Culture-Enriching Muggers Amid the Nightlife of Milan

Many thanks to Gary Fouse for translating this article from Corriere della Sera:

Robberies in Darsena, the necklace muggers* and the 16 violent attacks in the nightlife district: five young foreigners arrested in Milan

by Federico Berni

The gang was made up of an Egyptian, two Tunisians, and two Moroccans between the ages of 18 and 22: Sixteen attacks recorded between June and October 2021. Taken from the victims were clothes, jewelry, and telephones. “Especially violent threats and beatings by the gang.”

They raged between the Darsena [waterfront area] and the Navigli district. Robberies, beatings, threats. Always five against one, violent and unscrupulous along the streets of the Ticino [river] nightlife. Sixteen episodes of robbery between June and October 2021, and probably many more not reported by the victims. In the past few days five young men between 18 and 22, an Egyptian, two Tunisians, and two Moroccans, were hit with as many measures of preventative custody (three in jail, two under house arrest) issued by judicial authorities to top off investigations conducted by police of the Porto Genova police station.

The gang

The gang of North Africans raised a certain alarm last summer, especially in the evenings of the weekends. According to what has been ascertained, the victims were surrounded, in order to prevent any possibility of flight. Then, threatened with a knife or a broken bottle to the throat, they were forced to hand over chains, gold objects, or cell phones. “Robberies characterized by particular violence and brutality,” say the police.

The beatings

In some cases, these actions resulted in real beatings. One of those investigated was traced to an abandoned farmhouse in Giambellino, where he had found temporary shelter. Many other incidents, not reported or the necessary elements of which have yet been found, are still being examined by investigators.

*   The original Italian phrase would be “chain gang” if translated literally, which would mislead an American audience. The full descriptive meaning is “a gang that forcibly steals jewelry and other valuables from people on the street,” hence “necklace muggers”.
 

One thought on “Culture-Enriching Muggers Amid the Nightlife of Milan

  1. Perhaps phones could be equipped with special cases made from plastique that could be detonated by calling the stolen phone from another number. Certainly there are creative and talented individuals in Europe who could do this. A few orcs deconstructed by the phones they stole would certainly do more to deter this kind of theft than several thousand more police, which by the way are a dangerous tool since they can also be used to beat and gas their fellow countrymen at their leader’s command.

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