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'Ndrangheta, the firepower of the Mazzaferro: an arsenal available to the clan. «We have valuable weapons»
From the DDA of Rome the references to the operation "Circolo Formato". The role of Nicolò Sfara: «He procured weapons and ammunition»
Published: 22/11/2024 – 11:41
ROME A veritable arsenal of weapons at the disposal of the 'ndrangheta Mazzaferro clan , the clan from Marina di Gioiosa Ionica that from Locride was able to expand with ramifications in northern Italy and abroad. The firepower that the clan could count on is described in the pages of the order of the investigation launched in Rome that led to the arrest of 25 people. The operation of the Capitoline DDA revealed the dense web of interests and relationships between members of the clan with local entrepreneurs for the control of companies "serving" the marketing of petroleum products for the implementation of tax fraud . And in the over 300 pages of the order, there is also talk of the interest in weapons of Nicolò Sfara (born in '94), known as "Leone-Francesco-Silvio-Bruno", nephew of the deceased boss Giuseppe Mazzaferro and the current regent, the boss Rocco Mazzaferro (born in '64). In the course of some conversations intercepted in the environment, it emerges, in fact, that Sfara «as proof of the role recognized to him within the association, worked to obtain weapons and ammunition of illicit origin».
The clan's arsenal: " We have valuable weapons "
The Roman investigation refers to what was gathered in previous investigations into the Reggio clan. "We have valuable weapons... valuable weapons." A very young Nicolò Sfara said this in 2008, during a conversation intercepted and included in the documents of the "Circolo Formato" investigation. The reference is to the end-of-year party (December 31, 2008) that took place behind the house of Rocco Mazzaferro's father (which overlooks citrus fruit fields), where technical equipment for interceptions had been installed. The conversation shows that a certain Tonino, with a Roman accent but unidentified, had recently arrived and had even used a briefcase to transport the weapons and ammunition to the site . Among other things, the man had also brought "a 45 with a laser aiming system, a real 'bazooka'."
"The gang and, through it, its affiliates, had a real arsenal at their disposal," the judges wrote, who emphasized: "The assortment was certainly vast and varied and it logically follows that it is an arsenal attributable to the Mazzaferro gang. Not only because of its vastness and variety, but also because it seems absolutely unthinkable that Mazzaferro Rocco could have "authorized the port" and allowed the entry and permanence of an arsenal of this kind in a place under his family's control without having had some measure of paternity over it." And among the main illicit activities carried out by the clan, since its origins, are cigarette smuggling, theft, fraud, the manufacturing and dealing of counterfeit banknotes, robberies, extortion, drug and arms trafficking.
READ ALSO: From Lombardy to Rome: the criminal rise of the Mazzaferro clan, with branches in Europe and South America
During a conversation dated January 2021 and ended up in the Roman investigation, it emerges that Sfara – and therefore the Mazzaferro gang – had access to weapons. In fact, the 30-year-old speaks with some unidentified individuals interested in buying and selling weapons and ammunition. « But have you tried all the shots here? " », the interlocutor asks Sfara. « I can bring him a pack of seven, eh, eh. More than that I can't say ... '', the conversation continues. « When he fires the shot, the shot yes, it compresses in the barrel, it goes, you know how to do it, half . So. This is a ... inc. le. ., we loaded these again, these go, they go a thousand percent, unless you put them in water ... » . (m.ripolo@corrierecal.it)
