the gangster vincenzo pace,47, was shot dead in naples

It is a mistake,real target was boss Emanuele Cito he is only injured.

Naples clan boss Lucio Marrone arrested in Spain
Was on list of Italy's 100 most dangerous fugitives

(ANSA) - Naples, April 13 - Police from Naples working together with Spain's Guardia Civil arrested fugitive Camorra boss Lucio Morrone, 53, in Spain on Monday.
Morrone, who was on Italy's list of the 100 most dangerous fugitives, was wanted for a 2010 drug conviction of more than four years in prison, and for a 2013 conviction for drug trafficking carrying a sentence of 20 years in prison.
Marrone is considered the head of the "Teste Matte" (Crazy Heads) criminal organization, which investigators say derives from the Mariano clan of the Camorra and is allegedly in charge of illicit operations in Naples' Spagnoli area in the historic centre.
Italian police worked with Spanish authorities to trace Marrone to Benalmadena, a town on Spain's southwest coast between the cities of Malaga and Marbella. They arrested him in a post office there as he was picking up a money transfer from Naples.
Marrone allegedly provided false documents in an attempt to escape arrest, but then surrendered when he heard the word "carabinieri", Italy's military police.
Undersecretary of Defense Gioacchino Alfano praised Naples' carabinieri on the operation.
"Once again, legality and justice have prevailed over deceit and criminality," Alfano said.
"For this umpteenth success I congratulate the Naples police and investigative teams, who have shown that they never give up," he said.

the latest camorra-related hits in the latest days left dead rodolfo zinco, 46
ciro cortese, 37
armando faucitano,45
aldo pezone, 41
mario mazzanti, 29

How Italy’s Government Enables the Mafia

Italy flag on gun
MARCH 14, 2015 David Howden Emilio Parodi

Beyond nice wines, warm beaches, and sultry women, Italy is well-known for something less savory — the mafia. It is interesting to understand how such a powerful “machine” managed to enter society in such a strong and meaningful way, but more importantly to grasp its role alongside the central government of Italy. On the one hand, it is easy to state that the mafia and the corrupt economic system it functions within are wrong and unproductive for the country. On the other hand its presence may be of help to a country’s economy, something that is especially true in the case of Italy.

In order to understand how corruption infiltrated the highest echelons of Italian society, it is essential to understand the progression of Italy throughout the twentieth century, both politically and economically.

The growing strength of crime organizations such as the “Sicilian mafia,” the “Camorra” (located in the Naples region), and the “Ndrangheta” (from the region of Calabria) have been noted for their relations with the construction industry, typically through a direct channel with the Italian government. These “associations” have grown enormously over the past fifty years creating empires that are clearly visible throughout the major sectors of the economy.

The Italian State: A Reliable Partner for the Mafia

This growth was fueled by the political and economic model present in Italy during the second half of the twentieth century following the Second World War. One major political party (Democrazia Cristiana) ruled the country for almost forty years. The reason for this very partisan approach to politics was the opposition to a strong and growing Communist Party (the largest in Western Europe during the 70s and 80s) that was seen as a major threat as most people feared they were going to be taken over by a Soviet-style central government. This feeling was especially endemic during the height of the Cold War. This period of Italian politics was dominated by one ruling political party and fostered engrained political-business connections that fueled the growth of organized crime.

This latter point in particular was less costly as belligerents were assured that the necessary authorities that needed to be “paid off” to look the other way would remain the same for an extended period. Coupled with a desire to supply goods that were either rationed after the war or taxed heavily (such as cigarettes), the mafia was an outgrowth of the desires of consumers coupled with weak governance structures. The resultant corruption restructured Italy’s economy almost completely.

As was the case during the nineteenth century, these corrupt associations were found in the southern regions of Italy. With the strengthening of this direct channel with the central government the mafia´s rapid growth moved north to more industrialized and much more strongly developed areas of Italy. What was once a contained problem has now entered all major industrial sectors by forming an intricate web between business and politics. (Dwight Eisenhower´s Italian counterpart would likely have warned of this “industrial-political” complex.) Organized crime has spread like a form of cancer that has become untreatable and has progressed to the stage where its removal would likely imperil the already shaky economy. In short, even if the surgery were a complete success, the patient would likely die.

The fact that corruption has been deeply rooted within Italy’s political, social and economic structures makes it even more challenging to perform its obligations within the European Union. It will be very challenging for Italy to exit the recession it is facing with such a corrupt and unhealthy system it possesses. Public debt is currently over 130 percent of Italian GDP. One obligation to remain a part of the Eurozone is to keep public debt under 60 percent of GDP, and the annual public deficit under 3 percent of GDP. Italy is nowhere near fulfilling either of these criteria (though, in its defense, few European countries are). One reason for the difficulty in getting public finances in order is the engrained political-economic order. This is a similar problem to America´s own difficulties in making necessary budget cuts to its own warfare-welfare economy. Too many entrenched interests make balancing the budget all but impossible.

