Abbate's take on Milan Latino gangs to screen this fall

[umbertino]

 

Anti-mafia journo's look at 'pandillas' (gangs) now shooting

 

Redazione ANSA Rome

30 April 201818:10 News

 

 

(ANSA) - Rome, April 30 - They are armed with knives, machetes, and pistols and make ample use of kidnappings and drug dealing to fund themselves. They are in constant contact with their countries of origin, where they are at the head of Latin American street gangs known as "pandillas", and operate in many countries across the world - including Milan for the past few years - and not only Central America.

    In 2017, two members of these gangs were arrested by the police for having attacked a train conductor and one of his co-workers with a machete. Lirio Abbate, deputy editor-in-chief of l'Espresso - who in 2012 was the first to report on the Mafia Capitale case - and a journalist who has been living under police escort since 2007, has written a docu-fiction for Sky on these gangs.

 

Produced by Magnolia, the work is currently being shot in Milan under the direction of Gabriele Gravana and is expected to be aired in the autumn in two episodes on Sky Atlantic. The docu-fiction will show a side of Italy that is racked by violence, crime, and a lack of integration in cities like Milan.

    Abbate, who has written previously on these gangs operating in Milan in a reportage for l'Espresso, talks about crime in the city and its murders, attempted murders, attacks, violence and rapes.

    He reconstructs how the gangs now in the city have divided up its territory among themselves: Latin King, Barrio 18, MS13 and Trinitarios. The images are unprecedented and original footage and audio tracks will try to shed light on what the gangs have long tried to keep hidden. The screenplay was written by Abbate, who is 46 and the author of numerous investigative books.

 

It highlights the aspect of adolescents living in the cult-like world of the gangs, which base their supremacy on violence and aggression. These gangs are active in the city's hinterland and aim to control places where South American immigrants live as well as to take over new areas.

 

The docu-fiction will make use of videotaped accounts by some former gang members who decided to leave them and talk to investigators about them. It will also reconstruct stories through wiretaps that reveal a little-explored world and investigations that have over the years led to the arrest of South Americans on charges of criminal association, attempted murder, unlawful carrying of weapons, kidnapping and drug selling.
   

 

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