The police were able to track him down when on new year's eve, he made a phone call back home to talk to his family. Abbatino later admitted that he was fully aware he would have been traced by making that phone call. Immediately following his arrest he announced he would cooperate with Italian authorities. After being sent back to Rome via airplane he was immediately admitted into the witness protection program and sent to a secure location. Following his revelations to the magistrates, which were similar and which rehabilitated the ones made years before by Fulvio Lucioli and the defunct Claudio Sicilia, on 16 April 1993 a giant police operation, dubbed "Operazione Colosseo", involving more than 500 police officers, ended with the arrest of over a hundred members and associates of the Banda della Magliana. The trial against the organization began in 1995 and ended one year later. This time, the tribunal recognized the existence of the criminal association: the judges considered it to be a Mafia association on the same level as the Camorra, Cosa Nostra and 'Ndrangheta, and asked for several life sentences. This particular judgement was later overturned on appeal, resulting in much lighter sentences for many of its members, particularly those involved in money laundering and similar activities. Despite this, the trial is generally considered to have marked the end of the Banda della Magliana. Abbatino testified at other trials, including the trials for the murder of Duke Grazioli and the journalist Mino Pecorelli. He was given a new identity and lives in a secret location. In March 2016, however, state protection was taken away from him.