Italy: police set up anti-sect task force

Rome, 6 Dec. (AKI) – Italian police have set up a special task force of investigators and psychologists to fight the growing number of sect-related crimes, reports said on Wednesday. The new Anti-Sect Squad made up of 15 top investigators will reportedly cooperate in investigations nationwide on serious crimes involving drug use, embezzlement and murder.

The phenomenon of sects, said Italian police chief Gianni De Gennaro in a document published Wednesday by Turin daily La Stampa “is more widespread than generally thought – it exploits the fragility, emotional turmoil and the ignorance of people, mostly the young generation, feeding a culture of hate and death.”

According to the international Center for Studies on New Religions (CESNUR) as many as 100,000 Italians have recently converted to new cults – with an estimated 1,400 affiliated to satanic groups.

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