Mafia planned to use drones to assassinate its enemies in 1990s, says informant
Your support helps us to tell the story
This election is still a dead heat, according to most polls. In a fight with such wafer-thin margins, we need reporters on the ground talking to the people Trump and Harris are courting. Your support allows us to keep sending journalists to the story.
The Independent is trusted by 27 million Americans from across the entire political spectrum every month. Unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock you out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. But quality journalism must still be paid for.
Help us keep bring these critical stories to light. Your support makes all the difference.
A top mafia informer has told an Italian court that Cosa Nostra planned to use drone-type flying bombs to assassinate its enemies, two decades before the United States began firing them at the Taliban.
Gaspare Spatuzza, one of Cosa Nostra's most notorious killers, said he was ordered by two senior Palermo bosses in the 1990s - to purchase and test radio controlled aircraft with explosives attached.
He did not say whether such drone devices were ever used, although there appears no evidence to suggest they were.
However, the interest in radio controlled, flying bombs occurred in the period that saw Cosa Nostra launch its brief war on the Italian state, in protest against maxi-trials and solitary confinement for its convicts.
This culminated in 1992 in the deadly bomb attacks on Palermo's anti-mafia magistrates Giovanni Falcone and Paolo Borsellino, who died in remote-controlled explosions.
Subscribe to Independent Premium to bookmark this article
Want to bookmark your favourite articles and stories to read or reference later? Start your Independent Premium subscription today.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments