https://www.corrieredellacalabria.i...-o-calabria-e-vietnam-entrano-in-guerra/

THE INVESTIGATION
'Ndrangheta, Cambareri's impositions on his partner: accept or "Calabria and Vietnam go to war"
In Brescia, at the end of summer 2020, the clash between the boss of San Roberto and some associates takes place, after the theft of 600 thousand euros. "I have an army of friends"
Published: 02/18/2025 – 7:00

BRESCIA A month's break, the time needed to reorganize after the hard blow suffered with the maxi-seizure of the Guardia di Finanza that took place in Scilla (we reported it here). It is the summer of 2020 and Giovanni Natalino Cambareri (class of '69) from Scilla , is more intent than ever on carrying out his plans: to bring more cash to Calabria and "destroy" the criminal association led by Giuseppe Zeli (class of '76) and the Vietnamese Hung Giang Vu (class of '79) known as "Gianni", all arrested in the investigation of the Brescia District Anti-Mafia, on the orders of the investigating judge Alessandro d'Altilia.
It was July 29 when Cambareri, in a conversation intercepted by the prosecutor's office with Mariano Oliveri, said he had spoken to his father, Mario, to whom he explained that, instead of worrying about the money seized in Scilla, they should have planned "how to obtain, illicitly, more money", perhaps using a relay of at least five cars. In Cambareri's plan, as emerged from the investigation, there was the intention then to finance mainly his brother Domenico and divide the remaining part between the Oliveri and Sgarlato families, for the wedding of their respective daughters.

Everything postponed until September
Intentions postponed until September, when Simone Iacca (class of '85) – also arrested – allegedly identified a house without a rental contract near Desenzano del Garda. In short, a new operational base essential to carry out his plan: to strike again at the original organization and impose his leadership. Even with strong methods. Cambareri, as reconstructed by the prosecution, not only denies any responsibility for the theft of the 600 thousand euro loot but, speaking with Zeli and Vu, he also raised the possibility of carrying out retaliatory actions against them, targeting the Vietnamese in particular, literally invited to leave Brescia. As emerged from the investigation, therefore, Cambareri was trying to crystallize around himself "a new criminal group, subjugating his former associates and, at the same time, trying to guarantee their future support".

«Today Calabria and Vietnam went to war»
The Calabrian, obviously taking advantage of his criminal record and being able to count on his 'ndrangheta power, does not hesitate to talk about "war", implying that he can count on a large number of "friends". "If you want war, let's make war": this, in short, is what Cambareri had to "offer" to the two, becoming particularly threatening with Vu: "If it is not possible to talk, Gianni, it means that today Vietnam and Calabria have entered into war" . A message that became even clearer shortly after: "I can be with money and without money, but I have an army of friends". Also because Cambareri is considered " regent of the 'ndrangheta clan of San Roberto, in the Reggio area " already convicted in 2015 for mafia-type criminal association and detained until June 2017 under the 41bis regime.

READ ALSO: The 'ndrangheta of Reggio in Brescia: the companies, the clash between cousins ??and the risk of a "war"
The agreement imposed by force
It is in this scenario of intimidation that the Calabrian manages to impose the agreement on the Vietnamese: Vu would continue to "provide him with cash in exchange for a 2.5% commission" and the guarantee of not suffering any further thefts of money, effectively obtaining a "truce". In the meantime, he also convinces him that he had nothing to do with the robbery, referring to alleged judicial investigations against other individuals who, in some way, could have involved them too. And, above all, he makes him a promise: that of tracing the real perpetrators. After all, one of his family had been beaten - this is the official version - and therefore there was a "code of honor" to respect. Also because, as repeated by Cambareri, "whoever knows the Calabrians also knows what that gesture means" . None of this, however, corresponded to the truth. ( g.curcio@corrierecal.it )

https://www.lacnews24.it/cronaca/nd...-due-esponenti-del-clan-mancuso-au1naod1

'Ndrangheta, the Ministry of Justice orders harsh prison sentences for two members of the Mancuso clan

