Catholic nun among 25 arrested in mob bust in northern Italy

Rome (CNN) — A Catholic nun with the Sisters of Charity Institute in Milan was among 25 people arrested early Thursday morning for a litany of mafia-related crimes, including aiding and abetting extortion, drug trafficking, receiving stolen goods, usury, tax crimes and money laundering.

Sister Anna Donelli, 57, was known among prison inmates as “Sister Collina” when she volunteered at several prisons in and around Brescia, a city in the northern region of Lombardy, where anti-mafia police said she did more than just offer blessings and comfort.

She is accused of being an intermediary, “exploiting the very spiritual role she carried out” to pass messages and orders between bosses on the inside and foot soldiers tied to Italy’s notorious ’Ndrangheta organized crime syndicate based in Calabria, in the south of the country.

“She carried orders, directives, moral and material aid to associates, receiving in turn from the prisoners useful information to better plan criminal strategies,” according to prosecutor Francesco Prete during a press conference announcing the arrests Thursday.

A total of €1.8 million ($1.9 million) in cash was sequestered in the operation carried out by 300 anti-mafia officers and special police dogs used to sniff out drugs and cash in several locations, which saw 25 people arrested in total.

Weapons and drugs were also recovered from locations in Bergamo, Verona and Treviso.

A member of prime minister Giorgia Meloni’s Brothers of Italy party who is a physician was also arrested for treating injuries suffered by mobsters during mafia-related crimes to avoid suspicion in the public health system, according to the prosecutor.

Officially, Donelli worked as a liaison between prison officials and prisoners in addition to acting as a soccer referee during prisoners’ free time, according to an interview she gave the religious news network TV2000 in 2020 about her work.

CNN has contacted the Sisters of Charity Institute in Milan, but has not received a response.

Prete said that Donelli, who is currently under house arrest, was “at the disposal of the criminal association to guarantee the connection with the associates detained in prison and those outside.”

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