Italian Mafia boss Raffaele Imperiale becomes government witness in move that shocks narco underworld - Went on epic spending sprees (€7 million in 3 months)
See: https://gangstersinc.org/blog/italian-mafia-boss-raffaele-imperiale-becomes-government-witness

This is huge news and will have a big impact on crime groups in South America and Europe. Irish mob boss Daniel Kinahan must be feeling really sick right now.

big news he also worked with the 'Ndrangheta

Very interesting article (and development) GI.

The other statements come from his companion Bruno Carbone and Raffaele Mauriello. All three belonged to the so-called Separatists (Scissionisti) who were involved in a camorra war over drug trafficking with the Di Lauro clan in northern Naples. They formed an important hub in the international cocaine trade.

Bruno Carbone is also considered one of the biggest drug traffickers in the world. In fact, for years he allegedly managed the relationship with the Colombians. Thanks to his dominant position in Spain, he also facilitated the rise of the sicilian mafia clan "Cappello-Carateddi".

According to what has been learned at the moment, only Imperiale has "repented". But the others will probably follow if they are reliable.
Raffaele Mauriello is a suspect in at least 5 murders in an internal clan feud.

Thanks!

Getting one’s hands bloody - Profile of Camorra Mafia boss Raffaele Mauriello https://gangstersinc.org/blog/getting-one-s-hands-bloody-profile-of-camorra-mafia-boss-raffaele

Raffaele Imperiale pentito, mentions the first names: “Money from drug dealing recycled into gold bars. Every month I spent 400 thousand euros”
editorial board
8 December 2022

It's a raging river Raffaele Imperiale , by now the most famous ex narcos in the world, now repentant, has released the first statements as a collaborator of justice providing the first details on the earnings made in the world of drugs, the money spent to support the business and those for recycling. Four interrogations in the last two months, the first names of the partners and affiliates of the powerful globetrotting narcos appear.

He says he left his partner a cash of 18 million euros. And he says that he spent – ??for years – every month between 350,000 and 400,000 euros a month , money that was used «for the salaries of their members (the high-end ones pocketed up to 20,000 euros a month, complete with thirteenth and fourteenth salaries ), but also for the families of prisoners, for the insurance of cars and trucks to be used to transport cocaine and for the management of ordinary expenses.

Deal money in gold bullion
«I invested in gold bars, I know that they sell foils in Naples. I got the ingots from a company, a foundry in the north near Venice». In this scenario, Imperiale brings up some partners, including Anastasio, Ursini and Genovese, claiming to have invested in an important shopping center (specializing in precious items) in Campania. A deal, that of the bullion, which would have produced revenues of twenty million a month ».

According to the account recorded in the minutes, Imperiale had long since decided not to deal directly with drugs. He worked on various platforms, thanks to encrypted circuits such as Sky ECC, an app used on smartphones for interception-proof conversations: «I had decided to deal only with economic flows» , he explained.

The Imperial narcos: "Even the 'Ndrangheta bought drugs from me"

The newly repentant Raffaele Imperiale talks about relations with the Calabrian gangs and "safe havens" such as Gioia Tauro where to get drugs from South America

The Calabrian gang of the Mammoliti bought hundreds and hundreds of kilograms of cocaine from the drug trafficker Raffaele Imperiale who has become a pentito for two months.

This was revealed by the Van Gogh boss himself (so nicknamed for having come into possession of two very precious canvases by the Flemish painter, kept for a long time and then found again) in one of the four reports filed in recent days by the Neapolitan investigating office to the judges of the Naples Review.

Business, Raffaele Imperiale says, accelerated in 2016, after the arrest of Rocco Mammoliti and the takeover of his brother Giuseppe . Relations between Imperiale and the clan worsened after the theft of an important quantity of drugs, 140 kilos.

The Calabrians stole 140 kilograms of cocaine from Imperiale and he severed relations.

Imperiale explains to the Neapolitan magistrates that some Calabrian affiliates had carried out the "coup". The cheat did not go unpunished and even a murder passed off as an account settlement for sentimental affairs escaped us. Imperiale and Giuseppe Mammoliti came to an agreement: they would share the losses.

But in any case, 500 thousand euros did not arrive from Calabria. From that moment on, the Mammoliti began to ask for smaller quantities of cocaine, but always received a refusal from Imperiale.
It was a perfect system, which for years had allowed him to become the point of reference for international drug trafficking in Europe. Logistic bases, or rather "unsuspected houses" located in several parts of Italy. Safe ports, "with large commercial ships that make intercontinental routes" and "changers" , trusted men who turned over money and cleaned it up.

It is Raffaele Imperiale, the boss who also owned two stolen Van Goghs, who told the DDA prosecutors about it. Last November 10, in a report recently filed by the prosecutors, the king of drug trafficking reconstructed in minute detail the modus operandi of the organization he created, which had powerful Neapolitan and Calabrian gangs as 'clients' and in excellent relations with the cartels South Americans.

"Mario Cerrone was initially in charge of logistics and relations with Italian criminal groups, who were then taken over by Daniele Ursini and Bruno Carbone", he explains, admitting that he arrived in Dubai in 2010 , with 100 million worth of cocaine hidden in Naples at the unbeknownst to the Amato-Pagano clan , fruit of his 'business' in Brazil , and from there to have used encrypted platforms to manage his interests in every corner of the world.

