A Catania il record dei minori accusati di mafia

In Sicily, the number of minors reported for robbery and criminal association is decreasing, but the incidence of mafia-type association is concerning, being the highest in Italy.

This is evident from the report (Dis)armed by Save the Children, which examines the first half of 2025, produced with the support of Fondazione Iris Ceramica Group Ets and released today.

In the first six months of 2025, 46 minors have been reported or arrested nationally for mafia association, indicating a possible worrying increase compared to 2024, when there were 49.

Of the 46, almost half are recorded in Catania (15) and Naples (6).

In Palermo, the number of minors reported for extortion has increased (10 in 2024, 8 in the first half of 2025, compared to 3 in 2014), while it has slightly decreased in Catania (from 12 in 2014 to 10 in 2024), remaining essentially unchanged in Messina (from 2 to 3 between 2014 and 2024). In the three cities, crimes of criminal association have also decreased (3 in Catania in 2024, down from 8 in 2014; 2 in Palermo, down from 9 in 2014; 0 in Messina, down from 1 in 2014) and for mafia association in Messina. The increase in Catania (15 in the first half of 2025, 3 in 2024) and in Palermo (2 in the first half of 2025) is concerning. The number of minors reported or arrested for carrying weapons has increased in Palermo (46 in 2024, 13 in 2014) and Catania (16 in 2024, 11 in 2014), while in Messina and Catania, those for robberies have decreased (respectively 8 in 2024, down from 24 in 2014 and 9 in 2024 compared to 52 in 2014), while in Palermo, there is a slight increase (51 in 2014, 56 in 2024).

In Sicily between 2014 and 2024, the incidence of minors reported for robbery and criminal association has decreased (for both -0.18 per thousand inhabitants in the 14-17 years age group), while the incidence of minors reported for personal injuries has increased (+0.57 per thousand inhabitants among those 14 to 17 years) and carrying weapons (+0.41 per thousand inhabitants among those 14 to 17 years). In the region, the incidence of 14-17 year-olds reported or arrested for homicide is 0.02 per thousand inhabitants in the same age group and 0.1 per thousand for mafia-type association, the highest in Italy.

The journey undertaken by Save the Children to understand the phenomenon of youth violence - with a focus on the spread of weapons and the involvement of minors in the networks of organized crime - highlights how in the last decade the intensity and methods of violence perpetrated by adolescents have changed: more immediate, visible, shared, and amplified also through social media. But at the same time, it gives us back a “geography of violence” that reveals how different types of violent crimes do not have a homogeneous distribution across the national territory. Robberies, brawls, and personal injuries have increased, with a brutality “seemingly senseless” that hides widespread emotional fragility and a progressive emotional emptiness.

Minors reported or arrested at the national level for brawl show an increase approaching 100% between 2019 and 2024, with 1,021 reports, of which 955 are boys, with a higher incidence in Molise (1.21 per thousand inhabitants in the 14-17 years age group). In the first half of 2025, there are 507 minors reported, in line with the previous year. The metropolitan cities most involved during the same period are: Milano (33 minors reported), Genoa (32), and Palermo (31).