In Italy the problem is accentuated because the relevant parties are inside the government itself. In America, public finances are a shambles mostly because voters don´t want to give up entitlements, or hold politicians accountable for boondoggles spiraling out of control (e.g., the War on Terror, the War on Drugs, etc.). In Italy it is the same politicians drafting the budget who directly use these funds to the benefit of themselves and the people who surround them.

Italy’s economic instability is not only destroying its economy from the inside, but also from the outside. Investors coming from abroad (e.g., other Europeans, Americans, Arabs, Chinese, etc.) do not want to cope with or run afoul of such a corrupt system. This creates instability that is quite visible because there is no real possibility of growth within the country due to government mismanagement and a lack of foreign investment. Italy only managed to attract 1.4 percent of its GDP in foreign direct investment last year, far less than the European average of 3.3 percent.

What Can Be Done?

The Lega Nord party recently proposed that the more productive and prosperous northern regions should separate from the poorer and more stagnant southern regions. The southern regions are where the mafias are most heavily concentrated, however, corruption is country wide. Exiting the euro (another popular proposal) would be rather difficult due to the complexity of the problem, though more to the point, it would be damaging to the country even if successful.

The fact of the matter is that Italy needs the help of Europe. One of the only forces keeping further widespread corruption in check is that it is somewhat “regulated” by a larger system: the European Union. The Stability and Growth Pact that should keep government finances better balanced does create pressures on the Italian government to conform. Throughout the 1970s and ´80s, this unwholesome business-political system had managed to turn Italy into the most heavily indebted country in Europe. External pressure from the EU forced Italian public finances on a more sustainable trajectory. (Between the advent of the euro and the dawn of the financial crisis, Italian government debt to GDP had fallen by a fifth; annual inflation which averaged more than 10 percent during the 1970s and ´80s has been below 3 percent since 2000.)

Aiding this process was the birth of the common currency in 2002. Unable to print new lire to satisfy its spendthrift ways, the Italian government (much like the other inflationary periphery countries) was forced to be held accountable by its tax payers. The ECB may not have shown the most restraint over the past six years, but compared to the central banks of Southern Europe it replaced, it has been a veritable enforcer of a gold standard.

Italy is between a rock and a hard place. The mafia-dominated corruption that entangles the country is so deeply rooted that it is all but impossible to reform (or preferably eliminate). Such reform could today only come about by eliminating the central government. The system that exists today was the result of unchecked political power for an extended period of forty years. (Strangely, this outcome was in response to the fear of unchecked political power in the form of communism.) If this undesirable system cannot be changed, Italians will have to change the one thing they can — where they live. Young Italians, especially skilled and ambitious Italians, have been leaving their beloved country in droves, a trend magnified since the recession began. Leaving their homeland may be a small price to pay to ensure that the failing system in place today dies off so that a better Italy can rise from its ashes.

http://mises.org/library/how-italy%E2%8 ... bles-mafia?

Police seized 27 million euros in 5 regions (Sicily, Lazio, Lombardia, Veneto and Friuli) to the Mazzei crime family and arrested Francesco Ivano Cerbo, a front-man of the clan. Among the things seized construction companies, discos and supermarkets.


More than 40 arrests in a police op against the Iannazzo clan of Lamezia Terme. Among them the boss Vincenzo Iannazzo and his brothers. With them also the killers of the organization and some entrepreneurs including Francesco Perri, owner of the "Two Seas", one of the biggest shopping centers of Calabria.

Anti-Camorra raid nabs 64 suspects
Suspected of drugs, extortion, using 'kids' to do dirty work

(ANSA) - Naples, June 9 - State Police arrested 64 people Tuesday on suspicion of belonging to Camorra mafia clans operating in the Forcella area of Naples.
The suspects are believed to belong to the Amirante, Brunetto, Giuliano and Sibillo clans. They are accused of mafia association, murder, attempted murder, drug trafficking, possession of illegal weapons, and extortion.
A total of 77 people have been placed under investigation in the probe into a crime syndicate that emerged out of the ashes of the historic Giuliano clan, which took over illicit activities in various parts of the Naples historic city center.
Investigators say the probe has shed light on a series of ambushes motivated by turf wars between rival clans.
Wiretaps also revealed the syndicate used very young affiliates to do their dirty work - whom they called "the kids".
The suspects were arrested on various charges including mafia association, homicide, attempted murder, drug trafficking and illegal weapons possession. Prosecutors are also looking into possible links between the Forcella clans and the 1985 assassination of crusading anti-mafia investigative reporter Giancarlo Siani.
A mobster named Angelo Nuvoletta died in 2013 at the age of 71 while serving a life sentence for ordering the hit on Siani.
Siani had written an article in the Naples newspaper Il Mattino revealing Nuvoletta's betrayal of an another Camorra boss, Valentino Gionta, an ally whom Nuvoletta had had arrested in order to placate an adversary during a bloody, violent rash of reprisals.
Nuvoletta is believed to have ordered Siani's murder to save face, and cover up the fact that he had broken a mafia honor code.
Nuvoletta was arrested in May 2001 after 17 years in hiding.

