Operation "Gentleman 2": International blitz against the 'Ndrangheta

Today, in the early hours of the morning, in various localities in the province of Cosenza, Italy, and in other countries of the European Union (Germany and Belgium), the police forces conducted a joint action to counter the 'Ndrangheta of the Catanzaro DDA. The soldiers of the Provincial Command of the Guardia di Finanza of Catanzaro, with the support of the Central Organized Crime Investigation Service (SCICO), the police forces of Germany and Belgium, as well as Europol, executed an order issued by the GIP of the Court of Catanzaro . This ordinance concerned the application of precautionary measures against 25 members of Abbruzzese and Forastefano clans accused of association aimed at drug and arms trafficking.

The operation was coordinated by the Public Prosecutor's Office - District Anti-Mafia Directorate of Catanzaro, in collaboration with the Italian representation of Eurojust and within the framework of a Joint Investigation Team between the Italian, German and Belgian authorities.

In mafia drug raids, 25 arrested in Italy, Belgium, Germany

https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/mafia-drug-raids-25-arrested-italy-belgium-germany-2023-06-05/

In an investigation by the federal prosecutor's office, the Liège federal police has arrested eight people suspected of international drug trafficking.

EDITORIALJune 5, 2023 , 12:02

During eleven house searches in Ixelles, Liège, Ans, Grâce-Hollogne and Antwerp, the police also seized a handgun, five kilograms of cocaine and 30,000 euros in cash. This is reported by the federal prosecutor's office. A suspect was also arrested in Germany. The Belgian court asks that it be handed over to our country.

The file, led by a Liège investigating judge, is part of an investigation that began several years ago, with apparent links to the Italian mafia 'Ndrangheta', according to the federal prosecutor's office. In 2015, the Guardia di Finanza launched Operation Gentleman in Catanzaro, which led to the arrest of 33 members of a mafia clan. “The Italian investigation revealed an extensive drug trade, including cocaine, from South America. The head of the clan could be arrested in Frankfurt after three years on the run.”

In those three years, that man would have built a new logistics base in Germany to organize the drug trade from Belgium to southern Italy. The Belgian court was told in November 2020 that a number of suspects would be in the Liège region, after which an investigation was also opened here.

“This investigation was carried out by the FGP Liège and has revealed the possible existence in Belgium of extraction cells, cells in charge of taking goods that are, for example, clandestinely transported to a port,” the federal prosecutor continues. “These cells were active in Odessa in Ukraine, Spain, Sweden and Norway, but also in Belgium and the Netherlands. After the hack of the encrypted SKY ECC network, the police were able to retrieve a lot of information about the criminal organization.”

Their music was banned in Italy, but it's beautiful !

Mafia become ‘digital narcos’ thanks to Albanian gangs and Chinese financiers
The powerful ‘Ndrangheta organisation makes billions of euros a year importing cocaine from South America to Europe

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-n...uggling-albanian-gang-chinese-financier/

https://www.europol.europa.eu/media...-ndrangheta-in-italy-belgium-and-germany

New action against ‘Ndrangheta in Italy, Belgium and Germany

https://www.wionews.com/world/germa...nvicted-24-times-for-drug-dealing-601293

German court gives 'last warning' to 82-year-old after being convicted 24 times for drug dealing

Among those arrested, a major Greek drug trafficker Nikolaos Liarakos who had escaped from notorious Rebibbia prison in Rome. Linked to the Sinaloa cartel.

‘Ndrangheta maxi trial, over 4,000 years in prison asked for 322 defendants

https://news.italy24.press/local/616471.html

Drug trafficking, DCSA dossier: 'Ndrangheta is a reference point for global mafias
Luca Grossi June 15, 2023

