In contrast to the conservative rural traditions of the Ndrangheta, Saro Mammoliti became a ‘modern’ boss, enjoying the good life in Reggio Calabria and Rome – well-dressed and driving around in his Jaguar in the company of beautiful women, which earned him the nickname, the "playboy of Castellace".
[3][4] In December 1972 he escaped from custody in relation the long-running feud with the Barbaro clan, and lived more or less openly without fear of recapture for the next 20 years.
[6][7][8] He was seen in Tangiers (Morocco) and Amsterdam (the Netherlands) – hubs in international drug trafficking – and allegedly invested his criminal proceeds in hotel construction at the Calabrian coast.
[3][4] Mammoliti was one of the men charged with the kidnap of John Paul Getty III on July 10, 1973, in Rome.
[14] In November 1973, an envelope containing a lock of hair and a human ear arrived at a daily newspaper.
Getty's grandson was found alive on December 15, 1973, in a Lauria filling station, in the province of Potenza, shortly after the ransom was paid.
After a stroke brought on by a cocktail of drugs and alcohol in 1981, Getty III was rendered speechless, nearly blind and partially paralyzed for the rest of his life.
[11] The ransom money was invested in the trucks with which the 'Ndrangheta won all the transportation contracts for the container port of Gioia Tauro.
He supposedly had friends in high places: the telephone numbers of the prime minister's office and various Rome ministries were once found in his possession.
[1][22] Charges include allegations of the murder of baron Antonio Francesco Cordopatri, whose lands had been effectively seized by the Mammoliti-clan; six bomb attacks; 19 arson attacks; the destruction of 1,100 olive, citrus and kiwi trees in 15 separate incursions, and 14 instances of agricultural equipment stolen.