Initially, the Amato-Paganos of the Neapolitan neighborhood of Secondigliano "dealed with the distribution on the territory" of his drug. After the cocaine order, “everything fell under the responsibility of Ursini who managed the delivery. He contacted the customer directly and wrote down the quantity delivered and the customer's name. Then at least once a month, even more often, we compared it with the one kept by me, who kept the global accounts of all the operations”.

The work was always on credit “and the quicker the customers paid, the quicker we made further supplies. It was a swirling system in constant motion. The transport of money took place with 'system' machines, therefore with physical movement. The delivery took place in a place identified by the customer, where we usually took care of collecting it, then our money was moved to our house where the money was counted and divided and then kept in special shelves".

The villas available to the organization “were around ten, props for drugs and money, you certainly never managed to enter two of them. In one of those you went to, 250 kilos were not discovered and then sold by the Amato-Paganos” , he says.

The seaways of drug trafficking
Today in Europe, 2,500 euros are earned for every kilo of cocaine. The group transported the drugs through the ports of Gioia Tauro , obviously Naples, Algeciras in Spain , Belgium , Rotterdam , Germany and Latvia.

Imperiale's network managed contacts in the Ivory Coast and in two years it completed countless operations, for tons of cocaine sailing from Turbo, in Colombia and above all from Cristóbal , in Panama , also used as a hub by Brazil and Ecuador , with destination Gioia Tauro .

From Holland the drug traveled by road
“We had at least eight stationary trucks available for transport from the Netherlands, of which at least 3-4 were ready to load. All the carriers had a legitimate cover business, except for one Slovak who worked only for us.

We always worked on credit, the faster the customers paid, the faster we made further supplies. After the payment, the money was moved to one of our houses where it was counted, divided and then kept in special holders. The group had a dozen villas for "support" where up to 10 million in cash could be hidden".

The Italian investigations against Lelluccio allow his name to be compared to those of the criminals believed to be at the head of drug cartels involved in the so-called Mocro War in Holland and Belgium , which caused over 40 deaths.
So it's about Taghi Ridouan and Rico Riquelme Vega: the first awaiting trial, the second captured in Chile in 2017 and extradited to Holland where he was sentenced. Elements that would be attributable to an organization with mafia characteristics made up of criminals of various nationalities all based in the United Arab Emirates.

Are all the rats Italian, or does it just seem like that?

There are still rats in italian mafias more than before especially in the ndragheta thanks to LE pressare.

i think most of them flip because of 41bis

41bis is for sure the main reason why high ranking members flip.

Long terms and 41 bis. Some criminals like Cosimo Di Lauro dont feared the 41 bis but many criminals can't say goodbye to their luxury lives so even a month in 41 bis it's unsustainable for them.

Nabil Bakkali is an important crown witness against those guys he's the first from the Moroccan milieu. There are more Moroccans who made statements but not official.

In his own words Imperiale severed ties with the Amato-Pagano clan, he didn't trust them anymore instead he started to supply cocaine all over Naples.

Thanks for the feedback, guys. The reason I asked is because this guy has connections on several continents and will be snitching on people from several different criminal organizations around the world, in the past rats from the Italian Mafia were only talking about Italy. This doesn't look good because it appears that the other ethnic gangsters are keeping their mouths shut while this lone Italian is singing. But as Hollander pointed out others are ratting too.

Not the ndrangheta guy! Same level cocaine brokers tied to ndrangheta are doing their times without speak.

in italy there are nigerian (black axe/vikings) and albanian turncoats who started to sing after sent to 41bis, like i said the 41bis is a very good reason to flip

Much of the intel in these cases comes from the huge hack of Sky ECC, so internationally many agencies including DEA and FBI are now involved for example the Kinahans face serious sanctions by the US and are likely to end up in a US prison some day.

I think this guy was just so used to such a lavish lifestyle. Funny thing is, he'll probably resurface several years from now running his own clan back in the fold as often happens with turncoats in Italy.

He was already planning to retire one last huge shipment he said than they would have enough.
In the past he also made a deal with authorities involving the two stolen Van Gogh paintings.

Anyone who can afford the lifestyle he had in a place like Dubai already has or had enough to retire.

I wonder if this guy ever met Vito Rizzuto lol

It's official also Carbone repents!

The newly repentant Bruno Carbone spills the beans: "25% shareholder with Imperiale, in Naples drug money was managed by 'Il Bello'"
Antonio Mangione
December 12, 2022

He is considered the loyalist of Raffale Imperiale , his right arm. And in fact he followed him even after his arrest, deciding to pass by the state too. We are talking about Bruno Carbone , Giugliano's narcos also arrested in Dubai and became a collaborator of justice, just like the imperial one. Carbone made some statements to the magistrates. On 22 November, in the magistrates' room of the Rebibbia prison
, in front of the Public Prosecutors dr. Maurizio De Marco and Dr. Lucio Giugliano , Deputy Prosecutors of the Republic at the Court of Naples.

“I and Imperiale were at the head of the organization dedicated to drug dealing”, admits Carbone, who then reveals the names and roles of each participant: “Omitted, he kept the accounts, moved the money electronically, based on our orders. For example, in Naples the money was handed over to a person who deposited it in accounts, and the money
reappeared, for example, in South America. The nickname of the person to whom the money was handed over in Naples is "Il Bello" and after he was arrested, there was another person whose name I can't remember now.

