Germany, Italy clamp down on notorious mafia group 'Ndrangheta'
Ndrangheta mafia
German and Italian police on Wednesday arrested more than 100 members of the Italian ’Ndrangheta' organised crime syndicate as part of a "wide-scale" operation. In Germany, more than 1,000 officers searched dozens of homes, offices and stores across Bavaria, North Rhine-Westphalia, Rhineland-Palatinate and Thuringia. Operations also took place in Belgium, France, Italy, Portugal and Spain.
Calabria-based 'Ndrangheta' is regarded as the world's richest organised crime group and European authorities have been waging a war against it for years. The mafia group has managed to earn revenues in excess of tens of billions of dollars by selling cocaine over the decades.
Police in Bavaria said the arrests on Wednesday were the culmination of a three-year investigation effort codenamed 'Operation Eureka'. Michael Ebling, State Interior Minister of Rhineland-Palatinate, said the arrests were an "effective blow"against organised crime.
“Today sends out a very clear signal: There is no place for organised crime in Europe and there is certainly no place for it here with us in Rhineland-Palatinate,” Ebling was quoted as saying by dpa.
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German state office of the criminal investigation said most of the suspects arrested are accused of money laundering, gang tax evasion, commercial gang fraud, and narcotics smuggling.
According to reports, the investigators unearthed a widespread network of cafes, restaurants, pizzerias and ice cream parlours which acted as a front for the mafia organisation and took part in money laundering operations.
Italian and Belgian investigators said the crime group smuggled close to 25 tonnes of cocaine worth $24.2 million between October 2019 and January 2022 from Calabria to Belgium, the Netherlands and South America.
Notably, last year in November, Carmine Alfonso Maiorano, a 68-year-old leader of the mafia group was arrested in the town of Guernica in the province of Buenos Aires, Argentina.
Ndrangheta's genesis
The mafia group's genesis dates back to the 18th century. Unlike most modern-day mafia groups, members of 'Ndrangheta' still follow ancient rites which are passed down orally and through secret codes. To avoid clutches of the law enforcement agencies, the group members avoid speaking on phones entirely, opting to drive hundreds of miles for a meeting.
ALSO READ |Top Italian mobster belonging to the 'Ndrangheta mafia captured in Argentina
It consists of autonomous clans known as 'ndrine' which are based almost exclusively on blood ties. It has a monopoly on drug trafficking in Europe and also deals in arms trafficking, money laundering, racketeering, extortion, loan sharking, and prostitution.
(With inputs from agencies)
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