There were 1,320 mafia-related murders in Calabria between 1983 and 2018, according to police
A dolphin died on the doormat and the window was smashed with a sledgehammer. Weapons are stored in the cemetery chapel. Bribery to judges to get acquitted, and bogus medical certificates so convicted murderers evade prison.
These are the stories told since January by dozens of ‘Ndrangheta members who became state witnesses in the biggest anti-mafia trial in Italy in three decades, covering everything from threats to vote buying. , drug trafficking to murder.
“They waited for them at Piazza Morelli, offered them ricotta at the ranch… and then they killed, burned and melted them,” said witness turned criminal, Andrea Mantella, describing the murders of two brothers. how to get revenge in 1988. .
‘Ndrangheta, Italy’s most powerful organized crime syndicate, is in the sights of a “peak trial” against 355 defendants held in the poor southern region of Calabria, the group’s home ground.
Having expanded beyond its rural roots, the ‘Ndrangheta now dominates Europe’s cocaine trade and has penetrated many sectors of the legal economy throughout Italy, and even abroad. .
It is helped by its close connections with politicians and business figures, and its control over Calabria locals.
Testimony briefed this month from 58 unprecedented mafia informants – connected to the court by video link – shows both the brutality of the ‘Ndrangheta, but also the pervasive influence underground of this group at all levels of society.
The trial centered on a province of Calabria, Vibo Valentia, whose clan is dominated by Luigi “The Supreme” Mancuso, 67, who was on trial after serving a 19-year sentence for drug and mafia crimes until 2012. .
“Without Luigi Mancuso’s consent, you cannot open any business,” his grandson, Emanuele Mancuso, testified in March.
Salary and civil servants
With nicknames such as “Lamb Thigh”, “Sweetie”, “Wolf” and “The Wringer”, the defendants – many of whom are related – are said to be bosses and agents, as well as old-timers. encourage them.
They were charged with procuring weapons, collecting votes or sending messages. Others are alleged to have collected and distributed cash to prisoners, worked as accountants or managed mafia relationships in other areas. Others still identify blackmail targets and plan ambushes.
The ‘Ndrangheta’s reach in the local economy has made it nearly indestructible.
Courts have heard of ambulances transferring drugs, water supplies diverting to growing cannabis, and drowning migrants being buried without coffins following fraudulent public tenders.
The informant Mantella, a senior member who has confessed to multiple murders, said 70,000 euros ($79,000) was paid to get him out of prison to a medical clinic where “I did what I did.” want”, highlighting the financial influence of ‘Ndrangheta.
Mantella and another state witness also testified that ‘Ndrangheta paid €50,000 to former senator and lawyer, Giancarlo Pittelli, who challenged his innocence, to be tried.
The defendants also include police, court staff, mayors and other officials – some of whom allegedly met the mafia in illegal Masonic motels.
Calabrian journalist Consolato Minniti told AFP that the highest trial was the first to go “above and beyond the ‘military’ side of the ‘Ndrangheta”.
“To this day, judges often target shooters,” he said.
Cozy ties are nothing new. Over the past 30 years, 110 city councils in Calabria have been disbanded because of mafia infiltration – about three times, including in Lamezia Terme, where the trial is taking place.
The Mancuso family’s home town, Limbadi, was the first. Its administration was dissolved by the Italian president in 1983 after a fugitive boss, Francesco “Ciccio” Mancuso, was elected mayor in absentia.
Molotov cocktails
The allegations in the 351-page indictment show that ‘Ndrangheta will not stop at the pursuit of its goals.
Various tactics are used to coerce protection money, force owners to sell below market value, force businesses to turn to mafia suppliers, or chase loans with excessively high interest rates. , sometimes over 200 percent.
Dead puppies, dolphins, and goat heads were thrown on protesters’ doorsteps, threatening phone calls were made, beaten, cars burned, Molotov cocktails destroyed throws and shots fired.
Suspects in five murders, including a member of the ‘Ndrangheta killed in 2002 for homosexuality, are in the dock during the grand trial.
Gay man Mantella said the gay victim was buried and then covered by the runway.
According to authorities, there were 1,320 mafia-related murders in Calabria between 1983 and 2018.
In a May 2017 episode that was caught on wiretapping and included in the indictment, a ‘Ndrangheta member called the brother of a woman who lost €7,000 in marijuana after being seized by the police.
“Try to get this money back or (you’ll) find your sister in a cement pole,” said the caller.
“Because these people are not joking.”
(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and was automatically generated from the feed provided.)
