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 Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city h ...

: the

Comasina Comasina () is a district (quarter) of Milan, Italy. It is an area located within Zone 9 of Milan, Zone 9 of the city. {{coord, 45, 31, 35, N, 9, 09, 40, E, source:kolossus-itwiki, display=title Districts of Milan ...

. 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 Francesco Turatello (Asiago, 1944 – Nuoro, August 17, 1981) was an important Italian crime figure, and mob boss who operated during the 1970s mainly in the city of Milan. He was popularly known by his pseudonym Francis Turatello. His nickna ...

, 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

, during a site inspection before a robbery and at the motorway A4 exit of Dalmine, 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 Como ...

. 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

.Notte Criminale
/ref> 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.

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References

{{Organized crime groups in Europe 1970s establishments in Italy 1987 disestablishments in Italy Organised crime groups in Italy