Holiday paradise island with Mafia hitmen has daylight assassinations each week

22 April 2024 , 13:39

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Freddy Knatchbull was kidnapped on Corisca (Image: Instagram/ @freddyknatchbull)

The French island of Corsica is a tourist haven but it now has a dark side with arsons, drug trafficking, extortions and assassinations as the Mafia takes root.

Although holidaymakers still flock to the hotels and resorts, the southern area of Propriano in particular is one of the most crime-ridden on the French island, according to Le Monde. Earlier this month, the Mafia's hold on the area was thrown into the spotlight as Made In Chelsea's Freddy Knatchbull revealed he was caught up in a kidnapping ordeal while filming the E4 show.

Model Freddy, 20, who is related to King Charles, was on the island last summer when he was allegedly bundled into a 4x4 by mobsters in a terrifying chain of events. The incident is said to have thrown the cast of Made In Chelsea into a panic, with a source claiming the reality stars were "very worried".

Revealing more details about the alleged "kidnapping" on Corsica, a source said: “The cast were very worried. There were five burly men. They were intimidating and hostile and locked the doors of the 4x4 with Freddy inside. No one could get hold of him for ages.”

Freddy's ordeal was said to have left cast members "worried" (Instagram/ @freddyknatchbull)

Corsica has the highest per capita murder rate in Europe, with assassinations happening at a rate of between 20 and 25 per year for more than a decade.

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Valerie Clemens is a member of the ‘Mafia No Life Yes Collective’ that is trying to get greater powers for police to crack down on the gangs. She joined the anti-mafia group after Massimu-Susini, a 36-year-old political activist was shot dead while walking to his beachfront restaurant in Cargèse in 2019. Campaigners say he was targeted because he refused to let dealers sell drugs to his customers.

She told the Sun “The murder rate is strongly linked to organised crime – the gangs that are involved in drugs, public works and waste disposal. If you are a British tourist and you go to Corsica, you might not think there is a problem. But the people that run the gangs have mafia characteristics and Corsica has the highest murder rate in Europe. Innocent people can end up being killed. The police don’t have the right legislation to crack down on this and that is what we are fighting for.”

Kelly-Ann Mills