Cops bust Palermo drug ring
Ten nabbed for growing, possession, distribution

(ANSA) - Palermo, June 9 - State Police on Tuesday arrested 10 people on charges of growing, producing and possessing with intent to deal marijuana, hashish and cocaine.
"The investigation allowed us to dismantle an entire criminal organization, some of whose components are connected with the Cosa Nostra (Sicilian mafia)," police said.
"We were able to seize significant amounts of drugs".

Smuggling tonnes of cocaine through an Italian port
Mobsters with the powerful 'Ndrangheta syndicate develop creative new ways to sneak 'blow' past overwhelmed police.

Gioia Tauro, Italy - In Calabria, one of Italy's poorest regions, the Gioia Tauro port has become known for the massive quantities of cocaine transported by organised crime groups.
"The port was born with an original sin," said Roberto Di Palma, an Italian magistrate and mob researcher, during a conversation with Al Jazeera at his Reggio Calabria office.
The "original sin" Di Palma refers to is the 'Ndrangheta, Europe's most powerful crime syndicate, an organisation that is more dangerous and influential than the Mafia, its better-known Sicilian cousin.
The coastal road leading to the Gioia Tauro port runs past a number of abandoned warehouses and un-farmed plots of land. In Calabria - home to powerful 'Ndrangheta families with global influence - the illegal activities of organised crime dwarf the revenues of the legal economy.

Roberto Di Palma, magistrate on organised crime, in his Reggio Calabria office [Antonella Corigliano/Al Jazeera]
The Gioia Tauro port is one of Europe's largest when it comes to transhipment, the term the shipping industry uses to describe ports used primarily as intermediate destinations.
Every year 3.6 million containers arrive at the Gioia Tauro port, a number that makes it extremely difficult for the companies operating there, as well as the team of 25 policemen supervising it, to control the port's inflows and outflows.
"How can we check everything?" a nearly desperate company manager told Al Jazeera on condition of anonymity.
"It's nearly impossible. If we checked every cargo, no ship would stop and the port would die."
Di Palma said "when it comes to drug trafficking, it is always hard to have reliable numbers. What we can say with certainty is that in terms of numbers of drug requisitions by port authorities, Gioia Tauro tops Europe".
90 percent purity
When estimating cocaine volumes, authorities involved in fighting narcotrafficking use what is known as the one-to-10 rule of thumb.
According to this rule, for every police seizure there are about nine drug shipments that freely transit through the port.
According to data published by the DIA, the Italian law enforcement agency dealing with organised crime, between 2011 and 2014 total seizures amounted to 5.5 metric tonnes, implying that almost 50 tonnes of cocaine probably transited through the port over that time period.
Vincenzo Caruso, who is in charge of port security and a lieutenant colonel with the Guardia di Finanza, a police force that deals with financial crimes, said in a phone interview with Al Jazeera that "the cocaine arriving in Gioia Tauro is usually about 90 percent pure, meaning that it can be cut up to four times before being placed on the market".
Given that the average street price of cocaine in Western Europe is somewhere between 60-70 euros ($67-79) a gram, the estimated market value of the cocaine that transited through Gioia Tauro between 2011 and 2014 is somewhere between 30bn-35 billion euros ($34bn-39bn).
Italian police estimate the 'Ndrangheta controls between 60-80 percent of Europe's cocaine market. Narcotrafficking, coupled with other activities including real estate, the illegal arms trade, and hazardous waste management, yield the group an annual revenue of roughly 56 billion euros ($63bn), more than the combined annual revenue of Deutsche Bank and McDonald's.


Data from the UNODC, the UN agency monitoring drug trafficking and consumption, show the volume of seizures have declined. However, Di Palma said these numbers should be taken with caution, since the 'Ndrangheta has recently refined its smuggling techniques, for a time duping port authorities.
Refining techniques

The 'Ndrangheta's new smuggling technique is called "rip-off" and is at the centre of a new book Oro Bianco (White Gold), authored by Nicola Gratteri and Antonio Nicaso, the world's top researchers on the Calabria-based crime syndicate.
A few years ago, cocaine smuggling was mainly carried out by establishing fake cargo companies under the control of the 'Ndrangheta.

But now the group relies on men whom it has placed in key ports along cocaine trafficking routes, a technique it first experimented with in Gioia Tauro, a port where it was able to take more risks thanks to the strong influence it exercises in the region.