https://www.corrieredellacalabria.i...dienza-preliminare-per-19-indagati-nomi/

MAESTRAL 3
'Ndrangheta Vibo Valentia and drug trafficking, preliminary hearing set for 19 suspects – NAMES
The suspects, in addition to operating in the Vibo Valentia area, allegedly had ramifications and contacts on the national and international territory
Published: 20/02/2025 – 15:04
LAMEZIA TERME The preliminary hearing for the 19 people against whom the Catanzaro District Anti-Mafia Commission closed its investigations in June last year has been set for March 7, 2025 – in Courtroom C of the Catanzaro Courthouse.
These are individuals believed to belong to an association aimed at the illicit trafficking of narcotics, operating in the province of Vibo Valentia and with ramifications and contacts on the national and international territory, and involved in the blitz of March 26, 2024. During the investigative phase, investigators were able to identify sources of supply for large quantities of marijuana, hashish and cocaine in South America and Albania. Once they arrived in Italy, the drugs were transported and sold both in the Vibo Valentia area and in the areas of Caltanissetta, Cosenza, Naples, Asti, and in Tuscany and throughout Northern Italy.

The names:
Accorinti Giuseppe Antonio;
Arena Rocco;
Ascona Rocco;
Ascona Salvatore;
Barbers Francis;
Barton Angelo;
Chaplain Bruno;
Fusca Cone Rocco;
Galati Armando;
Galatians Dominic;
Galatians Michael;
Mancuso Emanuel;
Francesco Mangone;
Saverio Mestano;
Mazzeo Michele Silvano;
Navarre Joseph;
Navarre Valerio;
Nicolae Laurentiu Gheorghe;
Rectification Simone.
The defense team includes the following lawyers: Luca Cianferoni, Tommaso Zavaglia, Michele Novella, Luigi Luppino, Antonio Caruso, Salvatore Staiano, Sergio Rotundo, Mariantonietta Iorfida Pietro Chiodo, Luigi La Scala, Giuseppe Bagnato, Giuseppe De Luca, Diego Brancia, Giovanni Vecchio, Giuseppe Di Renzo, Pamela Tassone and Francesco Schimio. (g.curcio@corrierecal.it)

https://www.lacnews24.it/cronaca/na...clan-di-mileto-zungri-e-limbadi-in23yrnn

'Ndrangheta and Chinese crime, the relationship is consolidated and it is no longer just a feeling

https://www.ilrestodelcarlino.it/re...moderna-infiltrata-nelleconomia-16a96d8d

The 'modern' 'ndrangheta: "Infiltrated into the economy"
Grimilde, the reasons for the Appeal ruling: "Francesco Grande Aracri at the top"

https://www.corrieredellacalabria.i...-familiari-uomo-di-grande-forza-e-bonta/

NEWS
'Ndrangheta, Boss Don Ciccio Valle Dead. Family: "A Man of Great Strength and Kindness"
Patriarch of the Cisliano and Vigevano clan, he emigrated from Reggio Calabria in '79 during the "first 'ndrangheta war"
Published: 21/02/2025 – 10:40

A man of great strength and kindness, an example of love and dedication to his family." This is how his children and relatives have chosen to publicly remember Don "Ciccio" Valle, historic boss of the 'ndrangheta of Cisliano and Vigevano, who died at the age of 87 last February 16, with a sentence of over 21 years behind him. Valle was under house arrest after being released from prison for health reasons.
A significant manifesto with respect to Don Ciccio's criminal curriculum. His was a name of "weight" in the chessboard of Calabrian organized crime transplanted to Lombardy. Ciccio Valle, in fact, committed a whole series of crimes documented by the DDA and the Mobile Squad in the blitz that, in July 2010, had carried out the maxi operation "Infinito-Crimine". His children and grandchildren were also convicted in the investigation. At the center of the restaurant-hideout "La Masseria" in Cisliano where the Valles received and threatened their victims of usury. Don Ciccio was the patriarch of the clan , certified as a mafioso however only by the sentences following the 2010 blitz. Investigations that then uncovered all the power of the Valle family and also the ramifications in the business world (especially in the video poker business) of the Lampada family (brothers-in-law of the Valle family). The second phase of the investigation also led to the conviction of two Calabrian magistrates.