“I started working with Imperiale towards the end of 2014/beginning of 2015, but I'm not sure.
Anyway since just before I moved from Holland to Dubai.
Over time I entered into a partnership with him. I was a 25% shareholder, with another 25% the costs were paid, and the remaining 50% belonged to Imperiale.
Clients of our organization were: San Giovanni a Teduccio, Torre
Annunziata, Melito, Fuorigrotta, the Calabrians, an Apulian and a Roman".

Carbone is a flooded river and tells all the details about who gave support and structures for drugs and money. “There was a cousin of mine, he worked for me, he too starting around 2016, or rather starting from 2017, managed the supports in Campania, in the Castel Volturno, Licola, Lago Patria area. Some clients had direct contact with him. He organized supports and transfers.
As for transport from Holland, I had a company from Slovakia, which worked with me. I confirm that his name is BOBO. We bought the trucks, one was confiscated. They loaded into Holland. They often unloaded in the North (Emilia Romagna) and then from here
the loads passed on to the machines to get to Naples".

Fucking rats

Looks like they didn't have much dealings with Sicilians.

Carbone had sure links with clans from Catania, but the sicilian mafia is currently supplied by 'ndrangheta with cocaine and to lesser extent by some camorra groups

Carbone had links to Maria Rosaria Campagna a very influential broker with strong ties to most ports in Italy in particular Napels she is also the partner of Turi Cappello head of a very powerful Cosa Nostra family in Catania.

Imperiale as well as Carbone will be careful in what they are going to tell the magistrates who they are going to imply and who not.

I am sure they won't tell a lot of stuff.

Yeah most of the other evidence will come from the 100 million Sky chats, but that's a complicated investigation and several trials related to Sky are already difficult because judges can't always value that evidence. With all that crypto shit it's a new ball game.

I read that some courts won't accept SKY as evidence.

he is not talking about the links with Taghi, Gacanin and Kinahan

Funny how none of those 3 guys you mentioned flipped, which makes it seem as though only the Italians are ratting. Pretty soon no one is going to want to do business with the Italian Mafia because they're rats.

Not yet, Imperiale was in particular close with Rico the Chilean one of the most important members of the Super Cartel.

Yep there have been cases with Sky-ECC evidence in court dismissed, but in other cases courts found the evidence reliable.
Operation Sky ECC is also delayed in Belgium due to 'unreadable CD-ROMs' and lack of proper computers.

In March, one year after the hack of SkY, 276 new investigations had been opened and 888 suspects identified, last week other suspects were arrested in Belgium. At the end of the year about 1.000 suspects and the seizure of 100 tonnes of drugs.

Imperiale already told about his start in the Amsterdam underworld he was a partner of Rick van de Bunt killed in Madrid in 2008 and Frank Scharrenberg killed in Marbella in 2013.

Depends from court to court , SKY hack resulted in most powerful group in Serbia getting arrested , right now they are trying to dismiss SKY evidence. It's unbelievable how comfortable everyone felt with sky , they shared literally everything on there.

Imperiale paid millions of euros to the eldest son of Taghi in 2021 this proofs Justice say the son leads the drug organization after Taghi's arrest.

Why did he give millions to the son?

In trucks they moved at least 1500 kilos coke from Holland to Italy on the way back the trucks brought back the cash for the 22 year old son

I read that Taghi's son is engaged to Imperiale's daughter but i don't know if it is true

If it's true, I wonder how he feels knowing that his father-in-law is a rat.

The hypocrisy of it all is that Amsterdam-based drug trafficker Rick van de Bunt most probably was whacked by someone in Imperiale's circle because he (presumably) made a deal to get a lighter sentence and now Imperiale himself is becoming a pentito. If he truly is gonna sing as much as law enforcement says he's going to, it's gonna be extremely bad news for the Kinahan, Taghi and Gacanin organizations. He's going to bring the whole house down.

In the files is mentioned that Imperiale had a debt of 17 million to Taghi.

Some pentiti actually plays with the Italian government’s heads, not really giving much of anything. That might be the case with Imperiale.

The Taghi's are verry worried if he talks about Ridouan. He must know what the consequences are if he does they go after anybody close to him.

The Taghi, Kinahan and Gacanin groups already have so much heat on them from law enforcement it'll be interesting to see how they're gonna recover from this.

Meanwhile there's still tons of cocaine passing through the Antwerp and Rotterdam ports so there must be lots and lots of other big players operating right now as we speak.

Jos Leijdekkers is the big target here now closely tied to the Montenegrins.

Those guys from the Balkans have already major cocaine connections I believe they were behind the record bust in Philadelphia.

On June 18, 2019, federal authorities seized 39,525 pounds or nearly 20 tons of cocaine at the Port of Philadelphia's Packer Marine Terminal.

Yes, but he's on the run and has a lot of heat on him as well. Many people in his network also got busted or are on the run.
Ridouan Taghi, Jos Leijdekkers, Said Razzouki, Mohamed Nyabi, Piet Costa, Henk Ebben, Piet Schneider, Martien Reuvers, Piet Wortel...are all names that got on the radar of law enforcement and are under the microscope to such an extent that I don't see them being involved in big time criminal dealings at the moment.

There's other big fish out there currently operating that law enforcement still haven't been able to identify or still haven't been able to make a case against.