Department of Public Safety's Central Directorate of Drug Services Releases 2022 'Annual Report'
Cosa Nostra shows signs of "persistent vitality" and a "repeated interest in drug trafficking"; the 'Ndrangheta requalifies itself as the undisputed leader of drug trafficking and "one of the most powerful and dangerous criminal organizations in the world" with a "hegemonic role" to which "other criminal networks refer for the supply of drugs to be destined for consumer markets"; the Camorra, thanks to its connections in South America and Spain, continue to "import drugs, especially hashish and cocaine"; the Apulian mafias have long since established an alliance with the Albanian mafia "in particular for the supply, deposit and the marketing of drugs".
Antonio Maggiore not only reports the figures of the seizures but also indicates the modernization of the Cartels: in the investigations described there is talk of "recourse to a system of transferring the proceeds of drug trafficking, extraneous to traditional financial circuits, based on informal clearing of money matches".
As far as communications are concerned, the document describes the increasingly massive use of "encrypted chats" and smartphones "equipped with sophisticated applications for encrypted transmission".
A "growing use of cryptographic technology emerges, a real obstacle to the development of investigations for the fight against drug trafficking and the contiguities which, in the port area, facilitate the handling of containers, in which the drug is hidden", it is observed in the report according to which "the ability to control airports, a refined risk analysis for the identification of contaminated containers, the monitoring of computerized platforms for handling containers inside the hubs, are preparing to become, in the near future , the 'red line' along which the repressive action of drug trafficking will run, in national airports and even more in the large European ports". The report stresses that it will be "necessary,
Drug trafficking therefore remains an evolving sector and represents the clearest face of the "globalization of organized crime, whose structures and structures are characterized by their transnational nature": a "world market" fed by "an ever-increasing demand, correlated to a consumer base that shows no signs of downsizing".
The best-selling drug is always cocaine "by virtue of the high profit margins, reaching an increasingly vast pool of consumers".
According to reports, the sale of cocaine has continued to grow (26.1 tons, 22.03% more than the previous year) and, based on this data, the investigators already speculate the opening of a new " Mediterranean route".
An absolutely central role is played by the national port of Gioia Tauro, in which 80.35% of the cocaine seizures carried out at the maritime border are concentrated.
Another 'hot' front is that of synthetic drugs such as, for example, 'rape drugs', methamphetamines and ecstasy: sales are increasingly carried out via the Dark Web "in ways that make it extremely difficult to identify the subjects involved and the tracking of the related payments". It must be said that the proliferation of rape drugs is an indication of a social danger that is growing as it is strongly linked to sexual crimes of various kinds.
According to data from the B2C e-Commerce Observatory, in fact, in 2021, online sales of synthetic drugs increased all over the world and show a trend of further growth in the future. In Italy, in 2022, over 630 million shipments were totaled, up 10% compared to last year.
This immense market has already attracted the attention of the mafias, organized crime but also of Baby Gangs: in fact, the report indicates an increase in the number of minors under investigation (from 926 in 2020 to 981 in 2021 up to 1,126 last year) and that of arrested, who represent 33.39% of the total number of those reported (376 out of 1,126).

Hunt for fugitives, another exponent of Cosenza's 'Ndrangheta "caught" in Spain
The man was stopped by the police in Alicante. He had been hit by a European arrest warrant for drug trafficking and mafia association
Posted on: 06/15/2023 – 12:51
ROME A man of Italian nationality believed to be a member of the Calabrian 'Ndrangheta has been arrested in Alicante. This is learned from Iberian police sources cited by the Efe agency. The man, whose personal details were not disclosed, engaged in the hotel sector, was affected by a European arrest warrant for drug trafficking and belonging to a criminal organization.
According to police sources, which completed the operation together with the Italian and German police, the fugitive believed to be close to the 'Ndrangheta in Cosenza had been residing in Spain for some time, where he was involved in activities related to the trafficking of cocaine from South America and directed towards Italy and Germany.
It is now available to the magistrate who validated the arrest without bail. The arrest is part of the ICAN project, coordinated by Interpol and aimed at fighting the Calabrian 'Ndrangheta, which uses Spanish territory as a logistics base for drug trafficking and money laundering. In recent operations, Spanish police arrested another 24 members belonging to the Abbruzzese and Forastefano clan, accused of being part of an international drug trafficking organization operating in Italy, Germany, Albania, Spain, Belgium, Serbia, Montenegro and Colombia.

Lawyers Lucio Aquino and cousin go to Cassation against surrender to Italy
© BELGA


MAASMECHELEN/GENK/ANTWERP -Lucio Aquino (61) and his cousin Donato O. (35) must be handed over to Italy. There they are suspects in an Italian file on drug smuggling and the mafia clan 'ndrangheta. Their lawyers do not give up and go to Cassation to challenge that surrender.
Phillip Pergens
Today at 12:09
“We are going to Cassation”, lawyers Jan Keulen and Hugo Vandenberghe respond to the decision of the indictment chamber (KI) in Antwerp. There they follow the decision of the Limburg council chamber to hand over Lucio Aquino and Donato O. to Italy.

Cologne and Vandenberghe perform for the 61-year-old Maasmechelaar. Frank Scheerlinck is counsel to Aquino's nephew Donato O. (35) and also continues his legal battle. Because their clients don't like a transfer to an Italian prison. In Italy, they suspect both Belgians with Italian roots of, among other things, large-scale drug smuggling and membership of a criminal organization. In the Eureka file, the suspects are linked to the powerful Calabrese mafia 'ndrangheta.