The criminal curriculum
Having emigrated from Reggio Calabria at the time of the first 'ndrangheta war in the 1970s, he was originally from Archi, a district of Reggio. Don Ciccio, in August 1977, had been wounded by gunshots «by unknown attackers». Already in 1973 Francesco Valle had tried to kill Carmelo Barbaro «who, a few hours earlier, had tried to kill his brother, Demetrio Valle, by shooting him several times». In 1979, as the investigators report, he moved «to Vigevano (Pavia) with his wife Angela Nucera and his children Fortunato, Angela, Leonardo, to escape the revenge of the “Geria-Rodà” gang.
«In that territory he is committed to gradually carrying out a real transplant of the original gang». There is a significant event in the criminal history of Don Ciccio Valle: on January 15, 1999, Luciano Violante, at the time President of the Chamber of Deputies and Don Luigi Ciotti, former head of “Libera”, met in Vigevano, when the State returned to the city the “Giada” bar, confiscated in '95 from the Valle family. (Gi.Cu.)

https://www.corrieredellacalabria.i...llestero-e-contanti-consegnati-a-pacchi/

the monetization system
Milan's Chinatown at the service of the 'Ndrangheta: invoices abroad and cash delivered "in bundles"
The Guardia di Finanza of Brescia has reportedly revealed a system by which some Chinese pocketed 0.5% of hundreds of thousands of euros, the proceeds of which came from companies owned by Lino Cambareri
Published: 21/02/2025 – 17:33

MILAN A flow of money that circulated within a “supply chain”, through the issuing of invoices for non-existent transactions , thus generating a completely illicit profit. A very well-tested scheme: the user company (client) paid the invoice issued in its favor by the “filter” company, often under Italian law, which paid for the same amount an invoice issued by a “shell” company under foreign law, in this case from Eastern European countries , which finally forwarded the amount originally paid by the user company to a shell company under Chinese law . A complex system discovered by the Guardia di Finanza of Brescia.

Brescia companies in the hands of clans
The financiers, in fact, on behalf of the Brescia District Anti-Mafia Office, have traced the path of a river of money from two companies, through wiretaps and analysis of the "hidden accounting". These are "Dante Srl" , formally represented by Giuseppe Zeli (born in 1976) from Brescia, who ended up in prison, gravitating towards the criminal group managed by Giovanni Natalino Cambareri, known as Lino (born in 1969), considered the regent of the San Roberto 'ndrangheta clan, and "Star Service Srl", represented by the brothers Giovanni and Massimo Cutrì and "offered" to Lino Cambareri himself. The company, therefore, is in the hands of the alleged criminal group connected to the Calabrian 'ndrangheta, based in Brescia.


The “system” for monetizing invoices
The investigation has therefore turned the spotlight on an increasingly consolidated system that sees the profitable collaboration between the Calabrian clans and the Chinese community. As emerged from the investigations, in fact, once the amount has been credited to the current account of the Chinese company, what the financial police call “monetization” of the invoice occurs, that is, the provision by individuals belonging to the Chinese community of Milan “of cash for an amount corresponding to the invoice originally paid by the “client” company”. The members of the criminal group retain the amount of 3.5% for the service provided – corresponding to the profit of the crime – to then be divided among the members of the association. Following this scheme, the original “client” company receives cash for the remaining 96.5% of the nominal amount of the invoice paid, with a consequent evident and significant saving in terms of tax expenditure.

money cash 'ndrangheta brescia
92.5 million euros moved
A system as complex as it was profitable: according to the investigators, in fact, the criminal group had managed to move 92.5 million euros between February 2020 and February 2021, justifying these movements as "payments for the (false) economic-commercial services certified by the (fictitious) invoices issued by the "shell" and "filter" companies managed by them", according to the financial police.
The analysis of the "hidden accounting" would thus have made it possible to identify the cash flows leaving the current accounts of the Bulgarian, Hungarian, Croatian and Slovakian "shell" companies towards the Chinese companies, and the corresponding "cash loads", or the monetizations carried out in Italy in favor of the association which, having withheld the commission equal to 3.5%, redistributed the cash into the hands of the intermediaries of the companies using the false invoices. In this complex system, therefore, the suppliers of money of Chinese origin were usually attributed a commission of 0.5%, deducted from the overall commission of 3.5%. Circumstance emerged, for example, by reconstructing the analysis of the hidden accounting and a movement of 149,956 euros transferred in favor of Chinese companies from the current accounts of the Bulgarian "shell companies" such as "East West Trade Company Ltd Eood" (Ex Eurasia Business LTD Eood) and "Metals Plastik Komers Eood" (Ex Bulgaria Consult Holding Ltd Eood), in this case, Xiaoqing Wang known as "Blu" (Chinese class of '72) is recognized a percentage of 0.5%.