True last year they seized 160 tons in the two biggest container ports of Europe, Rotterdam and Antwerp, both considered in the milieu as one. 80% at least is still making it to the market.The old drugbarons will just be replaced by others.

I know words can be lost in translation but what's the bolded ,underlined part mean?someone getting extra? Bonus?

With this and the recent Sicilian big boss capture, interesting times.
Re informers: I'd be surprised if Italian oc is more ' rat' infested than other western white cultures. Or maybe the image is just that , an image

@dsd if you have a regular job people often get at the end of the year a thirteenth month paid out and sometimes fourteenth month.
Working for the camorra people get it also.

It doesn't sound like Imperiale is really trying to get anyone specifically in trouble, just explaining how the business works.

These fuckers here were dealing in serious amounts of money, we're talking about truck loads.

I think a lot has to do with the Italian prosecutors, don't forget they a dealing with these guys for decades, Falcone for example could really relate to them and had developed a strong bond for example with Buscetta.

I think it's give and take, the underworld over there somehow continues to function and many "former" rats turn up as players again.

That's not uncommon for European criminal organizations. Those groups make tons and tons of money.

The big downside is that, especially these days, Western Europe is fighting its own "war on drugs" and most groups only have a few solid years at the top before they're getting crushed. Usually it takes about a year and a half for a major criminal organization to get on law enforcement's radar. This is why the non-Italian European organized crime landscape has become such a big revolving door with dozens of (relatively) smaller groups scattered around any major city that are either at each other's throats or on the run from law enforcement. They deal in gigantic amounts of cash, but there's little if any stability.

Raffaelle Imperiale is said to speak four languages: Italian, English, Spanish and Dutch.
Imperiale's organization in the Netherlands clearly shows how criminal undermining, the mixing of underworld and upperworld, works in practice, says investigative journalist Koen Voskuil of RTL News. “These Italians abuse the legal economy in the Netherlands.”

“For example, Dutch companies are located in the warehouses in which they replace a deck cargo with cocaine. It must be striking that Italians are messing around with packets of white powder and shopping bags full of banknotes.”

“Transport companies in the Netherlands are also very concerned. For example, the Italian criminal file mentions 80 kilos of cocaine that can be collected from a transport company near Schiphol. The Italian mafia makes grateful use of the Netherlands as a transport country and the open borders in Europe.”

The statements of the arrested Mafia boss Imperiale will reach far beyond Italy
The arrested mafia boss Raffaele Imperiale played a key role in an alternative banking system for criminals. That is why his statements are of great concern to criminals at home and abroad.

Jan Meeus
January 28, 2023
Reading time 3 minutes
In August 2021, the Italian Raffaele Imperiale was arrested in Dubai on suspicion of drug trafficking. After his arrest, he made a deal with the Italian judiciary: he will cooperate in the investigation into drug trafficking in exchange for a reduced sentence.
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It is the question that currently concerns criminals in the Netherlands and far beyond: is my name mentioned in the statements of the Italian mafia boss Raffaele Imperiale? At the end of last year it was announced that mafia boss Imperiale had signed a crown witness deal with the Italian government after his arrest in Dubai.

A joint publication this weekend by Follow the Money and RTL Nieuws makes it clear why. Italian files show that Imperiale was much more than an international drug trafficker. He has also played a crucial role in channeling and investing many tens of millions of euros made from drug smuggling.

That is why more and more criminals from home and abroad are calling their lawyer these days about Imperiale's statement, which is said to be at least six hundred pages: do you know who all are mentioned?

Son of Taghi
According to Follow the Money and RTL News , the Italian files mention financial transactions between Imperiale, Ridouan Taghi and one of his sons. According to those documents, Taghi would be owed 17 million by Imperiale. In decrypted message traffic between Imperiale and Taghi's son, it is discussed that in February 2021, 2.5 million euros would have been transported by truck from Italy to the Netherlands in three tranches. This is in line with the conclusion in a recent judgment of the Amsterdam court, which states that Imperiale, Taghi and his son are members of a criminal organization that focuses on drug smuggling and money laundering, among other things.

Findings from recent police investigations show that these types of transactions take place almost daily, nationally and internationally. That investigation is being carried out by the ACM task force, which stands for Approach to Criminal Power Structures. This task force, set up after the murder of Peter R. de Vries in 2021, has investigated criminal money flows in the millions of decrypted messages seized between 2016 and 2021 from various crypto communication services such as Ennetcom, Encrochat and SKY Ecc.

Pay without money
The results of that investigation confirm what criminals have been saying for a long time: the regular banking system is not or hardly used when settling major drug deals. In fact, there is a parallel payment system that is used exclusively by criminals. To break the power of criminal networks, the police want to disrupt this criminal payment system. In addition, according to the Dutch investigative services, this new insight can lead to a fundamental reassessment of the approach of the policy to tackle money laundering of criminal money.

The basic principle of criminal banking is that drug suppliers, smuggling organizations and their buyers act in confidence and thereby complete their transactions as much as possible without cash being passed over the table. For example, a batch of cocaine can be paid for with a batch of ecstasy or the raw materials needed for the production of drugs. An outstanding debt in South America can also be paid with a shipment of clothing that is worth much more than the export papers. That is a simple example of transactions that are usually much more complex and run through different companies or different continents.

moneyman
That payment system has its limits and at certain times you have to pay with real money. A criminal network of brokers and bankers is then used to bring together the supply and demand of cash for a fee, often a percentage of the transaction sum. The transaction between Imperiale and Taghi from the Italian documents is a striking example of this. Apparently, Imperiale owes Taghi 17 million euros. And because Taghi needs money – for what is not clear – part of that debt is settled in cash. According to the police, these types of transactions take place at all levels of the drug economy: local, national and international.

