Huge European crackdown targets ‘Ndrangheta crime syndicate
Over 100 people were arrested across multiple countries in a co-ordinated effort against the notorious mafia group
03 May 2023 - 14:10
byAgency Staff
Support our award-winning journalism. The Premium package (digital only) is R30 for the first month and thereafter you pay R129 p/m now ad-free for all subscribers.
Police officers carry boxes into a police building in Mainz, Germany, May 3, 2023, after German police arrested dozens of people across the country on Wednesday in an investigation of the Italian 'Ndrangheta organised crime group, German public prosecutors and state police said. Picture: REUTERS/TIMM REICHERT
Rome/Brussels — Police across Europe on Wednesday arrested more than 100 people in a crackdown on members of the Italian ‘Ndrangheta organised crime group, suspected of involvement in drugs and weapons trafficking, including some “high value” figures in the group.
“We think that among the arrests were several persons of a high value who played a huge role in the organisation, not only in Belgium but in other European countries,” said Belgian federal prosecutor Antoon Schotsaert.
The swoop was part of an investigation spanning Italy, Germany, Belgium, Portugal, Spain, Slovenia, Romania as well as Brazil and Panama, according to EU law enforcement agency Europol.
The network was devoted primarily to international drug trafficking from South America to Europe and Australia, Europol said in a statement.
The ‘Ndrangheta clans were also involved in running weapons from Pakistan to South America, supplying Brazilian criminal group PCC (Primeiro Comando da Capital) in exchange for cocaine shipments, Europol added.
The ‘Ndrangheta, which has its roots in the southern Italian region of Calabria, has surpassed Cosa Nostra as the most powerful mafia group in the country, and one of the largest criminal networks in the world.
“The mafia-style organisation is responsible for much of Europe’s cocaine trade, combined with systematic money laundering, bribery and violence,” Europol said.
Some of the ‘Ndrangheta families targeted have been involved in clan feuds culminating in mass shootings, including the killing of six people in the German city of Duisburg in 2007, it said.
Money laundering
Profits were invested in real estate, restaurants, hotels, car wash companies, supermarkets and other commercial activities.
Italian police commander Massimiliano D’Angelantonio said the network used Chinese money brokers in Italy and Colombia to arrange for the funds to be moved to pay for drugs.
“They made transactions of more than €22m in a single year,” he told a news conference
Assets worth €25m ($27.58m) were seized in Italy, Germany, Portugal and France in “Operation Eureka”, which was launched in 2019 initially to look into drug smuggling between Calabria and the Belgian city of Genk, according to Italian police.
A total of 108 people were arrested in Italy and other EU countries on the orders of police based in the southern city of Reggio Calabria, the Italian police said.
Related investigations led to the arrest of 15 people in Belgium and 24 in Germany, they said, as well as a further 53 detentions in northern Italy.
Support our award-winning journalism. The Premium package (digital only) is R30 for the first month and thereafter you pay R129 p/m now ad-free for all subscribers.
Huge European crackdown targets ‘Ndrangheta crime syndicate
Over 100 people were arrested across multiple countries in a co-ordinated effort against the notorious mafia group
Rome/Brussels — Police across Europe on Wednesday arrested more than 100 people in a crackdown on members of the Italian ‘Ndrangheta organised crime group, suspected of involvement in drugs and weapons trafficking, including some “high value” figures in the group.
“We think that among the arrests were several persons of a high value who played a huge role in the organisation, not only in Belgium but in other European countries,” said Belgian federal prosecutor Antoon Schotsaert.
The swoop was part of an investigation spanning Italy, Germany, Belgium, Portugal, Spain, Slovenia, Romania as well as Brazil and Panama, according to EU law enforcement agency Europol.
The network was devoted primarily to international drug trafficking from South America to Europe and Australia, Europol said in a statement.
The ‘Ndrangheta clans were also involved in running weapons from Pakistan to South America, supplying Brazilian criminal group PCC (Primeiro Comando da Capital) in exchange for cocaine shipments, Europol added.
The ‘Ndrangheta, which has its roots in the southern Italian region of Calabria, has surpassed Cosa Nostra as the most powerful mafia group in the country, and one of the largest criminal networks in the world.
“The mafia-style organisation is responsible for much of Europe’s cocaine trade, combined with systematic money laundering, bribery and violence,” Europol said.
Some of the ‘Ndrangheta families targeted have been involved in clan feuds culminating in mass shootings, including the killing of six people in the German city of Duisburg in 2007, it said.
Money laundering
Profits were invested in real estate, restaurants, hotels, car wash companies, supermarkets and other commercial activities.
Italian police commander Massimiliano D’Angelantonio said the network used Chinese money brokers in Italy and Colombia to arrange for the funds to be moved to pay for drugs.
“They made transactions of more than €22m in a single year,” he told a news conference
Assets worth €25m ($27.58m) were seized in Italy, Germany, Portugal and France in “Operation Eureka”, which was launched in 2019 initially to look into drug smuggling between Calabria and the Belgian city of Genk, according to Italian police.
A total of 108 people were arrested in Italy and other EU countries on the orders of police based in the southern city of Reggio Calabria, the Italian police said.
Related investigations led to the arrest of 15 people in Belgium and 24 in Germany, they said, as well as a further 53 detentions in northern Italy.
Reuters
Italy arrests 334 ’Ndrangheta mafia members
Cocaine traffickers shrug off global lockdown restrictions
Would you like to comment on this article?
Sign up (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.
Most Read
Related Articles
Freedom Day in Philippi: gunshots, robberies and piles of rubbish
EDITORIAL: SA spiralling into a gangster state
Experts warn mass killings could continue if illegal gun trade is not addressed
Published by Arena Holdings and distributed with the Financial Mail on the last Thursday of every month except December and January.