I have been following this case for a couple of weeks now...
Scuba divers' bodies found in Sicily 'linked to drug trafficking'
Scuba divers' bodies found in Sicily 'linked to drug trafficking'
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Almost all you said, sadly, is true. However "corallari" are not doing an illegal activity, it is perfectly legal to catch red coral while scuba diving, if authorised...Scuba divers who die in Sicily and other parts of Italy are often people involved in illegal transactions. They are poor people, often unskilled as divers and who use dangerous and obsolete gear (not revised tanks etc. etc.). Incidents including deadly ones are common because these people are "commercial" divers if we can say so and they spend a lot of time in the sea, but they lack the skills and equipment they need.
The most common are illegal fishermen. In Italy it's forbidden to go fishing with air tanks. The damage they do is remarkable, especially the so called "corallari" (red coral illegal fishermen) and "datterari" (date shells illegal fishermen). The picture below is an example of the damage done on the cliffs by the "datterari" who use hammers (!!!) to break the stone and pick up the date shells
View attachment 562640
Scuba divers who die in Sicily and other parts of Italy are often people involved in illegal transactions. They are poor people, often unskilled as divers and who use dangerous and obsolete gear (not revised tanks etc. etc.). Incidents including deadly ones are common because these people are "commercial" divers if we can say so and they spend a lot of time in the sea, but they lack the skills and equipment they need.
The most common are illegal fishermen. In Italy it's forbidden to go fishing with air tanks. The damage they do is remarkable, especially the so called "corallari" (red coral illegal fishermen) and "datterari" (date shells illegal fishermen). The picture below is an example of the damage done on the cliffs by the "datterari" who use hammers (!!!) to break the stone and pick up the date shells
View attachment 562640
Almost all you said, sadly, is true. However "corallari" are not doing an illegal activity, it is perfectly legal to catch red coral while scuba diving, if authorised...
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