Conditions of detention

On Wednesday 3 May of this year, 147 alleged members of the 'ndrangheta were arrested during numerous house searches across Europe. Also Lucio and co. Italy has since requested the surrender of six Limburgers. The Italians are also asking for a transfer of criminal proceedings. In other words, they want to take over the similar Belgian investigation into the suspects in order to try them in their country.

The defense has objections to both the detention conditions in Italy, where they have a strict regime for alleged mafiosi, and the handing over of criminal proceedings in our country.

The treatment for Cassation must take place within two weeks. If the Court of Cassation overturns the AI's decision, the surrender request will again be submitted to the indictment chamber within two weeks. In a maximum of a month, the suspects will know whether they have to go to Italy or not.

THE DECISION
Reset investigation, 41bis for the Cosenza boss Francesco Patitucci
For the alleged head of the Cosenza confederation, this is not new, having already tried the hard prison regime in the early 2000s

https://www.lacnews24.it/cronaca/nd...gi-e-detenuto-in-regime-di-41bis_172928/

Former 'Ndrangheta boss released from prison for health reasons
In the past, the man would have managed to obtain the deferment of the sentence and to be released from prison by simulating "motor difficulties"

https://calabria7.it/ex-boss-della-ndrangheta-scarcerato-per-motivi-di-salute/

43 people arrested in 'Ndrangheta sweep
Suspects include Calabria politicians

(ANSA) - ROME, JUN 27 - Carabinieri ROS special branch officers on Tuesday executed a pre-trial custody order against 43 people under investigation in relation to the activities of Calabria's 'Ndrangheta mafia.
The suspects are being probed for various crimes including mafia-type criminal association and association aimed at fraud, extortion, unlawful competition and murder.

Judicial sources said local politicians are among those arrested and that some face charges of electoral political-mafia exchange.
The 'Ndrangheta is widely considered to have become Italy's most powerful organized-crime syndicate thanks to its control over much of the cocaine that arrives in Europe and its reach has stretched outside its southern Italian base and gone beyond the country's borders. (ANSA).

Ex Calabria governor among suspects in 'Ndrangheta probe

(see related stories) (ANSA) - ROME, JUN 27 - Former Calabria regional governor Mario Oliverio is under investigation in the 'Ndrangheta mafia probe that led to the arrest of 43 people on Tuesday morning, judicial sources have said.
Oliverio, 70, is suspected of criminal association aggravated by mafia modalities.


He was elected with the centre-left Democratic Party (PD) in 2014 and held office until 2020.
The suspects also include former regional government members Nicola Adamo, 66, and Antonietta Rizzo, 59, and former regional councillor Seby Romeo, 48, all from the PD. (ANSA).

'Ndrangheta, the "godfather of Muenster" arrested. «He Had contacts with notaries and bankers»
Franco Aracri at the center of the Megna clan screenings in Germany. The repentant: «Business relations with the boss Nicolino Grande Aracri»
Posted on: 06/27/2023 – 16:01
by Pablo Petrasso

LAMEZIA TERME The German police arrested in Muenster an alleged affiliate of the 'Ndrangheta – known in the news as "the godfather" of the city – in the framework of the " Glicine/Acheronte " investigation ordered by the District Anti-Mafia Directorate of Catanzaro, signed by the prosecutor Nicola Gratteri and by substitutes Domenico Guarascio and Paolo Sirleo.
The (alleged) “godfather” is Francesco “Franco” Aracri. The authorities were ready to arrest his brother too but, apparently, he had already left for Italy . According to the European arrest warrant, Italian anti-mafia investigators accuse Aracri, 62, of belonging to the Megna di Papanice clanand money laundering. After his arrest in the morning, the man is now in custody .

A "bourgeois" life and work in the restaurant industry
Back in 2006, police officers had arrested Aracri on behalf of the Italian authorities in Muenster because they suspected him of being involved in a major cocaine trade from South America and laundering drug money. However, the judiciary was unable to prove it, and after a short period of house arrest in Crotone he returned to Germany . From outside Muenster, nothing leaked into Aracri's alleged criminal dealings. The man led a middle-class life for years in a residential area of ??the student city and worked extensively in the restaurant businessand food. According to the investigators, however, the "Godfather of Muenster" would have managed his activities as a front company for illegal business. According to Der Spiegel , a suspected money launderer from the Rhineland is also under investigation , but his whereabouts are not yet known.