These days, more and more criminals are calling their lawyer about Imperiale's statement: do you know who all are mentioned?

Various sources confirm that Imperiale plays a central role in this criminal money circuit. He not only trades in cocaine, but is also a money man , according to the Italian documents. There, Imperiale is portrayed as “the protagonist of a money laundering network with branches to Italy, France, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, Hungary, Croatia, the United Arab Emirates, Lebanon, Hong Kong and Singapore”.

Imperiale therefore knows how money flows, where that money has ended up and by whom it is managed. And that is why his testimony causes a lot of unrest - among the men who are handling blocks of cocaine, but also among retired criminals who have laundered their earned money and invested it in legal activities or companies.

That fear is not unjustified, given a detail in the Italian crown witnesses scheme. The law states that Imperiale, as a pentito (regrettant), must tell everything about the wealth obtained through criminal activities in the past and present. So he must declare about every company, investment or property, even if he has invested in it together with others.

Backseat conversations
Sources in Amsterdam compare Imperiale's testimony with the confidential conversations the late Willem Endstra had with the police in 2003 in the back seat of his armored BMW. Underworld banker Endstra feared for his life because he was pressured by various criminal investors to return invested criminal assets. His violent death in 2004 was one in a long line of assassinations all connected to this conflict over criminal money.

Raffaele Imperiale lived a rich life in Dubai
A similar conflict is feared now that Raffaele Imperiale is talking to the police. But then on an international scale. Where Endstra lived in Amsterdam Oud-Zuid and often worked for Dutch criminals, Imperiale lived in Dubai and worked not only with criminals from the Netherlands, but also with Bosnians, Italians, Irish and Spaniards. As a result, the significance of his statements extends far beyond Italy. And that also applies to the violent or non-violent consequences.

Seems like it's always an Italian spilling the beans lol.

Italian Police Seize Weapons Haul From Van Gogh-Loving Mobster

By Reuters
|
March 2, 2023, at 7:29 a.m.

ROME (Reuters) - Italian police said on Thursday they had seized a large stash of weapons from the home of Raffaele Imperiale, a detained mafia boss who previously made headlines for possessing a couple of stolen Vincent Van Gogh paintings.

According to a statement by the Naples prosecutor's office, police found more than 80 weapons hidden under the garage floor of Imperiale's house, including three Kalashnikov rifles, a grenade, and 5,067 rounds of ammunition of various calibres.

In 2016 police recovered two Van Gogh paintings, stolen from an Amsterdam museum in 2002, from one of Imperiale's properties near to Naples. Each was worth an estimated 50 million euros ($58 million).

Imperiale is alleged to be a key figure in international drug trafficking and money laundering and to have a close relationship with the Camorra mafia centred around Naples.

He was arrested in Dubai in 2021 and extradited to Italy the following year.

Very interesting, a year ago they arrested a Dutch soldier. The arrested commando, who is linked to Ridouan Taghi's network, traded more than 1,000 weapons or parts thereof, according to the Dutch Public Prosecution Service (OM). He is also said to have smuggled 260 kilos of cocaine and shared secret information about the Commando Corps and his colleagues.
According to the Public Prosecution Service in the Netherlands, the sergeant major from Rotterdam would have traded about 250 assault rifles, 250 pistols and 570 machine guns or parts thereof. The soldier knows Gregory F., considered a criminal contact of Taghi. This F. was arrested in a hotel in Curaçao last September at the request of the Netherlands.
Surinamese Dutchman Gregory 'Greg' Ivan Wendell F. is seen as 'heir to the throne' of Taghi. Greg F. has often been spotted in Suriname and is involved in arms trade,and this F. would, maintain contacts at the highest level in Suriname.

The trial began in Naples on Friday.

Dubbed the narco trial of the century in Italy, the court will hear over the next few weeks how drugs boss Raffaele Imperiale controlled a massive money- laundering and cocaine business from the Emirates.

It will detail how he played a key role in forming Europe’s super-cartel along with the Kinahan Cartel, Dutch-Moroccan criminals and a Balkan-based mob called, the Dino and Tito Cartel.

Imperiale is accused of having imported at least seven tons of cocaine into Europe from 2017 to 2021 from his base in Dubai.

Raffaele Imperiale
Raffaele Imperiale

As well as the drug shipments, Italian law officials also allege Imperiale played a leading role in operating a transnational money-laundering operation.

Judge Maria Luisa Miranda will hear how Imperiale’s group laundered and sent money abroad using the Hawala system.

It is claimed that the laundered cash was used to buy gold between Naples and Vicenza, which was then sent onto Holland.

According to Italian magistrates, Imperiale laundered enormous of “profits generated by drug trafficking, through a corporate network.”

Imperiale is accused of buying shipments of cocaine from the notorious Clan del Golfo which were then hidden inside containers and brought into European seaports.

Colombia’s Clan del Golfo are seen as the biggest single distributors of cocaine in the world.

They are widely reported to have been the suppliers of the €157 million cocaine haul which was seized from the MV Matthew off the coast of Cork.

