The “Crimine of Siderno” and the global network that links Canada and the heart of Locride
The Anti-Mafia Investigation Directorate reconstructs the dynamics of the branching of the 'Ndrangheta gangs in the rich province of Toronto
Published on: 08/10/2023 – 19:10

CATANZARO The “Crime of Siderno” is a network – a “blockchain” – that leads to the province of Reggio Calabria. In the latest report from the Anti-Mafia Investigation Directorate, a large chapter is dedicated to the ramifications of the 'ndrangheta in Canada, the scene in recent years of a bloody feud which has seen opposing clans of Calabrian and Sicilian origin. An irresistible expansion, that of the 'ndrangheta in particular in the very rich Ontario, however inextricably linked to the "mother house" which is in the heart of Locride, the "local" of Siderno.

Dia's report
According to the Anti-Mafia Investigation Directorate «Italian organized crime has also progressively taken root in Canada, in particular in the areas of Montreal (Cosa Nostra), Toronto and Thunder Bay ('ndrangheta), where it has assumed important positions in the illegal drug market, in extortion, usury, gambling, laundering of illicit proceeds and infiltration in the public procurement sector. In particular - the DIA investigators explain in the latest report to Parliament - the 'Ndrangheta clans have re-proposed a hierarchical-mafia structure in Canadian territory by establishing direct contacts with the major drug producers, becoming leaders in international drug trafficking, thanks to their widespread presence of affiliates around the world. In Toronto,

The “Siderno Crime”
During the "Canadian 'Ndrangheta Connection2" investigation, according to the Dia, "it was possible to understand how the 'Ndrangheta of Siderno, which has been established in Canada for many years, needs to resort to supranational command structures in order to govern at better complex structures in territorial areas very distant from the parent company. From the conversations captured, it was then possible to reconstruct the composition of the "Siderno Crime" - to be understood as the maximum expression of the 'Ndrangheta operating in Canada. These findings make it possible to ascertain that the territorial structure operating in Canada, referable as mentioned to the Siderno premises, is currently governed by an organism ("the Siderno Crime") made up of a plurality of subjects who, in order to preserve its operations with respect to the problems connected with the strong investigative pressure exerted against the 'ndrangheta in Italian territory, it is authorized to meet and take decisions also in foreign territory. The presence and operation of the 'Ndrangheta in Canada is also confirmed - Dia finally recalls - by an innovative ruling issued in 2019 by the Ontario Superior Court of Justice, as part of the investigation called "Project Ophenix", conducted by Combined Forces Special Enforcement Unit (CSFEU) of Toronto, with which, in fact, the 'ndrangheta was recognized, for the first time, as a criminal organization fully operating in that territory. (redazione@corrierecal.it)