The strategy involves a 'Ndrangheta member strategically placed at a port who opens up a container bound for Gioia Tauro, and hides cocaine parcels inside it. His counterpart in Gioia Tauro is then informed of the container's number. When it arrives at the Italian port, the crime syndicate rushes to empty it before customs or police are able to check it.
"It's nearly impossible for authorities to find out what is going on," a port worker in Gioia Tauro told Al Jazeera on condition of anonymity.

"There are just too many containers coming and going, and the 'Ndrangheta's influence is strong despite the work of the authorities."

The recent economic crisis also plays a role. A number of companies operating in Gioia Tauro were hit heavily and at risk of going bankrupt. The 'Ndrangheta loaned money to companies in crisis, allowing them to take them over and operate in the port without anyone noticing.
The new smuggling technique has two benefits, Nicaso and Gratteri told Al Jazeera.

It reduces costs because the criminal organisation no longer has to open up fictitious cargo companies. It also diminishes risk, because cocaine is smuggled in smaller quantities - up to 200kg per shipment. If seized, the loss is not a major setback.

Impossible to halt
This makes it harder for authorities to stop the inflow.
Nevertheless, the Gioa Tauro Guardia di Finanza has been quick to find ways to fight the "rip-off" technique.
Caruso and his men were the first to take notice. As the Guardia di Finanza caught on, it started checking the codes on the cargo container locks to see whether they were tampered with. If the code was different, the cargo probably contained a drug parcel.
This strategy has now been imitated across Europe by other national authorities fighting narcotrafficking.

As authorities discovered more and more containers that had been tampered with, the 'Ndrangheta responded by forging locks with the same numerical code as the original in order to bypass police checks.
This made it once again hard, if not impossible, for Gioia Tauro's authorities to find drug parcels. However, Caruso said "new prevention techniques are being developed, and we are certain we'll soon have positive results".
Di Palma, Gratteri, Nicaso, and Caruso complain that the 'Ndrangheta and its cocaine smuggling are often falsely considered to be a local or national problem; the 'Ndrangheta is an organised crime network that operates on an international scale.

Authorities in Gioia Tauro can put up a fight, they say, but until there is a coordinated effort by international police, it may be nearly impossible to bring to a halt an industry worth billions.

http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/feature...0065547781.html

police dismantled a drug ring led by the ndrangheta in italy and france and arrested 17 members of the gang. the leaders of the drug ring are the Magnoli brothers who live in vallauris (france)

30 members of the mazzei crime family arrested in catania (sicily) charged with drug trafficking and extortions

'Ndrangheta-Colombia cocaine ring busted
Drugs transported to Spain on sailing yachts

(ANSA) - Reggio Calabria, June 17 - Italian finance police on Wednesday started carrying out 34 arrest warrants against 34 people suspected of being members of Calabria's 'Ndrangheta mafia syndicate and involved in drugs trafficking from Colombia, ANSA sources said. Suspects were also arrested in Spain.
American investigators and Spain's Guardia Civil paramilitary police force cooperated in the probe. The authorities confiscated around four tonnes of cocaine during the probe. The drugs were transported from Colombia to Spain via sailing yachts, sources said.

Police bust major 'Ndrangheta cocaine ring
'Smuggled a ton of pure coke into Italy in five months'

(ANSA) - Turin, June 18 - Finance police on Thursday busted what investigators say is a major 'Ndrangheta mafia drug ring that smuggled a ton of pure cocaine into Italy in just five months.
Police arrested eight suspects and seized 415 kilos of uncut cocaine, worth about 35 million euros.
Seven people were arrested in Italy and one in Portugal as authorities seek another seven suspects, three of them Brazilian.
Police also seized assets worth eight million euros, sources said.
Investigators say the drug rink trafficked cocaine from Brazil and Peru via Portugal and Spain into Italy, where it supplied 'Ndrangheta clans in Calabria, Lombardy and Piedmont.

Mafia in Australia: Major drug trafficking group linked to senior politicians, investigation reveals

Links between the Calabrian Mafia and senior Australian politicians have been uncovered in a joint investigation by Four Corners and Fairfax newspapers.

The year-long investigation found the Calabrian Mafia, known as 'Ndrangheta, had used a number of well-known party donors to put a "legitimate public face" on its activities.

The 'Ndrangheta is one of the world's most powerful criminal groups and is thought to be one of the major players in the world of international drug trafficking.

In Australia it operates using threats and violence in both legitimate businesses, such as fruit and vegetables, and illegitimate businesses, such as drugs.

The investigation has revealed a series of contacts between known and suspected criminals and senior politicians.

On one occasion, a man with deep mafia associations met then prime minister John Howard and other top Liberal Party figures at a fundraising event. It is not suggested that Mr Howard knew of the connection.

The investigation has also revealed donors have lobbied on behalf of a mafia figure to a host of Liberal and Labor MPs over issues related to their businesses.