Italian prosecutors are claiming Imperiale forged alliances with key European drug gangs, including the Kinahan Cartel and the Netherlands’ Moroccan mafia, to work together.

They have claimed Imperiale’s allies include “South American and European drug traffickers of the highest level: both Colombians from the infamous paramilitary formations known as Clan del Golfo, and Dutch of Moroccan origin who in the meantime established themselves on the scene among the main criminal groups in the control of cocaine trafficking from South America in the ports of Rotterdam (Netherlands) and Antwerp (Belgium), both Irish”.

Unlike Mafia trials in the past where bosses stuck to the code of ‘Omerta’, Imperiale has already agreed to give evidence in the case.

And he is not alone.

Imperiale’s right-hand man, Bruno Carbone, has also chosen to become a ‘collaborator of justice’ and give evidence.

Carbone had been based in Dubai but fled to Syria after Imperiale was arrested.

Bizarrely, he tried to strike a deal with a Syrian Islamist group – the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham militia – for protection but they double-crossed him and took him hostage.

They ultimately decided to hand him over to the Italian authorities.

According to reports, once Carbone arrived in Italy, he bent down to kiss the ground and agreed to give evidence.

Imperiale’s money man, Corrado Genovese, and accountant, Daniele Ursini, will also be brought before the court.

Genovese has given a statement explaining how the entire drug business was able to operate thanks to so-called “exchangemen”.

These exchangemen circulate the money raised through criminal activities and make it available to anyone who needs it across the world.

Most of the exchangemen use the Hawala system, a traditional honour-based transfer system used for generations in the Middle East. Genovese has claimed this ‘parallel finance’ system enabled the super-cartel to bypass law enforcement.

Next week, the trial will hear how Europol hacked into encrypted phone networks and built up a detailed diary one of the most powerful criminal organisations.

The court will hear how Imperiale and his associates provided an enormous amount of material – texts, photos, videos – which ended up in the hands of magistrates.

https://www.sundayworld.com/crime/i...ahan-cartels-uae-hideout/a688201795.html

I'm actually going to go out on a limb here and say that Italy is the toughest European country on organized crime. That's how they're able to get such big informants. You don't hear anything about informants of that magnitude in other European countries from other organized crime groups. Either that or Italian gangsters just love to talk, it has to be one of the two.

He faced drug trafficking and mafia charges so they are more likely to talk.

Drug Laws in Italy are no joke.

If the association is armed, the punishment cannot be less than twenty-four years in prison (for the organizers of the association) and not less than twelve years for the other associates.

The association is considered armed when the participants have availability of weapons or explosives, even if hidden or stored.

The penalties provided by the drug laws are decreased by half to two-thirds for whoever successfully provides evidences of the offense or to remove decisive resources for the commission of crimes.

I'm willing to bet that guys like Imperiale and Carbone serve short sentences and walk free, possibly even jumping right back into the game. Remember Vito Roberto Palazzolo of Cosa Nostra? He didn't last too long in custody. Guys like that just have too much money. It's different though for bosses like Salvatore Riina, Bernardo Provenzano, and Matteo Messina Denaro because they were directly responsible for dozens of murders including members of the State. So no amount of money could save them. But these wealthy brokers aren't locked up for too long before they're back in the wind again.

I agree and who knows how much money they still have hidden around the world.

Hollander here's a perfect example of what I'm talking about. Here's a Turkish gangster who got a slap on the wrist, you never hear about Mafiosi or Italian mobsters getting off so easy:

Necati Arabaci, aka Neco, is a Turkish businessman, outlaw biker, and gangster who was formerly active in Cologne, Germany, and now lives in Turkey. In 2002, he was arrested in Germany for pimping, human trafficking, extortion, weapons violations, and racketeering. He confessed during his trial in 2004 and was sentenced to 9 years. ONLY SERVED 3 YEARS and was released in 2007 and deported to Turkey.

Colombia: cocaine trafficking to Italy reconstructed and the role of Raffaele Imperiale
November 11, 2023
At least three shipments of Colombian cocaine between 2020 and 2022, totaling 3,455 kilos, were made from Colombia to the Italian port of Gioia Tauro, Calabria, in a relationship between local drug traffickers and mobster Bartolo Bruzzaniti . In a reconstruction of these illicit trafficking, the Colombian independent journalism portal Vorágine underlined that the largest load, 2,226 kilos of cocaine, left the port of Turbo (northwest) hidden in banana crates sent to Italy by an export company local called Banacol which the Colombian media have linked with right-wing politicians and with accusations of links to paramilitary groups.
According to what has emerged, the operation involved members of the 'Ndrangheta, which controls 80% of cocaine trafficking in Europe, and the Camorra on the Italian side. In his account, Vorágine claimed that this shipment was intercepted by the Italian authorities, who managed to access the SkyEcc encrypted instant messaging application with which Bruzzaniti allegedly chatted with Raffaele Imperiale , an alleged member of the Italian Camorra.
The portal stated that the Italian mafiosi, having discovered that they had been intercepted, abandoned the drugs, while the Italian authorities sent two letters to the Colombian Prosecutor's Office, between 2020 and 2022, in which they requested information on the executives of the exporting company of bananas, without however receiving a response from Bogota.

Bartolo Bruzzaniti was extradited to Italy in August he was captured in Lebanon.

