Nuova Mala del Brenta

[1] It is considered by the Italian government and Prefecture of Venice as including all the characteristics of Article 416 bis-cp,[2] the legislative definition of a mafia-type organisation with Mafia (Cosa Nostra, 'Ndrangheta, Camorra, Sacra Corona Unita, Società foggiana) affiliations within Italy.

These organizations included: Maniero was born in the impoverished village of Campolongo Maggiore in Venice, where he started his own crew of local gangsters, composed of family members and childhood friends that would later hold the reins of his criminal empire.

While becoming a major criminal presence in the area, he was befriended by a number of prominent Sicilian mafiosi who backed him up in his vision of uniting Veneto organised crime.

While dining at a restaurant, Millo was shot and killed on March 17, 1990 by the Rizzi brothers, a violent feud ensued, between the Mala del Brenta and the "Veneziani", after six months, the Rizzi brothers and an associate were treacherously murdered in an ambush disguised as a meeting to discuss peace terms, Maniero placed Giovanni Giada as head of the Mala del Brenta in the Venetian lagoon.

[5] The organisation had a firm hold of nearly every criminal venture in the region, from money laundering to loansharking and extortion, but its major source of income was drug dealing; the group bought massive amounts of cocaine directly from the Sicilian and Colombian Mafia, as well as heroin from Turkish drug baron Nvo Berisa, who helped a number of Venetian mobsters in hiding in Turkey, including Felice Maniero and Antonio Pandolfo, the group's second in command.

The group was accused of smuggling large quantities of cocaine into Italy from South America and using sophisticated money laundering techniques to conceal their profits.