Son of alleged mafia boss did work experience at embassy

Four Corners can reveal the son of another alleged mafia boss did work experience at the Australian embassy in Rome while former Liberal minister Amanda Vanstone was ambassador.

Prior to his placement, Italian authorities were sharing sensitive information about the alleged mafia boss through the embassy.

Amanda Vanstone
PHOTO: Ms Vanstone is at the centre of two cases uncovered during the investigation. (AAP: Lukas Coch)
While there is no direct evidence the embassy placement — which involved the man's son working in a clerical role — led to any actual security breaches, security agencies have described it as a major lapse.

Ms Vanstone, who is now retired from politics, is also at the centre of another episode uncovered during the investigation.

When she was immigration minister in the Howard government, she granted a visa for a crime boss who was later jailed for drug trafficking and implicated in a murder plot.

The man, who is the brother of a well-known Melbourne businessman, has an extensive criminal history in Italy.

He was set to be deported, but his family used its money and influence to conduct a lobbying campaign with some of the country's most powerful Liberal politicians — including Ms Vanstone.

Eventually in 2005, the man was granted a visa to stay in Australia on humanitarian grounds.

There is no suggestion Ms Vanstone acted improperly in either case, though confidential police assessments suggest it indicates her South Australian Senate office had likely been infiltrated by mafia figures.

Just a couple of years later, the man was implicated in one of Australia's largest ever drug busts.

'Lack of checks' in donations system leading to 'loopholes'

Known as "The Honoured Society" in Australia and reportedly involved in the Victoria Market murders in 1963.
The report also details how "loopholes" in the donations system, and the long-running failure to reform it, continue to expose Australian politicians to potential corruption.

Through Freedom of Information laws, the investigation obtained a 2009 AFP report that described a "lack of checks and oversight" in the Australian political donations system as "significant" failings.

"As it stands, political parties and candidates can receive significant support and financial contributions through avenues not covered by the statutory disclosure regime," the AFP report said.

"Loopholes" in the oversight system mean it is "difficult to identify any bribery in the form of political donations".

The report states the Australian Electoral Commission has attempted to address this on many occasions, but that many amendments have not been passed by the Federal Parliament.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-06-29/it...ticians/6579076

Ecomafia crimes up 7 bn to 22 bn euros

(ANSA) - Rome, June 30 - The amount of crimes against the Italian environment committed by organised crime groups, or Ecomafia offences, grew seven billion euros last year to 22 billion euros, according to the latest report on the phenomenon from green group Legambiente.

Last year there were 29,293 ecocrimes, or 80 a day, the report said, with a 26% rise in the waste sector and a 4.3% gain in the cement sector, "mainly fuelled by corruption". Puglia is the top region per number of crimes while Lazio is top in central Italy and Lombardy leads the way for corruption-linked ecocrimes, said the report.

More than half the crimes, 14,736, took place in the four regions where Italy's mafias are based: Puglia, Sicily, Campania and Calabria.

Crimes affecting the agri-food sector amounted to 7,985, for a value of 4.3 billion euros, and the illicit animal racket notched up 7,846 crimes.

http://www.ansa.it/english/news/2015/06 ... 4750e.html

Ten arrested in 'Ndrangheta San Ferdinando operation
Investigations confirm mafia infiltration of local town council

(ANSA) - Reggio Calabria, July 2 - Ten people have been arrested on suspicion of mafia crimes as part of investigations into Calabria's 'Ndrangheta crime syndicate, sources said Thursday.
The operation, carried out on Wednesday night, targeted the Bellocco-Cimato and Pesce-Pantano clans operating in San Ferdinando on the Gioia Tauro plain.
It was the continuation of a 2013 probe that shed light on their activities in the area.
The 10 suspects were arrested on mafia, weapons and drugs-related charges and for damage.
They included former local councillor Giovanni Pantano, who was arrested within the context of the 2013 probe and subsequently released. Investigations also confirmed the infiltration by the local 'Ndrangheta in the San Ferdinando municipality where mayor Domenico Madafferi and his deputy Santo Cieli were arrested last October

http://www.ansa.it/english/news/2015/07 ... cd220.html

Casalesi mob,ex PD MP bilked 23 mln in methane scam
Pact between mobsters and cooperative 'dated to 2000'

