Among the facts "sung" by the last repentants of the Cosenza 'ndrangheta and even by the repentant Roberto Porcaro, one of the most relevant is that concerning the role of the Cosenza mafia in the regional scene. The repentants already explained it before Porcaro sang: « Michele Di Puppo is after Francesco Patitucci the most important criminal reference of the Cosenza 'Ndrangheta organization.
It was only thanks to his criminal charisma, his links with exponents of the 'Ndrangheta of Rosarno and the consideration they had for him, that it was possible to resume certain 'Ndrangheta issues regarding affiliations and the reopening of a "local" in Cosenza".
And of course, because due to the many repentances recorded in the last 20 years, the people of Cosenza were viewed with skepticism by the 'Ndrangheta supporters of Reggio. And the fact that Michele Di Puppo's climb had reached a very high level was no longer news.

Germafia. How the Mafia is taking over Germany. Reading with Sandro Mattioli
30/05/2024 | Haus der EKD
Pluralist democracy is being attacked from different directions. The Italian mafia is one of the anti-democratic forces. Prosecutors speak of several thousand mafiosi active in Germany.

Investigative journalist and author Sandro Mattioli reads from his new book "Germafia. How the Mafia is taking over Germany" and reports on his research into mafia activities in Germany.

The Italian mafia sees Germany as prey and is trying to infiltrate democratic structures. The Calabrian 'Ndrangheta is the organization that takes the most strategic approach. The German state is hardly doing anything about it.

Why is that? Mattioli reports in detail and vividly about his research, about intimidation and mafia activities in German institutions and in areas where one would never have suspected it before.

https://www.visitberlin.de/en/event/germafia-how-mafia-taking-over-germany-reading-sandro-mattioli

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-13434317/Miss-World-Slovakia-Prime-Ministers-mafia.html

Former Miss World contestant who became Slovakian Prime Minister's 'chief state adviser' was intimately tied to his downfall over mafia scandal in 2018

https://www.dw.com/en/italy-police-arrest-over-100-mafia-members-in-mass-raid/a-69079112

Italy: Police arrest over 100 mafia members in mass raid

https://www.msn.com/en-us/movies/ne...le/ar-BB1mEkcD?ocid=weather-verthp-feeds

Al Pacino Returns to the Gangster Genre With New Mafia Boss Role

I think most people don't realize that Uomini d'onore run Italy and the Octopus tentacles reach all over Europe.
I mean governments level.

'Ndrangheta: maxi raid in Cosenza, no suspect responds to investigating judge
May 21, 2024
The GIP's decision on the precautionary measures of most of the suspects who ended up in the maxiblitz of recent days, which involved 142 people belonging to and close to the Cosentino clans, is awaited. The guarantee interviews took place in recent days and continued today. Almost everyone always made use of the right not to respond and only someone made spontaneous statements without answering the GIP's questions.

Among these, a financier, Enrico Dattis , also ended up in the investigators' network and was suspended from public service.

https://www.antimafiaduemila.com/ho...enza-nessun-indagato-risponde-a-gip.html

'ndrangheta, Pasquale Bonavota «erede del clan di Sant’Onofrio». Dalla “mentalità malandrina” alla lunga latitanza
https://www.corrieredellacalabria.i...ntalita-malandrina-alla-lunga-latitanza/

CRIME GERMANY
Gangster Hunt - Police Battle the Mafia
05/23/2024May 23, 2024
Germany is a place where the mafia feels at home - that hasn’t changed. But the police have become more vigilant. Security authorities’ attentions are now focused on the Calabrian mafia in particular, the 'Ndrangheta.

There’s been a noticeable increase in large-scale police operations against the clans from southern Italy in recent years. Although the mafia remains undefeated so far, these operations are an important step in the right direction.

The film documents how the police have honed their tactics against a global criminal organization dominating the cocaine trade, from the first secret operation in Thuringia in 2002 (Operation "Fido"), through "Pollino" (2018) to the major offensive "Eureka" (2023).

What do investigators in Germany, Italy and at Europol need for a successful battle against the mafia? This is where the judiciary comes into play; in Germany, membership in the mafia isn’t prosecutable without evidence of an actual crime.

But the film also shows the mafia committee of inquiry in Thuringia, where politicians engage with the ‘Ndrangheta phenomenon for the first time - and fail to make any headway. This is because unlike the police, a parliamentary committee of inquiry can’t investigate beyond state borders. Nevertheless, the committee’s work is a crucial factor in also raising public awareness of the mafia problem. And this is important, as Germany is still very much a mafia nation. 'Ndrangheta continues to thrive in a place where laws remain lax, controls are few and society is still relatively blind to the issue.


