At the beginning of the 1980s, he was involved in setting up the Sacra Corona Unita (SCU), a mafia-type organization in Apulia, to counter the growing influence of the Camorra.
On his instigation Giuseppe Rogoli imported the codes, structure, and initiation rites of the 'Ndrangheta to be used by the SCU.
In the subsequent years he faced multiple charges for extortion, drug trafficking, and Mafia association.
In July 1988 he was released because the terms for detention expired, and became a fugitive.
[4] Bellocco became a member of Camera di Controllo, a provincial commission of the 'Ndrangheta formed to avoid further internal conflicts at the end of the Second 'Ndrangheta war in September 1991.