A landmark trial in Italy of Chinese crime gangs has suffered so many mishaps — from the disappearance of documents to the resignation of interpreters — that a senior prosecutor suspects it’s being sabotaged to protect the criminals’ grip on Europe’s fashion industry.
The case, launched after two Chinese men were hacked to death with machetes in 2010, is aimed at dismantling an illicit network accused of controlling the logistics of the continent’s multibillion-euro garments sector from the city of Prato in Tuscany.
Instead, it has become a cautionary tale about the obstacles Italy’s justice system faces when confronting international organized crime without the tools it has used effectively to fight home-grown mafia groups, prosecutors say. Two of Italy’s most senior anti-mafia investigators and more than half a dozen textile workers, union representatives and defense lawyers were interviewed for this story to gain a rare glimpse into the challenges of tackling alleged Chinese organized crime.