Antonino Vadalà was convicted in October 2024 for cocaine trafficking in a criminal organisation with ties to the ‘Ndrangheta Italian mafia group. His name had come up when Slovakian investigative journalist Jan Kuciak was looking into an agricultural subsidies fraud scheme. The killings sparked nationwide protests that eventually brought down the government of Prime Minister Robert Fico. Fico was re-elected in 2023, and once again leads the government. He was never implicited in the fraud.
Source: OCCRP, 2025-12-05; https://www.occrp.org/en/news/italian-mafia-figures-doing-business-in-slovakia