Chinese in business
An example, for the investigators, significant with respect to the full involvement of Chinese subjects in the illicit business set up by the members of the Calabrian criminal group. The latter, in fact, once they received the "final" transfer on the current accounts of the Bulgarian, Slovak, Hungarian or Croatian "shell companies", from time to time proceeded to empty the accounts, "arranging various foreign-to-foreign transfers in favor of a plurality of Chinese companies", referable or in any case related to some of the associates. Among them the aforementioned Xiaoqing Wang "Blu" and then Zhicheng Liu alias "Zuma" (class of '77) and two subjects not identified except through their nicknames: "Ahai" and "Tettona".


Milan's "Chinatown"
The money delivered
In the investigative phase, furthermore, the prosecutor's office was able to document some episodes of cash delivery by members of the Chinese community in Milan to individuals who, in various capacities, are linked to the Calabrian criminal group. Such as, for example, that of 22 July 2020 and the famous 600 thousand euros - later stolen by Cambareri's group - delivered by "Zuma" and "Blu" to Mariano Oliveri. And again, the documented delivery of two light blue envelopes containing cash, dating back to 6 October 2020 by Hung Giang Vu to Claudio Apostoli, in Milan. Then, on 11 November, the investigators intercepted the telephone conversation between Giovanni Natalino Cambareri and Liguan Hu, during which the latter "asked his interlocutor how much the sum to be withdrawn from "Ahai" was", with Cambareri speaking of approximately 109,100 euros. Shortly after, Liguan HU was observed driving his car to Milan, at the intersection between Via Paolo Sarpi and Via Rosmini, and meeting “Hai's sister”, who most likely gave him the cash, as can be seen from the fact that, immediately afterwards, HU Liguan went to the headquarters of Star Service SRL where Cambareri was waiting for him to receive the supply of cash he had spoken about in the previous telephone conversation.


Packages and envelopes full of money
The city of Turin is also involved in the business. It is here that, according to what emerged from the wiretaps, Liguan Hu is observed, on the side street of Via Regina Margherita, then joined by Lianghu Hu, with a yellow envelope in tow. The two, according to what was reconstructed, meet while Lianghu Hu shows Liguan "the contents of the trunk of the car he had arrived in" . Immediately after, Liguan Hu left the meeting place and told Cambareri by phone that he "intended to leave Turin as soon as he collected the cash". Among the investigative findings that emerged, then, there is also a phone call from January 22, 2021 in which Cambareri asked Hu if "he could bring him 'something' today", referring to cash, with the Chinese man replying that "it would have been better to wait until Monday, when he would have been able to give him almost 100 thousand euros". The Calabrese, however, replied that 100 thousand euros was not enough, "since the previous day he had sent him 180,000 euros with "Transferwise" and that on the same day he would have sent him another 250 thousand euros". ( g.curcio@corrierecal.it )

https://www.lacnews24.it/cronaca/pa...orio-bellocco-e-il-clan-mancuso-dq9c9c8d

'Ndrangheta pact, the repentant Megna recounts the ties between the former fugitive Gregorio Bellocco and the Mancuso clan

https://www.corrieredellacalabria.i...-la-minaccia-vi-sequestriamo-un-parente/

OPERATION MERCURY
High tension between Cosa Nostra and 'Ndrangheta, the debt for 10 kilos of cocaine and the threat: we will kidnap a relative of yours
Some arrests complicate the plans of the members of the Santapaola-Ercolano family, unable to recover the necessary money
Published: 25/02/2025 – 7:01

LAMEZIA TERME A large debt for a drug shipment has increased tension between some members of the Santapaola-Ercolano family of Cosa Nostra and some Calabrian individuals, linked to the 'ndrangheta. It is one of the episodes reconstructed by investigators during the "Mercurio" investigation, whose blitz led to the arrest of 19 individuals in the Catania area on the orders of the Etna investigating judge and at the request of the Catania District Anti-Mafia Commission, accused of various crimes such as extortion, drug trafficking and dealing, fraudulent transfer of assets and mafia-related political electoral exchange.

10 Kg of cocaine from Calabria
The investigation by the Carabinieri del Ros, however, would have allowed them to reveal more than a few contacts with Calabrian subjects for a drug deal between 2022 and 2023 and what was reconstructed in the investigative phase is a picture made up of accusations and threats, even serious ones, that could have led to even worse consequences. The deal in question is a 10 kg load of cocaine, divided into 10 sealed blocks and marked with the symbol "the racket". A drug purchase from Calabrians that - according to what emerged from the investigation by the Carabinieri Ros - was the matter of Antonino Della Vita "la Volpe" (class of '66) and Rosario Bucolo "U'mbazzutu" (class of '74), both arrested. The latter, in particular, would have had a management role not only within the Castello Ursino group , but also within the Santapaola-Ercolano mafia association itself . It will be up to him to try to unravel a complicated situation.

