Former boxer and mafia boss Viorel Oarză found shot in head in Holboca forest

Emergency crews were dispatched to the Cananău forest in Holboca after a man estimated to be about 50 years old was discovered with a gunshot wound to the head. The victim was identified as Viorel Oarză, a well-known figure in the Iași underworld who previously headed the “Brigada”, a Romanian-run mafia organization operating in Italy. Authorities have not yet clarified the circumstances of the shooting, including whether it was inflicted by another individual or self-inflicted.

Oarză, once a professional boxer, was nicknamed “Il Padrino” in Italy and has a history of arrests, convictions and acquittals related to extortion, drug trafficking and violence. He was sentenced in 2024 for assaulting a jury during a boxing match and was acquitted in a separate construction-sector scandal upheld by the Iași Court of Appeal in 2026. Police continue to investigate the Holboca incident.