The Australian arm of the mafia has a new Melbourne-based Godfather in the biggest change to the “Honoured Society” in decades.
The Herald Sun can reveal the new top man, chosen by a “commission”, was appointed following a series of meetings held in Perth where families with ties to Calabria reside.
He is said to have ties to a major soccer club.
As the new boss, the convicted criminal replaces a well-known Melbourne fruit and vegetable businessman as the head of the Calabrian mafia, also known as the “Ndrangheta”.
The retiring boss, who has no criminal record, has been considered Australia’s Italian organised crime “Godfather” since the 1990s.
It is also believed his son has been installed as deputy leader.
Unlike previous eras, the changeover has been negotiated without bloodshed.
The incoming mob boss has been close to the “Godfather” since the 1980s.
It also brings together two families at the top of the Victorian hierarchy who have long worked together to increase the mafia’s influence.
The outgoing Godfather made it to the top in a bloody era in which some of the key opposition candidates were murdered.
The new man appears to have made his way there, in part, through his ability to manage relationships with key families.
It is not known whether Victoria Police’s anti-gang squad, which has a team scrutinising the activities of the mafia, is aware of the recent leadership change.
But a 2015 Victoria Police intelligence report noted the planned leadership change.
The new boss, who the Herald Sun cannot legally name, is known to both state and federal police and was embroiled in the 2008 Operation Inca sting. His extended family has links to a fresh fruit business and a major sporting club.
But, after spending four years in prison, the 55-year-old now controls an organised crime syndicate with a history in Australia dating back to 1922.
“Changes in the Australian ’Ndrangheta are expected at intergenerational turns,” Italian mafia academic Professor Anna Sergi said. “In fact, we can expect different rules of succession to apply to Australia than they would apply to the organisation elsewhere.”
A restructuring of Australia’s ’Ndrangheta cells comes in the wake of the AFP-led worldwide AN0M sting, which recorded communications over years between organised crime figures.
Through AN0M – an encrypted app – the AFP and FBI gained a rare insight into the mafia and the scale of transnational criminal activity.
It unveiled how massive illicit drug importations were organised or aided through mafia figures and associates, the size of the profits and how often the mafia “worked” with outlaw motorcycle gangs.
The AFP’s Operation Ironside was then launched to cripple the networks suspected to be importing tonnes of cocaine and methamphetamine into Australia.
Profits from illicit drugs are laundered through legitimate companies or sent offshore.
The AFP last year said its intelligence indicated there were 51 Italian organised crime clans operating in Australia — 14 of them ’Ndrangheta clans, with thousands of members.
Like elsewhere in the world, the clans are tied by blood lines.
Some of these Australian families have relatives in Italy and the AFP’s intelligence suggests some members take orders from mob bosses in Calabria.
The existence of the mafia is denied by members who obey a code of silence, known as “omerta”.
Cracking the mafia’s activities in Australia has historically been considered too difficult and experts believe the seriousness of its threat to Australia has historically been underestimated.
It is now estimated the ’Ndrangheta controls 80 per cent of the world’s cocaine trade.
