2023-11-21 20:01:51
In Italy, the maximum trial against the Calabrian mafia concluded this Monday with the conviction of more than 200 of the accused. They were sentenced to up to 30 years in prison. Despite the relentless persecution of the Italian police, this criminal organization is still alive and is one of the most flourishing Of the peninsula.
The ‘Ndrangheta is considered the most powerful of the Italian mafias, far surpassing Cosa Nostra, the Sicilian mafia, weakened by the arrest of its leaders. It is also one of the most globalized, with a presence from West Africa to South America. But it concentrates its activities in Europe. It is said to control 80% of cocaine trafficking.
The courtroom since the trial was followed by closed circuit. Photo: Reuters
The ‘Ndrangheta has long confined its criminal activities to the toe of the bootwhere he was born more than a century ago. Calabria and its endemic poverty have been its foundations. The region’s chronic underdevelopment and youth unemployment continue to work in its favor.
In the 70s it became infamous for a series of atrocious kidnappings. But for about 20 years, discreetly and without bloodshed, it has extended its influence by penetrating the legal economy.
Crime Holding
Their annual income represents around 3% of Italian GDPthat is, more than 50,000 million euros per year. It is a criminal holding company, according to the anti-mafia office. If it were listed on the stock market, it would be among the top five companies in Italy.
This trial focused on a single clan, that of the Mancusos. Photo: AP
But the ‘Ndrangheta is not a company, it gets its wealth from drug and waste trafficking, from the laundering of their income and from predation. It suffocates Italian companies and takes money from them. It corrupts the administrations where it infiltrates. According to anti-mafia prosecutor Nicola Gratteri, who led the extensive investigation that culminated in this long trial, the ‘Ndrangheta “it no longer kills, it corrupts.”
In the dock were senior officials of the Italian administration accused of complicity, and even elected representatives. Among them, a former senator from Forza Italia, Silvio Berlusconi’s party, sentenced to 11 years in prison.
This trial focused on a single clan, that of the Mancusosa cell among others of a very compartmentalized organization and, therefore, very difficult to infiltrate.
International cooperation
To eradicate it, Italy now relies on international cooperation. In 2020 he asked police forces around the world for help. The ‘Ndrangheta often operates in conjunction with other criminal organizations. When it comes to drug trafficking in Europe, He collaborates with the Albanian mafia and a Colombian group.
International raids are becoming more frequent. The last operation this year in eight European countries, including France, resulted in the arrest of more than a hundred people and the seizure of 23 tons of cocaine.
Operation in Germany against the ‘Ndrangheta. Photo: AP
Another blow to the organization, like this trial, but we are still far from eliminating it from the underground economy.
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