The arrests
The negotiation would have taken place in September 2022, shortly before the execution of the “Sangue blu” operation. A problem of no small importance because the one who contracted the huge debt with the Calabrians was Francesco Napoli (already detained), one of the individuals arrested in that blitz. And, once he ended up in prison, the Calabrians would have started to demand money from the other associates. The first on the list was Giuseppe Scuto (class of '63) – already detained – who, on behalf of Napoli, would have taken care of the transportation of the drugs. He too, however, will be arrested: it is January 2023 and the Calabrian creditors do not take it so well. To the point that they will even threaten Scuto's son, Fabrizio (class of '90) who, in fact, together with his father had conducted the negotiation for the purchase of the drugs on behalf of Francesco Napoli.

The threat of the Calabrians: we will kidnap a relative of yours
The interception activity – especially in the period between June and August 2023 – has allowed us to add further details to the intricate story. Francesco Napoli, for starters, is said to have lied to the Calabrians, telling them that he had delivered the sum owed to Giuseppe Scuto when they had received the drug load. Then, Fabrizio Scuto involves Orazio Salvatore Scuto “u vitraru”, considered a member of the family, «ready to intercede with the Calabrians». An attempt, however, that failed: the Calabrians, in fact, refused any alternative agreement and, even, threatened Fabrizio Scuto to «kidnap one of his relatives, as a guarantee and until the debt was repaid». The latter then decides to involve Rosario Bucolo who does not take it well for two reasons: the involvement of too many individuals in the story and, above all, the threat from the Calabrians considered «unacceptable» , saying he was even ready to «confront them militarily». A risky move even if in any case the authorization of the top of the family would have been necessary. Opposing the Calabrian 'ndrangheta would have been a very imprudent move.

The huge debt and the usurious loan
It is June 6, 2023 when the pg records a first meeting between Rosario Bucolo and Fabrizio Scuto. "The Calabrians have bad intentions", this is the message brought by Orazio Scuto "u vitraru". "They want to take someone over there, they'll keep him with them until they get the money". An issue that had to be resolved quickly according to Bucolo, although he did not consider the threat concrete, but in any case the matter with the Calabrians "we have to sort it out". On the table, in addition to the profitable business with the Calabrians, there was also the credibility of the Santapaola-Ercolano family, so they also agreed on a possible monthly payment of an installment until the entire debt was satisfied, also putting on the table a tractor, complete with two semi-trailers, worth 100,000 euros. However, they would hardly have accepted such a proposal, the group was aware of this, just as it was aware of the enormous problem they would have had to face. Because in order to recover 38 thousand euros, part of the advance of the 75 thousand already delivered to the Calabrians, they had been forced to resort to a usurious loan that they were still paying with a monthly installment of 6 thousand euros.

The Milanese friend and the Calabrian one
It will then be Fabrizio Scuto who will recognize his own mistake and that of his father. At the time of the negotiation, in fact, the Calabrians wanted to give the Sicilians only 5 kg of drugs instead of the 10 requested but, strong in the support of Francesco Napoli, «they had insisted on buying 10 kilos, only to discover later that Napoli had not paid the sums necessary to pay for the supply», effectively putting them in trouble. At this point it is Bucolo who plays the ace up his sleeve given the looming threat of a kidnapping: contact a «subject resident in the Milan area who, due to his criminal caliber, could have intervened both against the Calabrians and against Orazio Scuto», then he would have contacted a “friend” of his in Calabria, in order to arrange an appointment with the suppliers and close the matter. ( g.curcio@corrierecal.it )

https://www.laprovinciadivarese.it/...ndrangheta-12-arresti-e-17-fermi-372038/

A ton of drugs per month, the narcos and the 'ndrangheta: 12 arrests and 17 detentions

https://www.corrieredellacalabria.i...-dubbi-del-boss-sulla-tenuta-del-broker/

THE DETAILS
'Ndrangheta, the Gallaces' alarm for Pasquino's repentance: the denial and the boss's doubts about the broker's "steadfastness"
An article throws the men of the Guardavalle clan into panic. The mystery of the letter and the broker's intention to "kill the lawyer"
Published: 24/02/2025 – 6:46

TURIN It took just one piece of news, which appeared in a Turin newspaper, to trigger panic among members of the Gallace 'ndrangheta clan: Vincenzo Pasquino 's adhesion to the protection program for collaborators of justice. We are still in February 2021 and the repentance of the very powerful drug trafficking broker, - in business with the 'ndrangheta - is still to be considered fake news. Or an exercise in clairvoyance because the choice to take the plunge, in fact, will only take place three years later, in 2024. Pasquino , born in Turin in 1990, is considered a leading member of the Calabrian criminal organization , and was extradited in March last year.

