'Ndrangheta
John Dickie argues that "the flattering connotations of the word 'Ndrangheta (courage, martial prowess, manliness) indicate that the 'Ndrangheta as a social phenomenon was rooted in the same positive values, and that it only later degenerated into criminality.
[20][21][22] Both the Sicilian Cosa Nostra and the 'Ndrangheta are loose confederations of about one hundred organized groups, also called cosche or families, each of which claims sovereignty over a territory, usually a town or village, though without ever fully conquering and legitimizing its monopoly of violence.
Salvatore Boemi, anti-mafia prosecutor in Reggio Calabria, told the Italian Antimafia Commission that "one becomes a member for the simple fact of being born in a mafia family", although other reasons might attract a young man to seek membership, and non-kin have also been admitted.
[37] During a 2018 trial in Toronto, ex-mobster Carmine Guido told the court that the 'Ndrangheta is a collection of family-based clans, each with its own boss, working within a uniform structure and under board of control.
[39] A investigation, known as Operation Crimine, which ended in July 2010 with an arrest of 305 'Ndrangheta members revealed that the 'Ndrangheta was extremely "hierarchical, united and pyramidal", and not just clan-based as previously believed, as said by Italy's chief anti-mafia prosecutor Pietro Grasso.
According to Sergi "the misconception of the 'Ndrangheta as a single organisation is likely to work to the advantage of such groups" and "invoke the 'Ndrangheta's formidable international reputation to exploit weak political systems, invest in new ventures and grow.
According to a leaked US Embassy cable, the 'Ndrangheta controls huge segments of its territory and economy, and accounts for at least three percent of Italy's GDP through drug trafficking, extortion, skimming of public contracts, and usury.
In the 2018 book, The Good Mothers: The True Story of the Women Who Took on the World's Most Powerful Mafia, Alex Perry reports that the Calabrian 'Ndrangheta has, for the past decade, been replacing the Sicilian Cosa Nostra as the primary drug traffickers in North America.
[46] In June 2014, Pope Francis denounced the 'Ndrangheta for their "adoration of evil and contempt of the common good" and vowed that the Church would help tackle organized crime, saying that Mafiosi were excommunicated.
[70] On 9 October 2012, following a months-long investigation by the central government, the City Council of Reggio Calabria headed by Mayor Demetrio Arena [it] was dissolved for alleged ties to the group.
It was alleged by investigators that the Calabrian clans had infiltrated construction of public works, control of real estate brokerage, food fields, greenhouse production and renewable energy.
The indictment mentions that owners of German restaurants, ice cream parlours, hotels and pizzerias were forced to buy wine, pizza dough, pastries and other products made in southern Italy.
[84] The arrests were said by Nicola Gratteri, the chief prosecutor in Catanzaro, to be the second largest in number in the history of Italian organised crime, after those that led to the so-called "Maxi Trial" of Sicilian Mafia bosses in Palermo between 1986 and 1992.
[96] Outside Italy 'Ndrangheta operates in several countries, such as: According to the German Federal Intelligence Service, the Bundesnachrichtendienst (BND), in a leaked report to a Berlin newspaper, states that the 'Ndrangheta "act in close co-operation with Albanian mafia families in moving weapons and narcotics across Europe's porous borders".
[98] In October 2022, an Italian 'Ndrangheta mafia leader, Carmine Alfonso Maiorano, who was responsible for drug and arms trafficking operations between Latin America and Europe was captured in Guernica, Buenos Aires after years-long of manhunt.
[104] Italian authorities believe that former Western Australian mayor of the city of Stirling, Tony Vallelonga, is an associate of Giuseppe Commisso, boss of the Siderno clan of the 'Ndrangheta.
Up to 500 kilograms of cocaine was documented relating to the mafia and Australian associates smuggled in slabs of marble, plastic tubes and canned tuna, coming from South America to Melbourne via Italy between 2002 and 2004.
[108] A June 2015 report by BBC News discussed an investigation by Fairfax Media and Four Corners which alleged that "the 'Ndrangheta, runs a drugs and extortion business worth billions of euros" in Australia and that "politicians have been infiltrated by the Calabrian mafia".
[119] Assisi and Morabito (according to investigations by the Brazilian Federal Police) resided in Brazil, where they pretended to be legitimate businessmen and lived in luxury properties, while negotiating with important members of the PCC.
[120][121] In 2022, a Federal Police investigation on the PCC's usage of the Port of Rio de Janeiro for part of its cocaine exports to Europe revealed a criminal network that included Chendal Wilfrido Rosa, a member of the No Limit Soldiers who was acting as a representative for 'Ndrangheta in Brazil.
Investigations later pointed to Moroccan hashish being imported to Brazil by a criminal network that involved the PCC, 'Ndrangheta, the Balkan Mafia and Hezbollah, by way of Barakat clan entrepreneurs who operated in the Triple Frontier region.
[124] The Canadian 'Ndrangheta is believed to be involved in various activities including the smuggling of unlicensed tobacco products through ties with criminal elements in cross-border Native American tribes.
[144] The National Post reported that Cosimo Ernesto Commisso, while not a known criminal, "shares a name and family ties with a man who has for decades been reputed to be a Mafia leader in the Toronto area".
[146] In June 2015, RCMP led police raids across the Greater Toronto Area, named Project OPhoenix, which resulted in the arrest of 19 men, allegedly affiliated with the 'Ndrangheta.
Nine of the 15 arrests in Canada included major crime figures: Angelo Figliomeni, Vito Sili, Nick Martino, Emilio Zannuti, Erica Quintal, Salvatore Oliveti, Giuseppe Ciurleo, Rafael Lepore and Francesco Vitucci.
[187] The article details the activities of Italian businessmen with ties to organised crime who have settled in eastern Slovakia, and have spent years embezzling European Union funds intended for the development of this relatively poor region, as well as their connections to high-ranking state officials, such as Viliam Jasaň, a deputy and the Secretary of the State Security Council of Slovakia, and Mária Trošková, a former nude model who became Chief Adviser of Prime Minister Robert Fico.
[188] The crime syndicate has a significant presence in Switzerland since the early 1970s but has operated there with little scrutiny due to the inconspicuous life styles of their members, the Swiss legal landscape, and solid foundations in local businesses.
In the aftermath of the San Luca feud in 2007 and subsequent arrests in Italy (Operation "Crimine"), it became clear that the group had also infiltrated the economically proliferous regions of Switzerland and Southern Germany.
In March 2016, Swiss law enforcement in cooperation with Italian state prosecutors arrested a total of 15 individuals, 13 in the city of Frauenfeld, 2 in the canton of Valais, accusing them of active membership to an organized crime syndicate also known as "Operazione Helvetica".
Morabito was awaiting extradition to Italy for international drug trafficking, having been arrested at a Montevideo hotel in 2017 after living in Punta del Este under a false name for 13 years.