(ANSA) - Naples, July 3 - The CPL Concordia cooperative paid the Casalesi clan of the Camorra more than 23 million euros in bribes from public funds obtained for methane contracts in the province of Caserta, ANSA sources said Friday.
The extent of the Naples' crime gang's lucrative takings in the methane business emerged as Carabinieri arrested six people and disclosed that former parliamentarian Lorenzo Diana is under investigation in the probe of the racket.
Diana, a former senator for Premier Matteo Renzi's centre-left Democratic Party (PD), acted as a "facilitator" for relations between CPL and the vicious Casalesi clan in Caserta province prosecutors said. Naples Prosecutor Giuseppe Borrelli said Diana had " a role of absolute importance".
The agreement between CPL senior managers and the mobsters dated to as far abck as 2000 and was mediated also by Antonio Piccolo, a businessman closely linked to underworld circles led by the Camorra kingpin Michele Zagaria, the sources said.
Antonio Iovine, a senior member of the Casalesi clan, made the arrests possible by turning state's evidence.
CPL took over the concession for providing methane to seven administrative districts after the firm originally holding the concession, Consorzio Eurogas, was pushed out and forced to hand over the concession for free following Camorra intimidation, said the sources.
Clan affiliates were given jobs at the cooperative and CPL did not bill Camorra boss Michele Zagaria and his family for gas consumption worth 47,000 euros, said the sources.

http://www.ansa.it/english/news/2015/07/...89aadc6a3b.html

Ten arrested for 'exporting' Calabrian mafia to Germany

Italian and German police arrested 10 suspects overnight who are accused of associating with the 'Ndrangheta and 'exporting' clans from the Calabria-based mafia organisation.

The 'Rheinbruecke' operation followed the recent 'Helvetia' operation that uncovered the export of 'Ndrangheta clans to Switzerland which reported directly to the mafia's Calabrian leadership, police said.

Junior defence minister Gioacchino Alfano praised Italian and German police for Tuesday's "brilliant" operation.

The 'Ndrangheta, Italy's wealthiest mafia, emerged in the mid-1970s and runs a drugs and extortion business worth billions of euros.

It has links to Columbian drugs cartels and is one of the world's most powerful criminal groups.

The organisation operates mainly in Italy and Europe but extends its influence and networks from Italy across the world.

A report by Italy's anti-mafia directorate in 2011 described the 'Ndrangheta as having "virtually unlimited resources".

http://www.adnkronos.com/aki-en/security...PkVRRrNIpK.html

Cops nab 40 mafia suspects in Bari
Clan 'controlled extortion racket, drug trade'

(ANSA) - Bari, July 7 - Carabinieri police on Tuesday arrested 40 alleged affiliates of the powerful Strisciuglio mafia clan operating in and around the southern city of Bari.

The sweep came after a three-year investigation that uncovered what prosecutors said is a heavily armed criminal organization affiliated with the Neapolitan Camorra mafia, with a network of affiliates both within and outside prison walls.

The clan controlled the drug trade, met publicly in a piazza to exchange information and discuss strategy, extorted construction businesses, and infiltrated ultrà supporters of the Bari soccer team.

Those arrested include clan boss Domenico Strisciuglio, Sigismondo Strisciuglio, and his wife Eugenia Prudente. One suspect who turned State's witness has been placed under house arrest in a protected location.

http://www.ansa.it/english/news/2015/07 ... 52dcd.html

44 arrested in 'Ndrangheta drugs bust
International operation breaks up cocaine trafficking ring

(ANSA) - Rome, July 9 - Police on Thursday bust an international drugs ring linked to Calabria's powerful 'Ndrangheta mafia, arresting 44 suspects in Italy and abroad.
The organisation allegedly trafficked cocaine from South America to markets in north Italy and Europe. Over 600 kg of cocaine were seized in the operation, which also involved authorities in Colombia and Spain. The suspects included a group of Albanians based in Fiano Romano north of Rome, who allegedly took receipt of one of the largest batches of drugs handled by the criminal organisation. The cocaine originated in Venezuela, Colombia and Chile, prosecutors said. The traffic was managed by the 'Ndrangheta's Mancuso clan in partnership with other clans operating along Calabria's Ionian coast and the Albanian and Colombian organisations. 'Ndrangheta has in recent years replaced Sicily's Cosa Nostra as Italy's most powerful mafia because of its dominance of the international cocaine trade.

http://www.ansa.it/english/news/2015/07/...2a9fd42435.html

Ex-mayor among 13 arrested for Camorra ties
Accused of corruption in public contracts


(ANSA) - Naples, July 14 - Carabinieri military police on Tuesday arrested 13 suspected members and supporters of the Zagaria faction of the powerful Casalesi clan of the Neapolitan Camorra mafia.
Among those arrested are former Caserta mayor Pio Del Gaudio from Silvio Berlusconi's Forza Italia (FI) party and two ex-members of the Campania regional council.
They were named as Tommaso Barbato, formerly of the Christian Democratic UDEUR party, and Angelo Polverino, from Berlusconi's now-defunct People of Freedom (PdL) party.
Also in handcuffs was real estate builder Giuseppe Fontana, who allegedly paid Polverino 30,000 euros in 2010 and Del Gaudio 20,000 euros in 2011 in off-the-books financing for their successful election campaigns.
Investigators say Fontana was promised public contracts in return.
The suspects face charges of mafia association, corruption, falsifying property deeds, tampering with public contracts, and illegal party financing.
Police also seized bank accounts worth 11 million euros.
The arrests came as part of a probe into corruption in Campania region water utilities and illicit financing of local politicians.

