https://www.reggiotoday.it/cronaca/...io-ndrangheta-operazione-millennium.htmlThe glossary
"Picciotto", "sgarrista" and "santista": here is the secret vocabulary of the 'ndrangheta
Operation "Millennium" reveals the most powerful mafia code among rites, talents and hierarchies
Investigated persons filmed during surveillance activity
Asystem that speaks in code, that affiliates with ceremonies, that governs with gifts and positions as in an initiatory order. It is the 'ndrangheta described in the documents of the "Millennium" operation, of the Carabinieri and coordinated by the District Anti-Mafia Directorate of Reggio Calabria, headed by the acting prosecutor Giuseppe Lombardo, who reveals not only its military and operational structure, but also its language.
An ancient, sharp, symbolic lexicon. Words like locale, copied, baptism, picciotto, crime: not simple terms, but fragments of a mafia alphabet that regulates the entry, growth and internal control of the organization. A language that fascinates, seduces, creates identity.
This is how the 'ndrangheta manages to attract young people: by promising belonging, honor, power. But under that veneer of tradition, there is only a ferocious, hierarchical, impermeable criminal system that educates silence and commands with fear.
To understand these words – to truly understand them – is to decipher the organization itself. Because in the 'ndrangheta, language does not describe power: it exercises it.
An investigation that, in addition to the names and roles of the suspects, returns a structured and deeply codified world, with words that, if decontextualized, could seem innocuous but that instead reveal the backbone of one of the most deep-rooted and pervasive criminal organizations in the world.
The 'ndrangheta is not improvisation. It is structure. It is hierarchical power. It is above all loyalty to a language, a code that has its identity cement in rituality. According to investigators, "the rigorous respect of rituals is the rule, a qualifying point of the bond that unites the associates".
The lexicon of (criminal) honor
During the investigation – which is linked, in its symbolic references, to the "Crimine" proceedings – terms such as "locale", "ndrina", "dote", "battesimo", "copiata" were frequently used. All elements of the internal vocabulary of the 'Ndrangheta, which outline a deep-rooted mafia structure that is anything but amateur.
The or " locale" is the basic organizational structure of the 'ndrangheta, which has its headquarters (the so-called "mother house") in a specific Calabrian municipality, with possible branches outside. The term "' ndrina " refers to the clan or family to which the mafioso belongs. The "detached" 'ndrina is the clan established in a different locality from the original one and therefore operating in a territory other than the Calabrian municipality of reference. Obviously the "locale" is made up of affiliates belonging to more than one 'ndrine.
The " locale" is the basic organizational cell: a sort of "territorial branch" based in a Calabrian municipality (the so-called "mother house"), but potentially replicable anywhere. Inside the locale, several "' ndrine" coexist , that is, mafia families, some "detached" and operating outside their territory of origin.
Each "locale" is divided into two sections: the " major society" , which gathers the leaders and the highest talents, and the minor society , composed of lower-ranking affiliates, the so-called "picciotti", "camorristi" and "sgarristi".
The " banco" is the group of elected and non-elected positions that govern the local government. It can be defined as a sort of board of directors of a company in its territorial articulations. The term "banco nuovo" refers to the formation and identification of new social managers. According to the iron rule of the 'ndrangheta, - we read in the documents of the investigation - those in a lower position cannot and must not know superiors, therefore it is quite possible that the knowledge of some (even of some interlocutors who do not occupy a top position) is only partial.
The "gifts" of the hierarchy
The "copiata" is the list of three names of the members that a participant must remember as they are the ones who have affiliated him or who have given him a promotion in rank, attributing him a higher "dowry".
The " dowry" or "grade" or "flower" defines the position in the hierarchy of each affiliate, explaining the "value" of the member within the group. As the value increases, the dowry itself grows and the affiliate acquires a higher rank.
They are the following: "young man of honor, picciotto of honor, camorrista, sgarrista, santista, gospel, three-quarter, quarter, godfather".
Within the sector called "major company", some of the leaders hold positions (temporary or lifelong) and perform very specific functions: the "local boss" is in charge of the club. Unlike the other positions, the local boss carries out his mandate without time limits, except for health or family problems. The position is therefore lifelong.
The "company boss" is to be considered the vice-chief of the local boss and is an elective position; the (elective) position of "accountant" belongs to the affiliate who has the economic responsibility of the club;
The "crime" (not to be confused with the unitary structure also called Province) can be defined as the structure - function covered and carried out by the affiliates who are responsible for the violent actions attributable to the clubs. It can also coincide only with the person responsible for planning and executing the criminal actions of the club.
The "mastro di giorno" is the affiliate who has the task of controlling the territory and of coordinating the affiliates of the larger company and the smaller company operating in the area of ??competence of the group. He informs the affiliates of any news, taking charge of maintaining contact between the individual members and distributing the tasks. He also has the task of informing the members of the convocation of the meetings. This position is also temporary and elective.
The qualities of the larger company
They are: the "saint", which is the first quality with which one is admitted to be part of the larger company; the "gospel"; the "godfather"
As for the positions of the minor society: the "youth leader" who is the one who commands the minor society. This is an elective position. He holds the so-called "mezza", a function that allows him to act as an intermediary between the major society and the minor society, reporting to the local club leader. The " puntaiolo" who is the one who supervises the behavior of the young affiliates and reports to the young leader. This is an elective position, the "picciotto di giornata" is the equivalent in the minor society of the role covered by the mastro di giorno in the major society.
The qualities of the minor society
I am the "picciotto" which is the first degree and is achieved through an affiliation ceremony called "baptism" or "tail cutting"; "camorrista" which is the intermediate rank within the "minor society" and "sgarrista" which is the highest rank of the "minor society".
Dark Charm and Social Control
The language of the 'Ndrangheta is therefore not only a form of internal communication, but a true instrument of power. Each term has a function. Each rank corresponds to a responsibility. Each ritual consolidates the criminal identity of the group.
And it is precisely this loyalty to the codes, the investigators further explain, that is one of the organisation's greatest strengths: "thanks to them, the 'ndrangheta manages to exercise, in addition to the typical forms of intimidation, a real fascination on those who aspire to join its ranks, making itself available for the most varied criminal purposes".
The "vocabulary of the 'Ndrangheta", which emerged from the documents, is not just a list of terms. It is the proof of a criminal system alive, widespread, still capable of seducing and threatening. An obscure language that tells much more than it seems: it tells the very heart of mafia power.
© Reproduction reserved
Paola Suraci
Paola Suraci
Journalist
June 03, 2025 10:35
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"Picciotto", "sgarrista" and "santista": here is the secret vocabulary of the 'ndrangheta
https://www.reggiotoday.it/cronaca/...io-ndrangheta-operazione-millennium.html© ReggioToday
