"You should not compare this trial with the Palermo Maxi Trial," prosecutor Gratteri repeats in interviews. "This is a cornerstone of the dividing wall we are building between the 'ndrangheta and public life."

Now less big names are on trial - although Luigi Mancuso is internationally notorious. Moreover, it now mainly concerns the network in the Calabrese province of Vibo Valentia, while elsewhere in Calabria other 'ndrangheta families are active. The maxi process in Palermo at the time covered all of Sicily.

According to 'ndrangheta expert Enzo Ciconte, an important element of this process is “the key role of Masonic lodges”. The popularity of the Masonic brotherhoods in Italy is a historical legacy, Ciconte says, and goes back to the conspiracies of people who strived for the unification of Italy in the early 1800s.

Since the scandal of the secret lodge Propaganda Due in the eighties of the last century, stricter regulations have been imposed on lodges, to which official Freemasonry adheres. But justice in Calabria has discovered a large number of clandestine, unregistered lodges in that region where members or representatives of the 'ndrangheta liaise with local dignitaries and arrange all sorts of things, from multi-million dollar contracts to wage increases for friendly relations.