http://www.ansa.it/english/news/2015/07/...c65e3e6bbe.html

FI MP Sarro quits Anti-Mafia Commission
Named in investigation into alleged mob infiltration of govt

(ANSA) - Rome, July 15 - Carlo Sarro, a Forza Italia MP named in a Mob investigation, has quit the Anti-Mafia Commission, its chair Rosy Bindi said Wednesday.
Sarro submitted a letter of resignation, she said.
Sarro, a Lower House MP representing ex-premier Silvio Berlusconi's FI, was earlier named in the probe into alleged Camorra infiltration of public administration.
On Tuesday, Naples anti-mafia prosecutors sent the Lower House a formal request that Sarro, 56, be put under house arrest, ANSA sources said.
If parliament voted to lift his immunity, Sarro could face charges of involvement in rigging a contract competition.
Sarro is under investigation along with businessmen Lorenzo Piccolo and Antonio Fontana over a 31.7-million-euro contract for sewer and water networks of the Gori Spa company, sources said.
Investigators believe that the contract competition was rigged to ensure that the work went to companies linked to Michele Zagaria, the head of a notorious Camorra clan called the Casalesis.

http://www.ansa.it/english/news/2015/07/...e4b7e9923e.html


Camorra: 10 arrests of alleged drug pusher gang near Naples
Gang protected by 'look-out' system

(ANSA) - Naples, July 15 - Ten people believed to be part of the Italian Camorra were arrested on suspicion of drug trafficking Wednesday, ANSA has learned.
The group, which was arrested in Casavatore, near Naples, allegedly peddled an estimated 150,000 euros worth of drugs, including marijuana and hashish, every month.
Investigators from the Italian Carabinieri in Casoria, who worked together with the Antimafia Investigative Agency in Naples, seized 20kg of marijuana and arrested 24 alleged drug pushers - including some minors - during investigations. They also found that a gang of 10 people had formed a group dedicated to the peddling of drugs within the busy district of Casavatore.
The illegal activity was being "protected" by a lookout system among the pushers which allowed them to "watch over" key areas and develop places in which they could hide.
The arrest warrant for criminal conspiracy to commit drug trafficking was issued by the investigating judge in Napoli. The group are believed to be part of the 'Ferone' branch of the Camorra, the feared crime organisation that originated in Naples. Ernesto Ferone is one of the bosses in the mafia group.

http://www.ansa.it/english/news/2015/07/...241a35586e.html

Police arrest nine and seize 330 mn in 'Ndrangheta bust
Aemilia operation focuses on Emilia-Romagna branch of mafia

(ANSA) - Bologna, July 16 - Police on Thursday arrested nine more people as part of the ongoing Aemilia operation probing the presence of the Calabrian 'Ndrangheta mafia in the Emilia-Romagna region.
Assets, commercial property and businesses worth a total of 330 million euros were also seized as part of Thursday's bust.
Those arrested are accused of fraudulent money transfers for mafia activities.
In January, the operation saw 117 arrests connected to Nicolino Grande Aracri, 'Ndrangheta boss of the Grande Aracri clan, who was already in prison at the time and was also among the nine for whom arrest warrants were executed on Thursday.
Of the remaining eight arrested, Alfonso Diletto, Michele Bolognino and Giovanni Vecchi were sent to jail, while Domenico Bolognino, Jessica Diletto, Francesco Spagnolo, Patrizia Patricelli and Ibrahim Ahmed Abdelgawad were placed on house arrest.
Over 300 carabinieri police from the regions of Emilia-Romagna, Lombardy, Calabria and Lazio, as well as helicopters and dog units, were involved in Thursday's police raid.
The 'Ndrangheta has in recent years replaced Sicily's Cosa Nostra as Italy's most powerful mafia because of its dominance of the international cocaine trade.

http://www.ansa.it/english/news/2015/07/...10cb4ab348.html

20 Camorra arrests in 'huge' haulage op
100 mn assets seized

(ANSA) - Naples, July 20 - Italian police on Monday arrested 20 people and seized 100 million euros in assets in a probe into the Neapolitan Camorra mafia's bid to "monopolise" a "huge" chunk of the Italian road haulage market.
Investigators said the powerful Mallardo clan based in Giugliano just outside Naples controlled "swathes" of the southern and central Italian trucking market.
The arrests were made in Naples, Salerno, Palermo, Caltanissetta, Catania and Bologna. Coldiretti, a farmers' group, said fruit and vegetable prices were inflated by as much as 300% because of the mafia's control of transport to market.

http://www.ansa.it/english/news/2015/07/...5a6927b10b.html

Ex Campania regional tourism assessor in Camorra probe
Politician was former UDC regional coordinator

(ANSA) - Caserta, July 20 - A former regional councillor for tourism in the government of Campania, Pasquale Sommese, has been placed under investigation on suspicion of links to Camorra crime gangs as part of a wider probe of the mob, police sources said Monday.