Broadcasting Hours:
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https://www.dw.com/en/gangster-hunt-police-battle-the-mafia/a-68992186

'Ndrangheta: Vibo police headquarters prohibits public funeral for boss Leoluca Lo Bianco
AMTwo thousand May 25, 2024
There will be no public funeral for Leoluca Lo Bianco , 64 years old, from Vibo Valentia, known as " U Rozzu ", considered a leading exponent of the clan of the same name which has its base of operations in the provincial capital city. It was the Vibo Valentia Police Headquarters that prohibited funerals for reasons of public order and safety. Leoluca Lo Bianco, also sentenced on appeal to 12 years of imprisonment in the trial resulting from the Scott Rebirth operation (shortened trial), died at the Jazzolino hospital in Vibo. After being arrested in the maxi-operation that took place in December 2019, in June 2021 he was placed under house arrest for health reasons. Previously he had served a sentence of 4 years and 8 months in prison for mafia association which was remedied at the end of the anti-mafia operation called " Nuova Alba ". The collaborator of justice Bartolomeo Arena had recently made statements regarding Leoluca Lo Bianco, placing him among the most influential and dangerous figures of the Lo Bianco clan, capable of creating tensions and conflicts within the gang itself and maintaining at the same time privileged relationships with the boss Diego Mancuso of Limbadi, as emerged in the anti-mafia operation called Olimpo.

https://www.antimafiaduemila.com/ho...blici-per-il-boss-leoluca-lo-bianco.html

Reggio Calabria, severe blow to the 'Ndrangheta gang of Arangea: 12 arrests, the clan managed the Bergamot business

The activity then recorded the continuation of the conduct of the suspects, already definitively convicted for the crime of mafia association


On the morning of today 27 May, the Carabinieri of the Provincial Command of Reggio Calabria , with the help of the Heliborne Squadron "Hunters" Calabria, at the conclusion of investigations coordinated by the Public Prosecutor's Office of Reggio Calabria - District Anti-Mafia Directorate, directed by the Prosecutor Giovanni Bombardieri , have implemented, as part of the operation called "Arangea ", an order for the application of precautionary measures in prison against 11 people and one under house arrest , suspected, in various capacities, at the stage of the proceedings of preliminary investigations and subject to various evaluations in the subsequent phases, of the crimes of mafia association, extortion, fictitious registration of goods and weapons.

The investigations, conducted by the Investigative Unit of the Provincial Command of Reggio Calabria under the directives of the Public Prosecutor's Office, carried out both with classic investigative techniques, but also with the most modern interception tools, have made it possible to reconstruct the dynamics and structures of the articulation of ndrangheta headed by the " locale " operating in the territory of the Arangea district , reconstructing the imposition of control of the territory and a widespread extortion system as well as the hidden management of various economic enterprises . In the same way, the internal reorganization dynamics activated to fill the power gaps caused by the arrest of top management elements during the period of activity were reconstructed.

The reorganization phases find perfect adherence to the ' Ndrangheta system already emerged in the Crime investigation , in whose sentence the definition of " locale " and " doti " is reported , as well as the existence of the so-called " new bank ", a term with which the leaders of the ndrangheta intended the reorganization of the positions within the club .

The data in question is currently found in this investigation and more specifically when the arrested Demetrio Palumbo intended to carry out this reorganization within the Arangea premises involving Sebastiano Praticò , already definitively convicted in the " Crime " trial, where he was recognized as a participant in the gang operating in the southern area of ??Reggio Calabria and held a provincial-level position as representative of the Reggio Calabria district.

'Ndrangheta in Lombardy: 30 arrests for drugs, extortion and usury

Operation by the state police, coordinated by the Milan anti-mafia district directorate. Two associations dismantled

Anti-mafia and anti-drug operation in Lombardy. The state police, coordinated by the Milan anti-mafia district directorate, carried out 30 precautionary custody orders - 25 in prison and five under house arrest - between Lombardy, Piedmont and Calabria. According to investigators, two organizations linked to the 'Ndrangheta based in the Como area were dismantled. Forty people are under investigation, including several residents between Milan and the hinterland. Among those arrested also a resident of Cernusco sul Naviglio and one of Nerviano.

