Mega-trial against Italian mafia: first 70 verdicts pronounced
Italian justice dealt a heavy blow on Saturday to the 'ndrangheta, Italy's most powerful mafia group. She convicted 70 members and others with ties to the crime syndicate.

Foreign editors 07-11-21, 07:22 Last update: 07:32
Judge Claudio Paris read the sentences against 91 suspects in the huge courtroom in the city of Lamezia Terme (Calabria) where the largest mafia trial since the late 1980s is taking place. No fewer than 355 suspects are on trial. It concerns members of the 'ndrangheta, but also politicians and entrepreneurs.

The suspects convicted Saturday had to answer in particular for membership of a mafia organization, attempted murder, money laundering, drug trafficking, extortion and illegal possession of weapons. They had opted for a quick process, behind closed doors. This allowed them to reduce their sentence by a third if convicted.

Noted mafia prosecutor Nicola Gratteri - who had to live under police protection for over 30 years for his efforts to defeat the 'ndrangheta - said everything went "very well" on Saturday. "Of the 91 accused, 70 people have been convicted," he told the Italian news agency AdnKronos, adding that the 21 acquitted were minors.

Six suspects were given the maximum sentence of 20 years demanded by Gratteri. Among them Domenico Macri of the military branch of the 'ndrangheta, Pasquale Gallone (62), the right-hand man of the alleged mob boss Luigi Mancuso whose trial is still pending, and Gregorio Niglia who was mainly concerned with obtaining weapons and extortion. Gallone helped his boss avoid the police for three years from 2014 onwards. About a third of the suspects were sentenced to ten years or more in prison.

The main suspects opted for a normal trial. These are 67-year-old Luigi Mancuso alias 'the uncle', considered to be the head of the 'ndrangheta families that controlled the province of Vibo Valentia, and the former senator and lawyer Giancarlo Pittelli (68).

The 'ndrangheta controls most of the cocaine flow entering Europe in Calabria, Italy's poorest region. This network of about 150 families competing for positions within the organization has, according to experts, at least 6,000 members and supporters in Calabria and thousands of others who support the organization worldwide.

Although the 'ndrangheta operates internationally and invests its income in the legal economy, its ability to infiltrate almost every segment of public administration in Calabria has enabled it to win lucrative contracts and consolidate its power.

More than 900 witnesses
The mega-trial takes place in a huge courtroom that can accommodate hundreds of lawyers and more than 900 witnesses for the prosecution (called by the prosecution) and 58 for the prosecution (called by the lawyers of the defendants).

This process is the culmination of an investigation that began in May 2016 with the statements of some regretful optants. Based on those statements, three anti-mafia units followed and wiretapped hundreds of suspects. The file contains the transcripts of about 24 thousand conversations. The research shows the enormous intertwining between the 'ndrangheta, the business world and politics in Calabria.

The legendary mega-trial against the Sicilian Cosa Nostra, in 1986 and 1987, dealt a heavy blow to that mafia organization with 338 convictions.