https://www.corrieredellacalabria.i...ccinasco-dallaffiliazione-al-pentimento/stories of 'ndrine
'Ndrangheta, the Agresta offspring contested between Volpiano and Buccinasco: from affiliation to repentance
The fate was sealed for the class of '88, heir to a long dynasty of powerful exponents of the 'ndrine of Platì. «Those were not my values»
Published: 26/08/2024 – 6:43
TURIN Detention in prison, then the choice to take the plunge and collaborate with justice, in October 2016. «The values ??of the 'ndrangheta are not profound and positive values. I also understood that the values ??and the life I was immersed in were all wrong». This is how Domenico Agresta (class of '88) known as “Micu Mcdonald”, had motivated his decision, the result of an awareness that had gradually matured. This is what the 'ndrangheta chronicles tell us about Piedmont, a territory marked by the presence of powerful 'ndrine still linked to Calabria, and hit by numerous anti-mafia investigations, from “Cerbero” to “Minotauro” passing through “Barbarossa” and “Carminius”. From his statements, moreover, the “Platinum” operation was carried out with which the Dda and the Dia of Turin had made about thirty arrests.
Young Agresta and Repentance
Born in Locri on September 22, 1988, Domenico Agresta is the son of Saverio Anna Marando, both parents linked to the 'ndrangheta operating in Platì, among the most influential in Locride and Northern Italy. On the paternal side, the collaborator's grandfather, Domenico Agresta (class of '34) was one of the founders of the 'ndrangheta, as well as responsible for all of Piedmont until his death. On the maternal side, the collaborator's uncle is Pasquale Marando known as "Pasqualino", "one of the most charismatic figures in the family", the investigators write, to the point of assuming the role of "guide of the 'ndrangheta in Piedmont" upon the death of Domenico Agresta (class of '34), the investigators further emphasize.
The collaborator of justice will explain to the magistrates: "While I was following this path, I continued to receive "gifts" of 'ndrangheta in prison. This condition began to weigh on me, I lived it as a mask, I could no longer continue to stay in this situation. I am not a silent person or able to respect the rules of the 'ndrangheta, I am not made like that". And again: "My uncle was on top of me and oppressed me, he complained because, in his opinion, I was taking school too seriously and was going to the educator too much".
The scion with a sealed fate
As reconstructed, in fact, Domenico Agresta (class of '88) spent his childhood between Volpiano and Buccinasco and, when his father Saverio was arrested, the family moved permanently to Volpiano, where the collaborator attended elementary school and the first year of middle school, at the end of which he failed. His uncle Pasqualino Marando decided, therefore, to enroll his nephew in the "S. Francesco" college in Lodi, making a house available to the family between Corsico and Cesano Boscone, where the collaborator then moved with his mother and two sisters. The path will then be marked by the murder of his uncle Marando and then, in his youth and after finishing school, the current collaborator of justice began to carry out his "work" activity in the wake of family tradition, namely in drug trafficking and the installation of video poker machines. Agresta, therefore, lived until the age of thirty "completely immersed in the values ??and rules of the 'ndrangheta, especially for reasons related to his family background" the investigators note.
The affiliation
«There was something that had been talked about in my family for a while. He made me understand that it was about my affiliation, telling me that if I hadn't been affiliated, I wouldn't have been anyone, I wouldn't have been a real man». Domenico Agresta also recounts a conversation that took place in the Vercelli prison, when he noticed his father Saverio approaching his cousin Domenico (class of '86) to whisper in his ear for a few minutes. «In my case it wasn't necessary to see what my behavior was» says the repentant «because my father is respected by everyone in the 'ndrangheta, but in any case the procedure requires that the “Mastro di Giornata” “carry out” the entry into the 'ndrangheta and ask for authorization from the “Capo Società” and the “Capo Locale”». In April 2007 (or 2008) Domenico Agresta (class of '86) reportedly told his cousin to be ready for the following day. First he should have disconnected the phone card, left it at home, and gone to Giuseppe Romeo's garden around 10 am. Then the story of the Agresta informer continues: «At a certain point they all went into a small cement house in the garden, inside there was a table. Both my uncle and Giuseppe Romeo told me that as soon as I entered my cousin Domenico Agresta (class of '86) as "youth leader" would have asked me in Calabrian dialect: "young man what are you looking for" and I had to say "blood and honor"». And again: «He "why don't you have blood and honor?", to which I had to answer "yes, but I want that of the company". My cousin had to tell me "from now on this young man is no longer recognized as a young man of honor but as a picciotto belonging to this body of society"». "Then he told me to shake hands with everyone, I also wanted to give a kiss but he told me that a picciotto couldn't greet by giving kisses" explained the repentant Agresta.
Disputed between Volpiano and Buccinasco
«Then those present wished me a happy birthday, immediately after they gave me an overview of the positions at the Volpiano club, explaining that we are all brothers, they explained the rules to me, telling me that I cannot speak to anyone who does not belong to the 'ndrangheta society and that from that moment on I was "active", from that moment on I was "activated", even if I had already committed crimes before». Later, the collaborator would even learn that he had been "disputed" between the Volpiano club and the Buccinasco one. In fact, Pasquale Barbaro, as the person in charge of the entire 'ndrangheta for Lombardy and a distant cousin of his father, wanted to affiliate him with Buccinasco. Instead, all the relatives on the Agresta side «wanted him to be affiliated with Volpiano», he says. In the end, according to the collaborator «my father decided for Volpiano». ( g.curcio@corrierecal.it )
