Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1335955
3 maltatoday | WEDNESDAY • 3 FEBRUARY 2021 NEWS MATTHEW VELLA MALTA has been linked to a Mafia clan in Catania, in a cannabis and cocaine bust across Italy that saw 20 men arrested, all connected to organ- ised criminality. The arrests are unconnected to the seizure of over 21kgs of cannabis in- side a van in Malta on Monday 2 Feb- ruary. Over 200 finance police from the Naples command, together with of- ficers from Salerno, Caserta, Catania, Turin and Varese, formed part of Op- eration Buenaventura, a nationwide arrest of 20 criminals – half of whom were under house arrest – hailing from three separate drug trafficking gangs, with bases in Torre Annun- ziata, and the Neapolitan districts of Scampia and Secondigliano. According to the Naples special unit against organised crime GICO, a Mal- ta associate of the Catanese clan Cap- pello was to have acquired part of the cannabis consignment sold on from the Camorra crime family Genovese. The cannabis consignments are be- lieved to have been transported from the Neapolitan provinces and then through Sicily, before arriving in Malta. Globally, the Italian operation nabbed 576kg of cannabis grass, 11kg of cocaine, and €166,000 in currency. Other arrests were connected to the Camorra crime families Manzi and Dannier, who operate in the Scampia and Secondigliano towns. The Dan- nier family is itself connected to the Di Lauro clan, a main Camorra clan, and brokered the sale of the cannabis between Spanish criminals and the Camorra. Among those arrested is Armando Manzi, suspected to be the link with a Colombian cocaine cartel, from where a consignment of cocaine de- parted from the port of Buenaven- tura – from where the Italian police operation got its name – and arrived in containers in the Spanish port of Algeciras. The drugs then were traced to Italy, where the trafficking flows connected the northern regions of Piedmont and Lombardy, to Naples and Sicily. One of the men arrested in Opera- tion Buenaventura was an actor ap- pearing in the second season of Go- morra, the Saviano-scripted series on Sky Italia: Carlo Cuccia, 40 of Varese, who plays the role of 'Palo'. Cuccia was suspected of being the Italian contact point of the Span- ish drug suppliers, on behalf of the Dannier family. Cuccia had himself severed ties with the Manzi family of traffickers, after a bust on a 294kg cannabis consignment in the port of Genoa. Malta linked to massive Camorra drug bust KURT SANSONE FORMER PBS CEO John Bundy was sacked unfairly from the national broadcaster, an Industrial Tribunal has ruled, awarding him €226,489 in compensation. Bundy was dismissed by the PBS board in 2017 af- ter a unanimous no confidence vote, following alle- gations that he breached procurement rules in a car leasing agreement. Bundy sued PBS for unfair dismissal and in a rul- ing today, the tribunal noted that the board sacked him before even concluding an investigation into the breach and without holding disciplinary proceedings. The vote of no confidence was taken before the auditors were tasked with probing a car leasing ar- rangement, which Bundy negotiated. The tribunal also noted that "a number of people" were involved in the procurement process itself. Bundy was made to shoulder responsibility for an administrative irregularity that a lot of high-ranking people played a part in, the tribunal ruled. The tribunal ordered PBS to pay Bundy €226,489 in compensation within a month. The amount was based on the five-year contractual agreement Bundy had and which was terminated just over a year into the term. Lawyers Matthew Brincat and Anthony Cremona assisted Bundy. The tribunal was chaired by Doreen Parnis. Bundy started his broadcasting career with the Na- tionalist Party on Radio 101 before moving to the La- bour Party TV station before the 2013 general elec- tion. He was appointed CEO at PBS in 2016. Bundy now presents a music programme on ONE Radio every Saturday. Tribunal orders PBS to pay former CEO John Bundy more than €226,000 in compensation Former PBS CEO John Bundy Carlo Cuccia