Aracri and the Crime of Germany
A few years ago, according to Tagesschau reports , Aracri appeared in an internal analysis by the BKE (German Federal Police) in a list of nine suspected mafia members who allegedly formed the so-called Crime of Germany . It would be a supervisory body whose main task would be to mediate between the interests of individual family clans in Germany. According to investigators, the 'Ndrangheta does not have a similar body in any other European country outside Italy.

The «collaboration» with Nicolino Grande Aracri
The profile of Aracri outlined by the investigators also highlights his alleged closeness to Nicolino Grande Aracri and his role - exploited by various clans - especially for money laundering, starting in the 1990s. It is the collaborator of justice Angelo Salvatore Cortese who speaks of "collaboration" with the historic boss of Cutro in a "very profitable territory for laundering money and setting up production activities". «In those years - he says - Nicolino collaborated with Franco Aracri in the realization of some important entrepreneurial activities . It was Nicolino Grande Aracri himself who told me that he had set up an import-export company in Germany , thanks to the help of Franco Aracri».

«Revenues with bankers and notaries»
Cortese also says "that he was aware of important connections that he (Franco Aracri, ed.) enjoyed with accountants, notaries and bankers in Germany who he had agreed to place at Nicolino Grande Aracri's disposal for the execution of illicit deals ". «I remember – explains the repentant – that Franco Aracri, in Germany, enjoyed acquaintances with accountants, notaries, bankers and lawyers. I mention these circumstances directly because, when Franco Aracri came to Calabria, he went directly to Cutro, from Nicolino , to talk about business and showed the knowledge I told you about».

https://www.corrieredellacalabria.i...er-aveva-contatti-con-notai-e-banchieri/

57 minutes ago
Germany, maxi police operation against drug rings of the 'Ndrangheta

JOSEPH SPAGNUOLO
Anti-Ndrangheta operation in Germany, in recent days the DDA had arrested the "godfather" of the "papaniciari", a leading exponent of Calabrian crime

Operation Ndrangheta Germany

Maxi anti -'Ndrangheta operation in Germany , where the police are in action between Hoexter and Duisburg, in North Rhine-Westphalia, and in Kassel, in Hesse. The Paderborn prosecutor's office and the Bielefeld police station are investigating the case: the investigation is linked to drug trafficking orchestrated by the Calabrian mafia.

The objective of the blitz of the police forces is to trace and seize the narcotic substances. There are several suspects in the crosshairs , all allegedly affiliated with the 'Ndrangheta. Some of them have already ended up in handcuffs.

It all started after the Hoexter police discovery of 300 pounds of marijuana . A discovery made last January, which had opened the hypothesis of a link between the loot and organized crime in Calabria.

Anti-'Ndrangheta operation in Germany, in recent days the blitz against the 'ndrina of the "papaniciari"
Just in Germany, in the last few days, the District Anti-Mafia Directorate had come into action . The DDA had focused its attention on the 'ndrina of the "papaniciari", the Papanice clan active in the province of Crotone.

In Muenster, the "godfather" of the city, an important exponent of the 'Ndrangheta , had been arrested . Then it was the turn of the mobster's brother, who chose to voluntarily surrender to the Stuttgart police.

Both were recipients of an international arrest warrant issued by the Catanzaro prosecutor's office. For the two brothers, aged 70 and 62 respectively, the Italian judiciary requested extradition . The same goes for the other 'Ndrangheta members captured in Germany, accused of belonging to a criminal organization and money laundering .

In Germany for almost fifty years now, the "godfather of Muenster" led an unsuspected life . He was an entrepreneur in the field of gastronomy in a residential area of ??the city. Under the table, he would have been carrying out money laundering activities for the 'Ndrangheta for at least thirty years. With nine other affiliates he would have given life to the so-called "Crime of Germany", a mediating body between the interests of the 'ndrine in German territory.

Nicola Gratteri, prosecutor of Catanzaro, underlines how Germany is the territory in which the 'Ndrangheta is most eradicated outside the Italian borders.

Another big bust in Cosenza !

Italian police arrest 68 suspects of mafia organization 'Ndrangheta
Italian police have arrested 68 people believed to be linked to 'Ndrangheta. That is the most powerful mafia clan in Italy. During the action, the police also seized various items, with a total value of around 5 million euros.

According to the Italian authorities, the 68 people arrested were involved in various crimes. The suspects played a role in international drug trafficking as well as in some cases of extortion and assault. They were commissioned by 'Ndrangheta.

Members of an unnamed clan would also have been arrested. During the raid, several belongings were seized. They would have a total value of about 5 million euros.

In recent weeks, several police actions have been taken against 'Ndrangheta throughout Europe. With this, Italy is trying to break the power of the mafia in the country.