Sommese was until April the regional coordinator for the Union of the Democratic Centre (UDC) party, set up by former members of the old Mafia-plagued Christian Democrat party.

He was placed under investigation by the Naples Anti-mafia police department as part of an inquiry into links between the underworld and politicians in the Caserta area near Naples which climaxed with the arrest of 11 businessmen, former mayors and former regional councillors last week.

Sommese and 17 other people had their homes searched as part of the inquiry.

http://www.ansa.it/english/news/2015/07 ... 4319e.html

Police arrest four in antiquities trafficking bust
'Ndrangheta boss Pantaleone Mancuso, 68, nabbed in probe

(ANSA) - Catanzaro, July 20 - Police on Monday arrested four suspected members of an antiquities trafficking ring, including alleged boss Pantaleone Mancuso, 68, of the eponymous 'Ndrangheta mafia clan.
The other three suspects were named as Riace bronzes expert Giuseppe Braghò, 68, Francesco Staropoli, 56, and Giuseppe Tavella, 54.
Police also searched the home of alleged international antiquities trafficker Luigi Fabiano, 47, a Swiss citizen of Italian origin who lives in Thun, where they seized various archeological artifacts and shipped them back to Calabria.
Judges issued restraining orders preventing Fabiano and two others from entering or staying in Vibo Valentia, where the alleged trafficking ring had its operational headquarters in a garage near the city's courthouse.
Investigators say the trafficking ring dug a 40-metre-long tunnel from the garage to the archeological site of the ancient city of Hipponion, where it has been looting objects for years and sending them to Switzerland for international sale online.
The artifacts included amphoras, pottery artifacts, column capitals and entire statues.

http://www.ansa.it/english/news/2015/07/...931ee76341.html

Certain mafia crimes are utterly detestable. Here, we see the Mancuso clan of Vibo Valentia, which is roughly where my family is from, depriving the area of its cultural heritage, plundering and then selling-off antiquities to international dealers.

The other great unforgivable mafia crime is environmental degradation, toxic dumping, etcetera.

Although I have certain "fan boy" inclinations, I absolutely condemn crimes of this nature, crimes that destroy the history and land of southern Italy . . . .

Trezzano sul Naviglio installs anti-'Ndrangheta road signs
'Mafia clans not welcome here' mayor says

(ANSA) - Milan, July 21 - The authorities in Trezzano sul Naviglio near Milan on Tuesday installed traffic signs banning clans operating under Calabria's powerful 'Ndrangheta mafia from the area.

"Municipality out of bounds to the 'Ndrangheta" and "Mafia clans are not welcome here" read the signs in blue on a white background positioned by mayor Fabio Bottero accompanied by the president of the Lombardy chapter of the national association of municipalities (ANCI), Roberto Scanagatti.

The initiative came under the auspices of the ANCI campaign '100 municipalities against the mafia'. For years Trezzano sul Naviglio was considered one of the municipalities with the largest and most deep-rooted 'Ndrangheta presence in Lombardy.

"Trezzano wants to free itself from the clans," Bottero said. "Our city hosts companies that are excellent on an international level and it has a healthy social fabric, but we aren't able to remove the problem," he continued.

The anti-mafia road signs have been erected on an experimental bais, but proponents hope transport ministry officials will grant them permanent authorization.

http://www.ansa.it/english/news/2015/07 ... fe6bf.html

Police arrest 41 in 'Ndrangheta gaming ring worth 2 bn
Anti-mafia and finance police conducted early-morning raid

(ANSA) - Rome, July 22 - Anti-mafia and finance police arrested 41 people in an early-morning raid Wednesday, following a probe into an online illegal gaming ring run by Calabria's 'Ndrangheta mafia worth about 2 billion euros, investigators said.
The operation involved the seizure of 45 national and 11 international businesses, 1,500 betting parlours, 82 national and international online gaming websites, and numerous pieces of property.
Of the 41 people arrested, 28 were sent to jail and 13 were placed under house arrest.
Police also executed five restraining orders and five orders to appear before judicial police as part of the operation.

http://www.ansa.it/english/news/2015/07/...7b9c1d746b.html

11 mln seized from Camorra businessman
Francesco Grassia collected protection money for Casalesi clan

(ANSA) - Naples, July 28 - Anti-mafia police on Tuesday seized 11 million euros of assets from a former businessman with close ties to the Neapolitan Camorra crime syndicate.
Francesco Grassia, 70, provided logistical support to members of the infamous Casalesi clan based in Caserta, allegedly collecting protection money and investing the income and importing weapons from the former Yugoslavia. He was arrested in 2000.
Companies, property and bank accounts were seized in Tuesday's operation.

http://www.ansa.it/english/news/general_...01545c0b37.html