La Banda della Comasina (; "Gang of the Comasina") is the name which the Italian media used to describe a criminal group active in the 1970s in robberies, kidnappings and weapons trafficking in the northern area of
Milan: the
Comasina.
The area of action included the control of entire neighborhoods in Milan, with the presence of roadblocks controlled by the gang's members in which policemen were robbed and mocked.
Controlled by
Renato Vallanzasca
Renato Vallanzasca Costantini (; born 4 May 1950) is a notorious Italian mobster from Milan who was a powerful figure in the Milanese underworld during the 1970s.
Following numerous robberies, kidnappings, murders, and many years as a fugitive, ...
, it was often at odds with the band of
Francis Turatello, active throughout Milan and head of many trades. Along with Vallanzasca, the most famous members of the band were: Antonio Colia, Rossano Cochis, Vito Pesce, Claudio Gatti, Carlo Carluccio and Antonio Furiato, the latter two died in gunfights with policemen, respectively, at ''Piazza Vetra'' in
Milan, during a site inspection before a robbery and at the motorway
A4 exit of
Dalmine
Dalmine (Bergamasque: ) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Bergamo in the Italian region of Lombardy, located about northeast of Milan and about southwest of Bergamo. As of 31 December 2004, it had a population of 22,326 and an ar ...
, while the gang was going to kidnap a businessman from
Bergamo
Bergamo (; lmo, Bèrghem ; from the proto- Germanic elements *''berg +*heim'', the "mountain home") is a city in the alpine Lombardy region of northern Italy, approximately northeast of Milan, and about from Switzerland, the alpine lakes Co ...
.
The group's most famous criminal action is the seizure of
Emanuela Trapani, age 16, who was daughter of a businessman from Milan. The history of the ''Banda della Comasina'' is told in the book ''Il fiore del male'' (The Flower of Evil), written by
Renato Vallanzasca
Renato Vallanzasca Costantini (; born 4 May 1950) is a notorious Italian mobster from Milan who was a powerful figure in the Milanese underworld during the 1970s.
Following numerous robberies, kidnappings, murders, and many years as a fugitive, ...
.
[Notte Criminale](_blank)
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Other members of the gang were: Massimo Malinverni, Pino Cobianchi, Michele Giglio, Franco Careccia, Santino Stefanini, Andrea Villa, Salvatore Paglia, Osvaldo Monopoli, Enrico Merlo, Claudio Basanisi, Silvio Zanetti, Antonio Rossi, Vincenzo Di Palma, Massimo Loi, Giuseppe Valfrè, Riccardo Bocchio, Giorgio Monaci, Marco Chiuri, Gian Ambrogio Castiglioni, Giovanni Riva, Salvatore Franco, Giorgio Uraci, Pietro Putignano, Salvatore Rosano, Gianfranco Casagrande.
Data protection laws
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References
{{Organized crime groups in Europe
1970s establishments in Italy
1987 disestablishments in Italy
Organised crime groups in Italy