The Bruzzaniti are a 'ndrina of the 'ndrangheta originating from Africo . They are also active in the Milan area.
Areas of influence Province of Reggio Calabria , Central Italy , Northern Italy , Abroad
Period 1970s – active
Allies Morabito , Palamara , Talia , Vadalà , Mangeruca , Crisafulli

NOVEMBER 27, 2023 1:00 PM
Camorra, drug trafficker Raffaele Imperiale "gives up" an island he owns in front of Dubai to the authorities
The boss, originally from Castellammare di Stabia, arrested in 2021 and now a collaborator of justice, is on trial for having imported seven tons of cocaine into Europe

The drug trafficker Raffaele Imperiale has handed over to the Italian authorities an island he owns which is located in an archipelago opposite Dubai. The news was made known by the deputy prosecutor Maurizio De Marco, in the trial which sees around twenty defendants including the international drug trafficker, now a collaborator of justice . The prosecutor also handed over to the preliminary hearing judge the memoirs containing two manuscripts with which Imperiale notified his decision. The narcos from Castellammare di Stabia are accused of having imported at least seven tons of cocaine into Europe from 2017 to 2021, and of having set up an organization capable of exporting drugs and laundering money using an untraceable method: the 'Hawala.




Camorra, the drug trafficker Raffaele Imperiale "gives up" an island he owns in front of Dubai to the authorities - photo 2
Tgcom24


The trial of Raffaele Imperiale's network In the ongoing trial in Naples, which is being celebrated with the abbreviated trial before the magistrate Maria Luisa Miranda, in addition to the international drug trafficker Raffaele Imperiale, his closest collaborators are also accused. These include: Bruno Carbone, his business partner; Corrado Genovese, the group's accountant; Daniele Ursini, logistics manager, and a series of collaborators and employees.



Imperiale owned two paintings by Van Gogh Two very precious canvases by Van Gogh also belonged to Imperiale, arrested in Dubai in 2021 and now a collaborator of justice. They were found in a villa and these were also handed over to Italian magistrates. During the hearing underway in room 116 of the New Palace of Justice in Naples, an exception was raised by the defense team regarding the usability of the chats decoded by the French authorities and forming part of the accusatory compendium of the DDA of Naples.

The judges' decision After suspending the hearing to consider the request, the judge decided to reject the request for suspension made by the lawyers, who instead deemed it appropriate to wait for the ruling of the United Sections of the Supreme Court of Cassation regarding the usability of those conversations.


Imperiale's Bitcoin treasure ends up in the state coffers After being handed over by the accountant Corrado Genovese to the Italian authorities and seized by the investigating judge of Naples, the "treasure" in Bitcoin worth 1.8 million euros, attributable to the international drug trafficker, was transferred to the state coffers. The financial operation was carried out through an international cryptocurrency exchange platform.


The arrest of Raffaele Imperiale's accountant The accountant and closest collaborator of Raffaele Imperiale had been on the run since 25 November 2022: he was arrested on 13 March 2023 by the Gico of the economic-financial police unit of the Guardia di Finanza of Naples, together with the Scico and the Flying Squad of Naples, upon his arrival in Fiumicino from the United Arab Emirates. On that occasion he handed over the encrypted codes through which it was possible to access 2 million USDt, a virtual currency issued by the Tether Ltd company, which replicates the value of the US dollar. After complex operations over several months, on 16 November the sum corresponding to 1.8 million euros flowed into the Single Justice Fund.


Who is Bruno Carbone, from drug boss to "repentant" like Imperiale At the center of the investigations by the Milan DDA, in addition to Raffaele Imperiale, was also Bartolo Bruzzaniti, the undisputed lord of the distribution of drugs destined for the 'Ndrangheta gangs in Lombardy. The third figure in the criminal puzzle is that of the other Campanian broker Bruno Carbone, from whom Bruzzaniti allegedly purchased loads of drugs to supply the clans in the Milan area.


Where is Raffaele Imperiale Raffaele Imperiale resided in Dubai, where he was arrested on August 4, 2021 . He is currently detained in the United Arab Emirates, while the Italian Ministry of Justice is completing extradition procedures.


How much is Raffaele Imperiale's estate worth? From the little information leaked from the investigations, Imperiale spent around 400 thousand euros a month in Dubai to maintain his luxurious lifestyle. Before being captured, the former drug trafficker allegedly paid 7 million euros in just three months to finance his escape.

The island in question is called “Taiwan” and is one of the islands that are part of the large artificial archipelago “New World Community”, built off the coast of the United Arab Emirates. Each island is named after a state and Taiwan is registered with a company that has since confirmed ownership traces back to Imperiale.
He bought it a few years ago for tens of millions of euros.
The transaction with Taiwan is part of the deal that Imperiale wants to conclude with the Italian judiciary.
Well-known prosecutor Nicola Gratteri is still investigating the island and the possibilities for the Italian government to take possession of it. Its value is estimated somewhere between 60 and 70 million euros.
During the indictment, anti-mafia prosecutor De Marco explained how the Camorra clans did business with the Colombian Clan del Golfo, which until his arrest was led by Dairo Antonio Usuga, alias Otoniel. Last August, a New York court sentenced Otoniel to 45 years in prison.

Camorra mob boss Raffaele Imperiale has revealed how he lost 600-kilo cocaine bound for Sydney in Australia with no idea where it went.
However, the former Kinahan cartel partner who has turned ‘pentito’ (supergrass) told Italian authorities the failed expedition was a calculated risk that did not stop his activity.