The alleged crimes are various: criminal association aimed at drug trafficking with the aggravating circumstance of armed association, usury, extortion with the aggravating circumstance of the mafia method, self-laundering linked to the reuse of the proceeds of drug dealing for the purchase of premises and financing of companies . And, again, fictitious registration, undue receipt of public funds in relation to obtaining mortgages through guarantee funds with the presentation of false documentation.

A dense network structured hierarchically in which everyone had a specific role, from the top to the delivery boys. A criminal syndicate where hashish, cocaine and marijuana were supplied, packaged and placed on the market. It is a precise system aimed at evading controls especially in transport.

https://www.lacnews24.it/cronaca/la...a-vista-non-si-devono-avvicinare_190824/

The 'Ndrangheta war comes close to Lake Como due to conflicts over drugs: "Let's shoot them on sight, they shouldn't come close"

he clash in the Erba area between the "Crotonesi" and the people of Reggio for the division of shares in the cocaine market. The race to find weapons and ammunition to prepare for the feud before the intervention of the Varca clan and peace in the name of business. The story in the Milan DDA investigation
On that branch of Lake Como a 'Ndrangheta war came close . The clans no longer shoot, especially their northern offshoots. Drug deals, however, still risk sparking feuds. Opposite there are two clubs: Erba and Canzo, divided by interests in the drug business .

The investigation by the Milan DDA which led to the arrest of 30 people in recent days highlights the tensions between the two groups: on the one hand there is Vincenzo Milazzo , defined by the investigators as the "operational arm" of Luigi Vona , born in Roccabernarda 71 years ago and already head of the Canzo club (returned from almost 10 years in prison for Operation Infinito and arrested again last Tuesday); on the other Michele “U repentitu” Oppedisano , 55 years old, and Pasquale Oppedisano , 25 years old, both originally from the Gioia Tauro plain. Milazzo wants to manage the deal on his own: he explains to the boss that «the proposal of the "erbesi", and of Pasquale Oppedisano in particular, is inadmissible because he, after 7 years of "hard work", is not willing to give up "shares of the market" . The conversation takes place after a summit (the one on March 8, 2020): there will be several to iron out differences.
The proposal to which Milazzo refers comes from Michele Oppedisano and aims at a clear division of the territory: «You stay on this side and we stay over there... and you no longer give anything to Erba... get as far as Segrino because we're here in Erba ." These are the phrases that risk triggering war. Milazzo is not willing to give up anything: «If I have to share my loaf I'll share it with Leonardo ( Potenza, another collaborator of the boss, ed. ) and Luigi ( Vona, ed. ) but I told him I don't care about the others outside ». Potenza goes further: he defines Oppedisano as «"nothing” compared to Vona and the other important affiliates of Erba» and hypothesizes radical solutions to the disagreements: « But let's shoot them on sight, we won't let them get close to the lake ».

These are not empty threats: the magistrates of the DDA of Milan highlight "how the increase in the conflicts that arose between the two criminal groups over the territorial division of the drug dealing areas had led to an alarming search for weapons and ammunition by the criminal association". While Milazzo and Potenza have a "hostile and rigid" attitude, Vona, as an old boss, tries to mediate and "defuse the discontent of his associates". One of the conflicts revolves around the supply of two kilograms of hashish requested by Oppedisano from the Vona group: the deal does not go well and Milazzo is worried "about possible retaliatory actions on the part of the Erba club". He asks Vona " should we expect any pranks?" » and he replies «I don't even trust myself, but I don't believe so». Leonardo Potenza's advice, however, is eloquent: "Yes, bring the gun... because he expects it."
Even Vona at a certain point becomes impatient « due to the continuous complaints of the “Calabrians” of Erba », so much so that he urges Milazzo to summon them again: «He told me to make an appointment so that he, who has broken his ass, has to see them !». Milazzo's other concern is "that the Oppedisano group could sell him to the police to get him out of the way ." «The only thing that can worry me is that I don't know how much pieces of shit people can be, a call to the police... do you understand anything? That's the only thing that worries me... even just to say okay then nothing to us, nothing to everyone."

What can fix things before tensions explode is an external intervention. A meeting in Valbrona, in the province of Como, sees the participation of the Varca family , who have always played a leading role in mafia issues in Erba. Characters linked to the Crotone 'ndrine sit at the table with the Oppedisano, Milazzo and Potenza families. Only Vona is missing, subject to special surveillance: his presence could attract the police who, in reality, monitor everything. The escalation stops and leaves room for an agreement on the division of the market . In the name of money, the two factions put aside warlike intentions and peace returns to the lake: the best possible condition for making money.