FBI sources already showed that in 2018 there were about 160 cells with 6,000 members, spread around the world. 'Ndrangheta is an important player in the cocaine trade, but is also not afraid of other crimes. Arms trafficking, political bribery and murder.

'Ndrangheta: one of Lea Garofalo's killers kills himself in prison
July 1, 2023
( ANSA ) – Rosario Curcio, one of Lea Garofalo's killers, killed himself in his cell in the Opera prison (Milan), where he was serving a life sentence.

Curcio, together with Carlo Cosco, had been convicted of the murder of the justice witness which took place on November 24, 2009.

Lea Garofalo's body had been dissolved in acid in an attempt to erase her traces.

The news was confirmed by the heads of the prison administration and an investigation will now be opened to clarify the exact dynamics of the suicide.

These guys very rarely commit suicide, there are only a few cases.

You reminded me reading about this article. Here is another that killed himself.

https://www.mississauga.com/news/ma...0ffec8-e372-5d28-b6fd-4fa75a7e4bba.html?

Mafia boss with ties to GTA arrests found dead in Italian prison cell

CLAN MONEY
'Ndrangheta, the hacker's proposal to the "compare": "Let's open a bank"
The 120 million "loot" on a clandestine trading platform. The black market for fake bank codes. The network of technicians for illegal operations. The moves of the Papaniciari clan in the …
Posted on: 03/07/2023 – 13:25
by Pablo Petrasso

CATANZARO To those who follow the Italian political-judicial news, the sentence will sound familiar in a sinister way. A sort of "we have a bank" in the 'Ndrangheta sauce. Mark Ulrich Goke , a German hacker allegedly employed by the Papaniciari gang , unwittingly recalls Fassino 's notorious wiretap on Unipol . He talks to Salvatore Aracri , considered one of the pillars of the gang in Germany: « Let's open a nice bank all to ourselves – he says -. This is more important than all other things and together with the HSBC bank leader we can trade whenever we want. That would be a good thing."
It would certainly be good for the affairs of the clan and to have a base from which to direct the various clandestine finance schemes that emerged in the "Glicine/Acheronte" investigation by the Catanzaro DDA. The interview is captured at the dawn of this line of investigation. And it is connected - according to the assessments of the investigating judge Antonio Battaglia - to "a series of international transactions that the group coordinated by Salvatore Aracri carried out (or attempted to carry out) in the period between May 2019 and January 2020 ". For the magistrates, these movements on the financial markets "further outline the figures of Salvatore Aracri and Mark Goke, as well as various traders with whom the two come into contact".

The 120 million “download” and transfer to Europe
The financial wing of the gang, according to the summary of the investigating judge, thinks big . "Between August and October 2019, the suspects attempted to carry out an illegal financial transaction , repossessing a flow of money from the divestment of a clandestine trading platform ". A mountain of money, 120 million euros which had to be transferred from South East Asia to Europe.

https://www.corrieredellacalabria.i...llhacker-al-compare-apriamoci-una-banca/

I wonder why Giuseppe Gregoraci would kill himself? It may not have been suicide. It makes no sense.

Duisburg: Mafia raid in ice cream parlor and restaurant - Mafioso on the run!
Avatar photo
by Alexander Kessel
03.07.2023 - 21:03
During a mafia raid in Duisburg, the police searched two bars, among other things. At the same time things got hot elsewhere.

Great excitement in front of an Italian ice cream parlor in downtown Duisburg and an Italian restaurant in the Bucholz district. The police searched both bars last Thursday (June 29). The authorities have now given details of the background.

The investigations in Duisburg were related to a raid against organized Italian crime, which also took place in Höxter and Kassel. During the searches, the investigators uncovered connections to the notorious mafia family `Ndrangheta. The main suspect (34) is on the run.

Duisburg: Strike against Italian mafia
In total, the investigators examined twelve buildings in the past week. In addition to the two Italian restaurants, the officers searched two other properties in Duisburg. The public prosecutor's office has not yet given any details about the searches in the Ruhr area city.

However, it is clear that they were related to investigations in Höxter and Kassel. In the Hessian city, the police officers were able to arrest a man (25) after undercover investigations by a special unit. However, there is no trace of another main suspect (34).

Alleged mafioso on the run
The 34-year-old was targeted by investigators in January this year after an acquaintance reported him missing. The police routinely paid him a visit to his apartment in Höxter and landed a lucky hit. The officers found a total of 147 kilograms of marijuana. However, there was no trace of the 34-year-old.

https://www.derwesten.de/staedte/du...-restaurant-italienisch-id300576041.html

'Suicides' in prison are always suspicious.