Two former police officers from the Jalisco municipality of Tecalitlán have been sentenced to 50 years in prison for their involvement in the disappearance of three Italians in January 2018.
Emilio “N” and Salomón Adrián “N” were found guilty of having detained two of the Italian citizens, whom they later handed over to an organized crime group operating in that municipality, the court heard. Since then, investigating authorities have found no trace of the missing southern Europeans – Raffaele Russo, 60, his son Antonio, 25, and his nephew Vincenzo Cimmino, 29, all natives of Naples.
Chief among the many hypotheses regarding the abduction’s motive is that the men, who were suspected peddlers of fake machine parts, were deprived of their freedom as retaliation for operating on gang turf. Another possibility is that they were taken after refusing to pay a “tribute” allowing them to ply their trade in the area.
Claims in Italian media had suggested that the corrupt Tecalitlan police officers turned over the three Italians to local gang members for the paltry sum of 1,000 pesos each, or about 43 euros.
Reports in Italy also confirmed that prior to arriving in Mexico, Raffaele Russo was allegedly involved in a scam defrauding the elderly, and that he had fled Naples for Mexico to avoid prosecution.