafia in Italian waters in order to
quickly dispose of the toxic waste, which allegedly came from Italian and
European pharmaceutical companies. Fonti said the ‘Ndrangheta was paid between
1.5 to 15 million euro to dispose of the radioactive material.
Fonti said that at least one boat was also sunk off
the coast of Livorno. Moreover,
the local daily Il Tirreno reports that fishermen in the area have
brought up ‘containers carrying an oily substance’ in their nets.
President of the Tuscan region,
Claudio Martini, is urging immediate action by officials in Rome to verify the existence of any toxic waste at the bottom of the sea off
the Tuscan coast.
Meanwhile, Neapolitan residents have taken steps to
reduce environmental crime in Naples by
launching ‘ecological’ vigilante groups, called Decoràonde, to curb increasing
urban blight and avert trash crises in the future.
