San Luca feud

[2] Shortly thereafter, the old patriarch Antonio Nirta imposed a peace with the help of the De Stefano clan from Reggio Calabria, which held for some time.

From his wheelchair he claimed revenge, and on Christmas Day, December 25, 2006, they attacked the house of a boss of the rival Strangio-Nirta clan, Giovanni Luca Nirta, killing his wife Maria Strangio.

Evidence collected by phone taps, interceptions and declarations of turncoats (pentito) showed that the instigator of the attack was Francesco Pelle, also known as 'Ciccio Pakistan', while the order came from Franco Vottari.

[6] The conflict then received significant new public attention on 15 August 2007 when six Italian men belonging to the Pelle-Romeo clan were shot dead in their cars in front of a pizzeria near the train station of Duisburg in western Germany.

[17] German and Italian police cooperated, and four members of the Strangio-Nirta clan were arrested in December 2007; the main suspect of the shooting, Giovanni Strangio, was however able to escape.

[20][21] Police concluded from telephone surveillance that the 'Ndrangheta clan bosses had negotiated a cease fire near the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Polsi in Aspromonte, a traditional meeting place of the 'Ndrangheta.

[29][30][31] Antonio Pelle, also known as Ntoni Gambazza, the patriarch of the San Luca locale and the 'Ndrangheta capo crimine, the titular head of the organisation, tried in every way to end the feud and make peace.

[32][33] In order to underline his non-involvement in the feud, he asked family members to send a letter to the Gazzetta del Sud newspaper.

The message was clear: the feud was a clash between minor elements of the clan and Gambazza was trying to reach a peace without victors, as he had done in the past, in 1991, when the conflict started.