Black Axe, a fraternity that started at the University of Benin in the 1970s, is on its way to becoming one of the leading drug gangs in Palermo, Italy.
Prosecutors in the Sicilian capital of Palermo are warning that a new alliance between the mafia and “Nigerian criminal gangs moving in from Libya” could herald a new era of organised crime,
UK Guardian is reporting.
“The neighbourhoods under mafia control have changed profoundly in recent years due to the growing presence of foreigners, especially Nigerians coming on boats,” Leonardo Agueci, Palermo’s deputy chief prosecutor, was quoted to have said.
“Among them, there [are a small number] of people who want to transfer their illegal trafficking, linked to prostitution and drug dealing, to Sicily. And the mafia was quite happy to integrate them into their criminal business.”
In Ballarò, a mafia stronghold market area in the historic centre of the city, a whistle is traditionally used by Italian dealers working for Cosa Nostra, the Sicilian mafia, to attract customers, who are offered hashish, marijuana and cocaine.