Italian mafia-type criminal organization based in Apulia, primarily active in the Salento region. Founded in the early 1980s as a response to Camorra expansion, with ties to 'Ndrangheta. Reached its peak in the late 1980s and early 1990s, then weakened by state intervention. In the 2010s it adopted a strategy of infiltration into the business sector.
CRIMENET has extracted 71 linkages for this organization, including 35 cooperative ties across 16 organizations, 11 conflicts across 8 organizations, 25 other connections and footprints in 6 countries.
The organization has long been present in Albania, partly because of the proximity of Apulia and Albania and the diffusion of the Italian language. Albania is a point of arrival for huge quantities of smuggled cigarettes and drugs from Afghanistan.
While the organization does not have consolidated structures in Germany, it is known that the Rogoli-Buccarella-Donatiello clan, the Padovano clan, the Tornese clan and the Mesagnesi clan have a presence in the country. The Coca-family investigation documented large cocaine trafficking from Germany to the province of Brindisi.
Spain is considered a logistical base for the trafficking operations of the organization. SCU fugitives have been stopped in seaside resorts south of Barcelona.
In the United Kingdom the Sacra Corona Unita is believed to invest dirty money in hotels and in the tourism sector.
The US FBI say: 'Very few members of the Sacra Corona Unita have been identified in the United States, although some individuals in Illinois, Florida and New York would have ties with the organization.'
Francesco Prudentino (di Ostuni , capo della SCU in Montenegro ), arrestato nel 2000 a Salonicco ( Grecia ) dopo sei anni di latitanza.