Wind power has turned dangerous with news of an alleged Sicilian Mafia scheme to gain control of wind farms. Police in Trapani nabbed eight people suspected of bribing city officials to invest in local wind farms.
The businessmen with reputed ties to the Cosa Nostra are suspected of orchestrating a multimillion dollar plot to ensure that a Mafia-owned company gained a public wind power contract, which included subcontracts for concrete, carpentry, electric systems and metal.
While the Italian Mafia is mostly known for its forays into construction and drug dealing, the organization has recently lost ground to other organized crime groups and a Sicilian rebellion against extortion.
Corruption or not, Mafia involvement in wind power means that alternative energy has finally hit the big time.