A Chinese husband and wife have been k!lled in a mafia-style execution in Rome, Italy.
Zhang Dayong, 53, dubbed ‘Asheng,’ was found de@d alongside his partner Gong Xiaoqing, 38, outside their home in an eastern Roman neighbourhood, according to Italian police.
The killing comes amid the Triad gang war in the capital, which started in the Tuscan city of Prato.
At least six gunshots were fired late on Monday evening near the Pigneto district of Rome, police said.
It was gathered that the pair were returning home when the k!llers approached on a motorcycle and opened fire just a few meters from the building where they lived.
The couple both d!ed from gunshot wounds to the backs of their heads.
Prosecutors said the double homicide could be a ‘revenge k!lling’ and may be linked to the so-called ‘Coat Hanger Wars’ which has escalated in recent years.
The wars represent a violent struggle between Chinese criminal factions originally centered in Prato for the lucrative fashion logistics market.
According to investigators Dayong, nicknamed Asheng, worked for Naizhong Zhang – a Chinese-Italian boss on trial in Florence following accusations he coordinated illegal operations across Italy, France, Germany, and Spain.
Zhang had accumulated a near-monopoly in the distribution of goods across much of Europe through threats and violence against Chinese company owners, anti-mafia prosecutors revealed.
Dayong was involved in managing underground gambling, loan-sharking, and enforcement operations in the capital, according to prosecutors.
He was seen as a central figure in a 2018 investigation dubbed ‘China Truck’ – an anti-mafia operation led by Florence prosecutors that unveiled the activities of Chinese trafficking gangs in Prato, close to Florence.
