(ANSA) - Organised crime is believed to be responsible for a fake parcel bomb mailed to Police Chief Stefano Berrettoni with a warning that he stop cracking down on prostitution in this eastern Sicilian city.
"Leave the prostitutes alone or next time the bomb will be real," the warning said in bold, printed letters, according to police.
The parcel, addressed to Chief Berrettoni at central police headquarters, aroused the suspicion of postal workers because of its unusual shape and the fact that it had no return address.
Police took the parcel away to have it X-rayed and discovered that it contained a number of wires, a dark opaque object, which turned out to be a VHS cassette, and a fuse which was booby-trapped to detonate when the package was opened.
The warning to the police chief was inside the envelope with the harmless cassette.
Investigators have little doubt that this was the work of organised crime because "it is hard to make such a realistic copy of a bomb. Whoever made it was a professional." Police have recently been cracking down on prostitution in the red light district of San Berillo Vecchio. Before their intervention the situation had reached a point where people were urging that the whole area be sealed off from traffic during the night.
