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That's how the police's anti-mafia team works
Latest update:
02-10-2020 | 13:26
Netherlands - Italian mafiosi in the Netherlands, we don't have them here, do we? It's a question that the police anti-mafia team regularly gets. But they are also active in our country. This team helps to track down and arrest Mafia members in hiding. "It's a cliché, but they can often be found in pizzerias and ice cream parlors."
Spaghetti
"It wasn't normal, cooking as good as he could." Alfredo M.'s colleagues cannot believe it. The 57-year-old chef they worked with in a popular Italian restaurant in The Hague turns out to be a worldwide sought-after Neapolitan Mafia member. For years he stood behind the stove of La Lanterna in the center of the royal city. A popular dining spot a stone's throw from the Binnenhof. Until the police handcuffed the Camorra member in 2019 on his way to work.
The chef is suspected of having played a coordinating role in the trade in hundreds of kilos of drugs from the Netherlands to Italy. In recent years he has worked not only in La Lanterna, but in various Italian restaurants in The Hague. One of them featured a black and white poster of actor Marlon Brando as the Godfather.
Fugitives
Alfredo M. could be arrested through a collaboration between the anti-mafia services of the Dutch and Italian police. In Italy this service has been around for a long time, in the Netherlands the anti-mafia team has been engaged in the investigation of Italian organized crime in our country for two years. The team consists of Dutch experts who speak Italian fluently. They all have an affinity with Italy because of their studies or work history. They come from various police teams, such as the criminal investigation department, but also from the tax authorities. And the Dutch liaison officer in Rome is part of the team.
"We collect information from Italy about suspects and fugitives who may be in hiding here," says Maaike, investigator and coordinator of the team. 'But we also interview Italian crown witnesses ourselves to obtain information. We link the right Dutch detectives to these cases. '
Heroes
In the office of the anti-mafia team is a poster of the famous investigating judges Falcone and Borsellino. "They were murdered in Italy in the early 1990s by the Cosa Nostra, at the time the largest mafia group," says Maaike. "These judges are the ultimate example of anti-mafia fighters for our team."
After their death, the Italians turned against the mafia en masse. At first they were seen by many people as a kind of Robin Hood-like organization. The mafia also provided work. But the murder made the Italians aware of the rotten core in their society. '
Thanks to these two heroes, the law has changed and the fight against the mafia has started. They are our mascots. In the morning I sometimes say: há, our friends are here again! '
Italian situations
Before the creation of this special team, there was almost no attention for Italian mafiosi in the Netherlands. Maaike: 'That's because the mafia has perfected the art of discreetness. Alfredo M., for example, belonged to the Camorra. Maffiatak which has existed since the 19th ecentury and is therefore very experienced. '
She cites the merciless murder of lawyer Derk Wiersum last year as an example. 'The press here wrote about “Italian conditions in the Netherlandsâ€. They see that very differently in Italy. The Italian mafia would never do this, they know. The mafia may be known as a killing machine, but will only use brute force if there is no other option. That attracts far too much attention. They prefer to stay under the radar. '
Pizza bakers
Like Alfredo M., more fugitive mafiosi have been arrested in the past two years who led a double life in the Netherlands. There was also the Camorra member and pizzeria owner Dario P. and pizza baker Rocco G, member of the 'Ndrangheta. And Alfredo M.'s brother was also happily behind the stove of another restaurant in The Hague.
"It's cliché but true: Italian restaurants and ice cream parlors are popular places that the Mafia use as a cover for their criminal activities," says team member Lars. “They use locations like these for drug trafficking. Not only as a meeting place and storage place for drugs, but also for money laundering, insurance fraud and harboring fugitives. '
Bunkers and cellars
Fugitive mafiosi do not have to hide in bunkers and cellars here, as in Italy, says Lars. 'Here in the Netherlands they have a much freer life. According to him, this is partly because the Dutch are very open to Italian culture. 'When' Ndrangheta leader Rocco G. was arrested, there was no neighbor or neighbor who said: how bad, mafia in our neighborhood! They all say, 'what a pity, he was such a nice man â€.' The mafiosi are absorbed into society and can continue to do their criminal business and still remain under the radar.
Big boys
'We have fewer Italian criminals in the Netherlands than criminals from other countries,' says Maaike. But the Italian fugitives we help track down aren't generally errand boys. “They're quite high up in the mafia's hierarchical structure. They play an important role in the drug trade and, for example, link the importers in South America with the sales market in Europe. Most are managed directly from Calabria, Naples and Sicily. '
Cocaine trade
'The Netherlands is logistically and economically a mecca for mafiosi', Lars explains. 'Cocaine trade is still their core business. With its open borders and the port of Rotterdam, our country is not called the gateway for the European cocaine trade for nothing. Our limited laws and regulations make it quite easy for them to do business here. '
In Italy, fighting the mafia is the number one priority, next to terrorism-related activities. 'In three or four years, they tackle entire networks in one go. In the Netherlands you often saw someone being arrested and two weeks later there is another replacement in place. We are now trying to adopt that Italian approach here, because it works best: eradicate everything root and branch, so that it does not return. '
Corona
Italy has been hit hard by the corona crisis. A number of big mafia bosses who were in prison here, were temporarily sent home on ankle-bracelet for their health. Maaike: 'These old capi were at home with a security man. There has been a lot of criticism from Italian society. It's against the sore leg of the victims of these mafiosi. And it is not good for confidence in the mafia approach in Italy. These mafiosi are now neatly behind bars again. '
Due to this crisis, the anti-mafia team expects to get a lot busier in the near future. "Covid-19 provides an ideal climate for Italian organized crime," says Maaike. 'Italy has extremely poor regions where state aid is now only starting slowly. And if the state cannot help the population, the local mafia clan is more than happy to fill that gap by handing out food packages or providing loans. For citizens who use this, the bill will not come until later. '
Major mafia fighters fear that the corona crisis will make the mafia in Italy as powerful again as it was twenty years ago. What does this mean for the Netherlands? 'Here too there are companies that are in need due to corona.'
'The question is what they will do if they are offered financial support from this shadowy corner. Entrepreneurs can now be more sensitive to this. We expect that the Italian mafia will also expand its power in the Netherlands. But we are on top of it. '
The names of the Anti-Mafia team members have been changed at the request of the interviewees, but are known to the editors.
The anti-mafia team tips
Tips for books and documentaries about the mafia fly across the table during team meetings of the anti-mafia team. They would like to share a few tips with you:
Film : Il Traditore / The Traitor (2020). Film about the first great regret Tomasso Buscetta, member of the Cosa Nostra. Thanks to Buscetta's statements, Cosa Nostra leader Toto Riina ('the beast') and hundreds of other mafiosi have been jailed. The film gives a good impression of the struggle of the Italian authorities against the mafia and the important role of the regret option system.
Books:'Mafia paradise' by Stan de Jong and Koen Voskuil. A good entry level for the novice mafia connoisseur: the history of the mafia branches interspersed with examples of mafiosi living in the Netherlands. For the next step: 'Blood Brothers' by Antonio Nicaso and Nicola Gratteri (the well-known Italian crimefighter). A comprehensive and detailed view of the 'Ndrangheta.
Series: Gomorrah (on Netflix) is based on the book by Roberto Saviano. The series gives a harsh but realistic picture of the Neapolitan Camorra, without the romantic edges.
https://www.politie.nl/nieuws/2020/oktober/2/zo-werkt-het-anti-maffiateam-van-de-politie.html
