https://www.corrieredellacalabria.i...ilenzio-e-lultima-corsa-del-re-di-plati/

the reconstruction
'Ndrangheta, the hunt for Rocco Barbaro: the network of silence and the last run of the "king of Platì"
The historic capture of “U Sparitu”, son of “Cicciu u Castanu”. The “prophecy” of the repentant Domenico Agresta: «He will be in Platì where no one would betray him. In the North he would be a red dot on a white wall»
Published: 05/30/2025 – 10:39

MILAN An entire town attracted by an exceptional event. All in front of a house, which later turns out to belong to the daughters of a major 'ndrangheta figure. Stunned faces and speechless mouths, eyes watching - almost as if disinterested spectators, but only in appearance - what was happening. It is May 8, 2017 and the community of Platì, a fiefdom and stronghold not of just any man, but of Barbaro, stopped almost as if suspended. "U Sparitu", born in 1965 , was surprised at the table with his mother, his wife, his sister and his six nephews, captured by the Carabinieri of the Locri group after a daring and useless escape on the roofs. What was later defined as an exemplary use of an intervention device and a planned military action.

The safety net
The investigators of the Reggio Calabria DDA have reconstructed what was the “protection” network that guaranteed the fugitive status of a big shot of the Calabrian 'ndrangheta transplanted to the North . Twenty years of investigations have established – now without any doubt – the hegemonic role of the 'ndrine of Platì headed by the Barbaro “Castanu”, a leading gang recognized in the main and most important national drug dealing areas, between Rome, Milan and Turin. And, precisely in this context, the figure of Rocco Barbaro emerged, whose nickname “U sparitu” is not at all coincidental. The 60-year-old, who will turn 60 in exactly one month, considered a top exponent of the gang, in fact, was a fugitive twice for over ten years, and for this reason included – at the time – also in the list of the 30 most dangerous fugitives drawn up by the Ministry of the Interior.

The profile
Rocco Barbaro's membership in the 'ndrangheta is branded like a brand. His father, in fact, is Francesco, known as "Ciccio u Castanu", who died in 2018, considered the "king of kidnappings" and found guilty of the murder of the Carabinieri Brigadier, Antonino Marino. His brother-in-law, on the other hand, is Giuseppe Pelle (born in 1960), boss of the 'ndrina "Pelle-Gambazza" active in San Luca. The portrait of Rocco Barbaro is that of a man "with an aggressive, violent nature and a natural tendency to commit crimes". In his youth, spent building the image of a powerful boss, Rocco Barbaro created a certain fame thanks to criminal activities. Investigators define him, without mincing words, "a man without scruples and with a strong and unchallenged personality that any member of the Platiesi 'ndrangheta clans cannot oppose or avoid".

Agresta's "prediction"
And there were even those who, a few months before his daring capture, had ventured predictions. «He could have support in Volpiano from my uncle Antonio and from Totò Agresta and from my Agresta family, in general, from the Perres too. In my opinion, but it is my deduction, he is hiding in Piatì, where his family would not betray him. Generally the fugitives from Platì are there, they remain there». The prophetic intuition dating back to three months earlier – it is February 8, 2017 – was at the time the collaborator of justice Domenico Agresta, the young “Micu Mc Donald”. «Here in the north he would be like a little dot on a white wall. In Platì it is his environment and he is protected».

The figure of Giuseppe Grillo “the wild boar”
The investigations had made it possible to ascertain how his time as a fugitive had been managed mainly by Giuseppe Grillo (class of '74) known as "the wild boar", who ended up in handcuffs in the "Millennium" operation of the Reggio Calabria DDA. According to the investigators, in fact, it was he who "managed and coordinated the other accomplices in the functioning of the complicated mechanism for protecting the fugitive". Over 110 telephone lines used by family members and individuals believed to be supporters were intercepted, as well as several cars used by the alleged supporters and video footage of the area where the wanted man lived, as well as the center of hypothetical illicit activities carried out by them. Accusatory material useful for locating and capturing Barbaro, enriched by conversations and communications between those present and the integrated satellite radiolocalization service, which took place on board the Fiat 500X registered to the fugitive's niece.

Wiretaps in the car
In one of the many wiretaps, for example, Francesco Perre (born in 1978 ), also reached by a custodial order in prison, asks Giuseppe Grillo: «Whose turn will it be tomorrow?» . For the investigators, the meaning of this question is to be understood in knowing which person will have to deal with the fugitive, a concept that is immediately supported by the other words pronounced by Perre: «He's the one who disrupts everything», and again Grillo: «Practically when he's here everything falls apart!». For the investigators, therefore, the literal and deductive analysis of the wiretapped dialogue allows them to attribute to Giuseppe Grillo «specific criminal conduct related to the management of his fugitive brother-in-law».
The investigators also managed to intercept a conversation between Grillo and his fugitive brother-in-law, Rocco Barbaro. It is March 4, 2017 when the latter, aboard the Fiat 500X asks: «(…) what do you say, should I get down?». And Grillo replies: «(…) do you want to duck? Go slowly… Your jacket? Don't you have your jacket?». Grillo, therefore, was the driver of the vehicle, alone with the fugitive. For the investigators, therefore, he was the first person to expose himself «directly to protect the wanted man, in compliance with the 'ndrangheta traditions par excellence», obviously aware of the risks associated with his work.
For the investigators, this conversation is nothing other than the prelude to the investigative system that will reward the commitment and effort spent in the search and capture of the fugitive. Thus the advice to “duck” and wear a “jacket” would represent without a shadow of a doubt the «having to follow precise directives and methods necessary to hide the corpulence of Rocco Barbaro», observe the investigators.

The prelude to the capture
The chronological documentation of the investigative activity leads up to May 7, 2017. The investigators immortalize Giuseppe Grillo aboard the monitored vehicle near the entrance door of the building of the daughters of the fugitive, Rocco Barbaro, who got out of the back of the vehicle. Shortly after, Grillo gets back behind the wheel of the vehicle to continue driving. It is at this point that the investigators now recognize without any doubt Rocco Barbaro “U sparitu” getting out of the car and quickly gaining, crouched, the entrance to the building. The irrefutable proof of the reliability of the investigative intuitions of the Carabinieri. The hypothesized conjectures, in fact, will find confirmation and confirmation with the arrest of the wanted man on May 8, 2017. The rest is history. (g.curcio@corrierecal.it)