Carmine Gallo

Born in 1958 in Gragnano, Italy.^[1]
In 1978, he joined the Italian police force.^[2]
In the 1980s, he was part of operation “Infinito”, which focused on the infiltration of the ‘Ndrangheta in Lombardy.^[3]^[4]
In 1988, he was one of the officers who filmed the most important ‘Ndrangheta meeting since their summit in 1969. While investigating a cocaine deal, they witnessed the meeting between bosses Giuseppe Morabito (Africo), Antonio Pelle (San Luca), Antonio Papalia (entire Calabrian mafia in Northern Italy) and Pasquale Zappia, the boss who would be appointed regent of Lombardy in 2009.^[5]
In January 1997, he arrested Patrizia Reggiani on suspicion of orchestrating the murder of her ex-husband and fashion house heir, Maurizio Gucci. During that time, he was on duty as head of a police unit targeting organised crime and had received intel from an informant which helped him solve the case.^[6]
In 1998, he handled the kidnapping of businesswoman Alessandra Sgarella in Milan, which led to her being freed from a ‘Ndrangheta commando in the countryside near Locri in September 1998 after nine months of captivity.^[7]^[8]
In the early 1990s, he played a crucial role in investigating how criminal organizations, including the Sicilian Mafia, infiltrated public procurement in Northern Italy by exploiting local companies and cooperatives. These investigations highlighted the phenomenon of a “grey zone”, collusion between local entrepreneurs and mafia clans to divide up public contracts and funding.^[9]^[10]^[11]
In 1993, he managed to convince Saverio Morabito^[12], who had been imprisoned in Bergamo since 1990, to become one of the first ‘Ndrangheta informers. This led to many arrests in the syndicate.^[13]^[14]^[15]
In 2007, he led negotiations after six Italians were murdered in Duisburg as part of a mafia feud.^[16]^[17]
In 2009, he solved the murder of Maria Teresa Procacci, widow and heir to a vast real estate portfolio.^[18]^[19]
In 2015, he managed the security of the Heads of State who attended the Milan Expo.^[20]
He retired from the police force in 2018^[21]. He was part of several borderline operations while on active duty as well as in direct contact with criminals for decades.^[22] After his retirement, he became a partner (5%) and the CEO of Equalize, an information technology consulting firm founded in 2018 and owned by Enrico Pazzali (95%).
In 2019, he was rehabilitated after previously being convicted by the Milan Court of Appeal in 2015 for revealing secrets and aiding and abetting.^[23] This was due to him becoming a person of interest in the Testuggine investigation by the Venice District Anti-Mafia Directorate, with Padua’s Special Operations Group confirming his involvement in shady matters.^[24] Gallo had come under investigators’ scrutiny because he had provided Federico Corniglia, a man who laundered money for the gangs and was involved in that investigation, with confidential information on the ongoing activities.^[25]
In 2022, he met with a person linked to organized crime which was under observation by the police and has been referred to as “Omissis”. Once Gallo’s identity was confirmed, an investigation into him was launched which led to Equalize’s illegal operations being uncovered.^[26]
In October 2024, he was placed under house arrest along with three of his associates by Varese’s Investigative Unit.^[27] In the arrest warrant, prosecutors describe him as an “individual who, as has been seen, enjoys high-level support in various circles, including that of the mafia and the secret services, even foreign ones.”^[28] The prosecution accused Gallo of exploiting his relationships and knowledge from the past, including criminal contacts, to provide clients with dossiers containing illicitly acquired data. Reported victims of these dossiers include senior politicians, business figures, footballers and the current Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni.^[29]^[30]

Prosecutors claim that during their investigations they found that in October 2022, he had planned to contact Vittorio Boiocchi, head of Inter Milan’s ultras and career criminal^[31], to acquire parking space at the San Siro Stadium for his clients. He is cited saying that he knew him since he had arrested him plenty of times. However, a few days later the Inter ultras leader was killed before Gallo could contact him.^[32]

In March 2025, Gallo died from a heart attack during house arrest, a few days before his hearing to discuss an appeal lodged by the Prosecutor’s Office.[33]

^[1] https://www.unita.it/2024/10/28/chi-e-carmine-gallo-superpoliziotto-indagato-rete-spionaggio-equalize-ndrangheta-sequestri-gucci-expo/

^[2] https://www.policymakermag.it/italia/chi-era-lex-superpoliziotto-carmine-gallo/

^[3] https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/%27Ndrangheta_in_Lombardia

^[4] https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operazione_Crimine-Infinito

^[5] https://milano.corriere.it/notizie/cronaca/17_aprile_20/buccinasco-bar-boss-8bf7f050-2591-11e7-83cc-292021888e47.shtml

^[6]https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/nov/19/fashion-black-widow-true-story-house-of-gucci-patrizia-reggiani-lady-gaga

^[7] https://www.rainews.it/articoli/2025/03/morte-carmine-gallo-luomo-che-sapeva-troppo-stroncato-da-un-malore-cosa-non-torna-il-giallo-del-decesso-9b0a3cb0-9d7d-45b9-8a41-fef2c20bb592.html

^[8] https://ildispaccio.it/calabria/reggio-calabria/2022/04/26/la-storia-di-alessandra-sgarella-9-mesi-in-mano-alla-ndrangheta/

^[9] https://www.dire.it/27-10-2024/1092460-chi-e-carmine-gallo-il-super-poliziotto-al-centro-dellinchiesta-sul-mercato-delle-informazioni/

^[10] https://www.ilfoglio.it/articoli/2010/12/19/news/infiltrazioni-in-padania-66716/

^[11] https://www.today.it/attualita/dossier-spioni-avvocato-falange-armata.html

^[12] https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saverio_Morabito