ROME (Reuters) – A senior figure in the Chinese underworld has been shot dead along with a companion in a mafia-style execution in Rome, in what police suspect is a spillover from a long-running turf war within Italy’s Chinese criminal networks, police said.
Zhang Dayong, 53, also known as “Asheng,” was found dead on Monday alongside his partner Gong Xiaoqing, 38, outside their home in the eastern Roman neighbourhood of Pigneto, they said.
Investigators said the dead man worked for Naizhong Zhang, who is on trial in Florence following an investigation into accusations he coordinated illegal operations across Italy, France, Germany, and Spain.
Zhang had garnered a near-monopoly in distribution of goods across much of Europe through threats and violence against Chinese company owners, anti-mafia prosecutors said.
According to prosecutors, Dayong was involved in managing underground gambling, loan-sharking and enforcement operations in the capital.
A police official said the killings may be linked to the so-called “Coat Hanger Wars” — a violent struggle between Chinese criminal factions originally centered in the northern city of Prato, close to Florence, for the lucrative fashion logistics market.
(This story has been refiled to amend the wording to ‘the dead man’ to clarify reference in paragraph 3)
(Reporting by Silvia Ognibene in Florence and Crispian Balmer; Editing by Bernadette Baum and Keith Weir)