During an interrogation in the Court of Naples, Imperiale, connected by videoconference from the prison where he is being held, was responding to questions posed by deputy prosecutor Maurizio De Marco.

Imperiale, who has already handed over an island in Dubai to the Italians as part of his collaboration with justice officials, explained how the operation proved to be a failure as the cargo was lost.

According to Imperiale, the two containers containing the drugs may have disappeared in Naples or Gioia Tauro, where the ship carrying them had stopped before leaving for Sydney.

Imperiale told how the Australian market is particularly profitable with an investment of between €7-8 million returning as much as €90 million.

Imperiale had six months to prove his commitment to telling all after declaring his wish to be a ‘pentito’ last October, in a move that is likely to have left the Kinahans sweating.

https://www.sundayworld.com/crime/w...-cocaine-oz-shipment-is/a2017465973.html

Bruno Carbone also spoke about his relationships with the 'Ndrangheta, the "repentant" drug trafficker, partner of the international broker Raffaele Imperiale and like him a collaborator with justice. Carbone today, before the judges of the seventh criminal section of Naples (president Marta Di Stefano), and the deputy prosecutor Maurizio De Marco, answered the questions of the lawyers of the defense panel, via video link (always filmed from behind) from the secret location where is detained.
«The port of Gioia Tauro – said the narcos specialist in logistics – was under the command of Bruzzaniti. I was in contact with the Mammoliti (a Calabrian 'ndrina) who purchased cocaine in Naples or Rome." The Bruzzaniti he refers to is Bartolo Bruzzaniti, originally from Locri, arrested in Lebanon, considered a person of high criminal depth and considered among the most important drug traffickers at an international level.
Carbone also explained how he transferred the money for the purchase of cocaine "from Panama, from Ecuador, from Colombia" simply "with a click, or with a chat message, through exchange dealers with whom enormous trust had been established. This is how the money for drugs was transferred to any part of the world, I supplied all of Naples with my cocaine." Carbone also explained in more detail the transfer of a ton of cocaine to Australia, which had problems, and that it was he, from Dubai, "who opened the Australian market".

The repentant narcos who worked with the 'Ndrangheta and the Colombians: «In the port of Gioia also 2 tons of coca for each shipment»
The van Gogh boss Raffaele Imperiale tells the prosecutors of the DDA of Reggio Calabria about the dealings of the Calabrian clans. The tense relations with the South American paramilitaries: "Sometimes if a load is lost we have to pay them anyway or we no longer work"

Sometimes relations between the two sides of the Atlantic Ocean are complicated. Colombians and Calabrians have different approaches. Imperiale, who acts as a glue, tells them in an interrogation on January 23, 2023 .

https://www.lacnews24.it/cronaca/il...late-di-coca-per-ogni-spedizione_185457/

'Pentito Imperiale made statements in Dutch criminal case' (UPDATE)
March 19, 2024

The Italian Raffaele Imperiale, who is on trial in Italy for leading a criminal drug organization and is a key witness (" pentito "), made statements in September last year in the Dutch criminal case about Rico "De Chileen" R., among others . That's what Het Parool writes .


Amsterdam
The Orinus 2 case revolves around a criminal organization whose members are allegedly guilty of money laundering, possession of weapons and murder. There was a preliminary hearing in the criminal case before the court in Amsterdam on Tuesday.

A prosecutor there announced that a Dutch police team traveled to Italy last September to interrogate Raffaele Imperiale. He is said to have made a number of statements.

Dubai
Rico R. was sentenced to 11 years in prison in 2021 for leading criminal organizations with the aim of liquidations and money laundering, in the Orinus 1 case.

Justice counts Imperiale as a criminal contact of both Rico R. and Ridouan Taghi. He once lived in Amsterdam for a while and worked in the Rockland coffee shop in the Raadhuisstraat. He is said to have entered the cocaine trade and then settled in Dubai.

After years of litigation and negotiations, he was arrested in Dubai in 2021, at the request of the Italian authorities. As a regret, he made a series of statements in Italian cases. In Italy, Imperiale has now been sentenced to 14 years in prison in his trial .

Nothing known
Nothing is yet known about the content of the statements.

Imperiale is also discussed in the criminal case against former criminal lawyer Inez Weski . Weski is suspected of having passed on information from her client Taghi to his son. That information is said to be related to cocaine or financial transactions between the Taghi family and Imperiale.

Fallen TV presenter and lawyer Khalid Kasem has handled cases in Dubai for Imperiale, which, according to Kasem, relate to 'family law'.

Car company Naarden
According to De Telegraaf, it was also announced at the hearing before the Amsterdam court that former car dealer Carel B. (75) from Naarden is suspected of participating in a criminal organization affiliated with Ridouan Taghi and Raffaele Imperiale. B. is said to have laundered 1,300,000 euros together with a large number of co-suspects between 2014 and 2017, including through his car company in Naarden.

Expensive cars, including a Lamborghini, were shot at at Carel B.'s former car company in 2022. That company has now gone bankrupt.

LOOSE LIPS | Italian mob boss Raffaele Imperiale has Kinahan cartel worried as he talks to cops
The former Kinahan cartel partner, who began his criminal career from a coffee shop in Amsterdam, was number two on Italy’s most wanted list

https://www.sundayworld.com/crime/w...ied-as-he-talks-to-cops/a2080175370.html