Events: Topics: Operation Solare (also known as Project Reckoning)[1] is the Italian name for a 2008 anti-drug operation involving the United States, Mexico, Guatemala and Italy, involving a major Mexican drug cartel, the Gulf Cartel, and the 'Ndrangheta mafia from the Calabria region of Italy.
Charges pending in the United States and Italy cover various crimes, including trafficking of cocaine and marijuana, kidnap charges, attempted murder, conspiracy to use a firearm in a violent crime and conspiracy to kill and kidnap in a foreign country.
[2] Among those indicted are three alleged leaders of the Gulf Cartel: Antonio Cárdenas Guillén, Jorge Eduardo Costilla and Heriberto Lazcano, the leader of Los Zetas.
[1][3] Among those detained from the 'Ndrangheta, are sixteen members of the Aquino-Coluccio clan – led by Giuseppe Coluccio – which dominates the Gioiosa Ionica area in the province of Reggio Calabria.
[4] According to Nicola Gratteri, the Italian prosecutor, the Gulf Cartel is still present in Italy and Europe, despite the operation.