According to German and Italian investigative services, there is now at least one permanent 'Ndrangheta cell with at least 12 initiated members in the Netherlands, led by a high-ranking member .

When is a person a member of the mafia?
An important question in the conclusion of the investigation is when a person can be considered a member of the mafia. It is of course not the case that all crimes committed in the Netherlands that have a connection with Italy involve the mafia. This only applies when the participants in the illegal activities are members of a mafia-like organisation. The Italian Criminal Code states in article 416bis that the following definition must be met for this:
‘The association can be considered to be of the mafia type when the members use violence or intimidation to commit criminal offences or to gain control, directly or indirectly, over economic activities; to obtain contracts that the government outsources to private parties, to make profits for themselves or others in an unfair manner, as well as to jeopardise the free right to vote or to solicit votes for themselves or others in elections. These activities must arise from membership of the partnership and be carried out on its behalf and in subordination, including adherence to the duty of confidentiality (omertà).’

People who are known in Italy as members of the mafia
To begin with, people who are known to the Italian authorities as
suspected or convicted members of one of the above-mentioned mafia groups may reside in the Netherlands. In that case, it has been stated in the context of the
Cerca Trova project that we are indeed dealing with a (suspected) mafia member. This does
not, of course, mean that they are also guilty or have committed criminal offences in our country.
Although initiated members of these organisations must in principle remain available for
criminal activities their entire lives 3, they may also have merely been hiding in our country
People who are not known in Italy as mafia members
In addition, people of Italian origin may be encountered – the mafia rarely or never
accepts foreigners as members – who are not known in Italy to belong to the mafia. An example that was encountered
concerned an Italian who had been living in the Netherlands for many years and who was found to
have provided assistance to a known mafia member who was hiding in our country. Is such a person
a member of the mafia or not? Without more in-depth information about the nature of the relationship, it is not possible
to make a statement about this and that information was usually not available. In these situations, it is sufficient to establish that in any case there were ties with mafia members.