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'Ndrangheta, dark web and wiretaps: the hearing of the prosecutor Gratteri in Antimafia
«In Catanzaro we investigated the 'ndrangheta that hired Romanian and German hackers to deal with bitcoins»
Published: 18/01/2025 – 15:01
CATANZARO The prosecutor of Naples Nicola Gratteri is a raging river, during the hearing before the parliamentary Anti-Mafia commission he talks about everything, from the dangers of the dark web, to the differences between the Camorra and the 'ndrangheta without leaving out a passage dedicated to justice between the Cartabia reform, privileges for bosses under 41 bis and wiretaps. On the difference between the mafias, always studied and fought, Gratteri says «There is one thing in the Camorra that is unthinkable for the ' ndrangheta : they move from one block to another. This makes investigations very difficult. In Calabria – Gratteri said during the hearing – it is unthinkable that a 'ndrangheta family decides to ally itself, at a certain point, with another group. Instead, in Campania I see a fairly fluid Camorra, it moves based on opportunities, business, business. The heads of the families also do business among themselves and below, the butcher shop, the street Camorristi, instead, kill each other". The prosecutor dedicates extensive analysis to the underworld in Campania but then returns with his mind to Calabria and his work at the head of the DDA. " In Catanzaro we conducted an investigation on the 'ndrangheta that hired Romanian and German hackers to come down to Calabria and deal with bitcoins or carry out sophisticated financial operations ". And then the warning: "when the war in Ukraine ends, our mafias will go and buy Stings on the dark web, on the black market they cost 30 thousand euros. We must equip ourselves to do this type of investigation". " The dark web is a very delicate matter that has exploded in the space of two years (...) it is the new frontier of the mafias ", underlines the prosecutor.
Wiretaps "are expensive but useful"
"Wiretapping costs the country 170 million euros. In the budget of a State, they are nothing. And no one tells you how much gold, banknotes, silver and collectors' watches are seized and acquired by the State." Nicola Gratteri returns to talk about the importance of wiretaps, a necessary tool to complete investigations and often able to reveal dark and hidden sides linked to the criminal galaxy. "The State makes money from it - he reiterates - and wiretaps, a colorful expression that I hear used, are a fairy tale, they do not exist. The prosecutor requests wiretaps and the judge orders them. An authorization is needed. We would not even have time, assuming they were possible, to do them." The prosecutor of Naples, then, gives a concrete example to dispel any doubts or fears about the alleged abuse of the tool. "If I have an environmental wiretap for mafia or drug trafficking and a public administrator, a regular customer, enters because he buys 100 grams of cocaine and speaks to the dealer about corruption, this is a confession but I cannot use the wiretap. If then a drug addict comes in half an hour later and buys 5 doses, 4 of which are to sell and one not to pay for himself and then says he stole a bottle of whisky from a supermarket, I can use this. A paradox! And the problem was there even during the government of the best, three years ago".
Award permits for bosses under 41 bis
Another very current issue: the award permits granted to those detained under the 41 bis regime. "Today there are 730 prisoners under the 41 bis regime in eleven different prisons. As far as I'm concerned, there are basically eleven different interpretations of 41 bis, where it happens that a prisoner can be better or worse off," says Gratteri. He adds: " For twenty years I have been proposing to create four facilities dedicated to 41 bis. Today there is only one in Sardinia. Another in Cagliari that is not opening. Three more prisons with 5,000 places each would be enough and we would no longer be talking about overcrowding. 41 bis is more of a slogan. It was created to prevent mafia bosses from sending death messages. I would be much more rigorous but high security must work ." The president of the Parliamentary Anti-Mafia Commission Chiara Colosimo intervened on this point - speaking to AdnKronos . «Gratteri has opened a gap that we will certainly work on, I have already given the mandate to look for all the circulars he cited because it is clear that we must build a 41bis that is the same in every location».
The reforms
The prosecutor dedicates a passage to the Cartabia reform that "has not weakened the currents within the judiciary and the CSM, it has only increased spending because there are 10 more members in the CSM". According to Gratteri, " the reform of the CSM is the mother of all reforms. If the system continues not to work, I believe that the lesser evil is the dry draw . Magistrates with criminal, disciplinary and pending records cannot participate in this draw. The same thing should be done for the lay members, that is, with university professors and lawyers". (fb)
