Sardinia bristles at mafia inmate plan

NUORO, Italy, Feb 7 (Reuters) – In Nuoro, a remote city on the Italian island of Sardinia, a high stone wall surrounds the local prison, a fortress-like complex once famous for keeping high-profile gangsters and convicted terrorists away from the mainland.

Only a handful of high-ranking mafia members are detained here, and Sardinia is no longer seen as a dumping ground for criminals, instead gaining an international reputation for tourism.

But this may change with a plan from the government of Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni that has alarmed residents.

In December, a justice undersecretary said the approximately 750 prisoners held under the strict “41bis” regime would be concentrated in just a few special facilities across Italy and would be supervised by special guard units to increase security.

Sardinia was told it could get almost a third of these; Sassari in the north, already home to about 90 people, will be split between the capital Cagliari, where around 90 people are expected to arrive this month, and Nuoro, reviving old stigma concerns.

“Sardinia does not deserve to be considered the Cayenne of Italy,” said Governor Alessandra Todde, referring to the infamous former French Guiana penal colony on Devil’s Island.

CONCERNS ABOUT MAFIA INFILTRATION

Italy’s 41bis regime, named after the law that regulates it, is among the most restrictive regimes in Europe. The law, introduced in 1992 after the murder of anti-mafia judge Giovanni Falcone, imposes near-total isolation on prisoners and is designed to prevent bosses from running their operations from behind bars.

The law says this should be implemented “preferably” on Italy’s islands. Salvatore “Toto” Riina, the late boss of the Sicilian mafia, was once among those held in Sardinia.

Locals and officials fear the government plan could prompt mafia clans to move from mainland Italy to live with jailed relatives, creating opportunities for illegal money laundering and business infiltration, especially in less developed areas such as Nuoro, a city of 30,000.

Sardinian lawmaker Silvio Lai of the opposition Democratic Party visited the city prison last month and said renovations were already underway and would potentially make room for at least 30 new maximum security inmates.

“Weak economies can be easily infiltrated, and Nuoro is about an hour’s drive from Costa Smeralda,” Lai said, suggesting that a mafia foothold in the city could quickly spread to the island’s luxury tourist resort.

The Justice Department did not respond to a request for comment on the study.

INCREASING NATIONAL SECURITY

Autonomous mafia groups have never emerged in sparsely populated Sardinia, but judges say investigations into alleged clan influence in the island’s north have been opened, possibly spurred on by the presence of detained gangsters.

“Prosecutors are closely monitoring the investments of the Camorra (a mafia group based in Naples), especially in the tourism, hotel and restaurant sectors,” Cagliari chief prosecutor Luigi Patronaggio said.

At a meeting with regional officials in December, Justice Undersecretary Andrea Delmastro Delle ‌Vedove downplayed the risk of a mass relocation to Sardinia, arguing that families of 41bis detainees generally do not leave clan-controlled areas, according to minutes.

“This (plan) will provide greater national security…it will make individual prisons safer because only specialized prison guard units will be staffed,” Delmastro said. he said.

But Maria Cristina Ornano, president of the penal court in Cagliari, said the police and judiciary would need more security resources if more gangsters arrived.

“Once organized crime takes root here, we will not be able to get rid of it. We can see this in parts of southern Italy, which are among the most economically and socially deprived regions,” he told Reuters.

‘FOOT SOLDIERS’

Nuoro residents and officials say the risk today is no longer violence, but white-collar crime.

“The mafia is no longer shooting, it is entering public tenders. With the significant flow of funds from the European Union, the danger of infiltration into organized crime is increasing,” said lawyer and local politician Sebastian Cocco.

According to 2025 data from the Chamber of Commerce, tourism accounts for only 7% of production in the Nuoro region, where the economy is mainly based on agriculture and dominated by small companies.

Catholic priest Pietro Borrotzu, who runs a rehabilitation cooperative for prisoners in Nuoro, said precarious working conditions and low wages provided an ideal environment for the clans.

“In that kind of context, organized crime can find a lot of foot soldiers,” he said.

Business lobby Confindustria accused successive governments of failing to invest in infrastructure and jobs in Nuoro.

“We are more like an island, far from ports and airports, than Sardinia itself. Trade incentives are needed and instead we are punished with ⁠41bis prisoners,” said Pierpaolo Milia, the group’s local president.

FRAGILE HEALTH

Like much of southern Italy, Sardinia has a fragile healthcare system and an aging population.

The Cagliari court document shows the island, home to 1.5 million people, already has one of Italy’s highest prisoner-to-resident ratios and residents face higher prisoner healthcare costs than other parts of the country.

Transporting a gangster for medical care requires the escort of dozens of guards, and an increasing number of such hospitalizations could force authorities to close down entire wards.

“If you have to treat one of these, you have to stop everything else, blocking the public health service,” said Giacomo Porcu, mayor of Uta, home to Cagliari prison.

Prisoners’ regional guarantor Irene Testa said the government had so far made no commitments to strengthen prison health services or ease potential burdens on the overall service.

“The island’s prisons are already on their knees. We cannot accept becoming Italy’s penal colony again.”

(Reporting by Angelo Amante, Editing by Gareth Jones)