The alarm in chat
Returning to the facts that emerged in the latest investigation by the Anti-Mafia District of Catanzaro, the investigators managed to decrypt the Sky Ecc chat used by the Gallaces: there is the boss, Cosimo Damiano Gallace, the two Domenico Vitales and Cesare Antonio Arcorace. It is precisely them in a frenetic tam-tam exchanging messages of alarm and concern. In fact, the newspaper article reported a quote in which Vincenzo Pasquino «considered it appropriate to confess everything before an Italian court», rather than serve his sentence in a Brazilian prison. A letter that was apparently filed with the judges by Pasquino's lawyer, who was wanted at the time as part of the "Cerbero" operation conducted by the Anti-Mafia District of Turin. The first to get things started was the message from Domenico Vitale (class of '76), sent in chat to Pasquino, with the incriminating article attached.

Vincenzo Pasquino Rocco Morabito Ndrangheta
Rocco Morabito and Vincenzo Pasquino
Pasquino's denial
Obviously Pasquino denies everything and, with no small amount of effort, tries to convince his business partners that he has not started any collaboration . The hours and days that follow will be hellish for the group, between the worries of the two Vitales and, above all, that of the boss Cosimo Damiano Gallace who, from the messages exchanged, does not seem to particularly trust Pasquino and his "estate". The same broker, for his part, contacts some individuals, including "Freddo", "Prada" and above all "Ghost". It is to the latter, in fact, that Vincenzo Pasquino is said to have asked to "kill the lawyer or seriously injure him, signing the gesture with his name and surname to wash away the shame of the letter" . The risk for Vincenzo Pasquino, in fact, was that of losing credibility in front of his associates, but above all in front of the Gallace boss, who insistently asked for explanations.

The sister's letter
The latter, moreover - as emerged from the investigation - believed that the incriminating letter that ended up in the newspaper "had been prepared by Pasquino's family" without his knowledge "to reduce his responsibility in the event of a trial against him". A theory confirmed by Vincenzo Pasquino who, in a conversation with Domenico Vitale (class of '76) said that this "Prada" "had gone to the lawyer who had reported that the letter had been given to him by his sister". On March 2, 2021, Domenico Vitale explained to the boss Gallace that Pasquino "had revoked his lawyer" causing the alarm to be called off - at least for the moment.

The Gallace's Well-Founded Fear
Pasquino at that time feared being identified between Brazil and Bolivia, an arrest that actually took place a few weeks later. The choice to collaborate with justice actually took place only three years later. And the Gallaces were right to be afraid. In the dozens of pages of statements made to the magistrates, in fact, Vincenzo Pasquino repeatedly refers to the relationships he had with the very powerful 'ndrangheta family of Guardavalle, active in Calabria, on the Lazio coast and with ramifications in South America.

Boss Gallace Arrest
Pasquino and the Gallace
"My family had always been affiliated with the ndrangheta, the Pasquinos were a projection of the Gallaces," the informer told investigators. "I would like to point out that because I belonged to the Pasquino family, I had not considered formally affiliating myself, since I was recognized as a subject linked to the Guardavallotis and the Agrestas." Pasquino, speaking of a criminal group from Turin composed of himself, Patrick Assisi, Antonio Agresta (born in 1960), Michelangelo Versaci, Michael Assisi and Nicola Di Carne, speaks of «another group that I met in a hotel on the SS 106 in Guardavalle in the summer of 2017, in a meeting together with Pino Grillo, Domenico Vitale, his son Papalia Antonio (without hair), Francesco Barbaro known as “Salsiccia”, Pino Perre, Michelangelo Versaci, Cosimo Gallace, a cousin of Cosimo Gallace who has a football team in Guardavalle and lives in Nettuno» and, referring to drug trafficking, explains that «for Guardavalle, and I mean Gallace and Vitale, we also made 14 Kg in 2020, which went well». ( g.curcio@corrierecal.it )

https://www.lacnews24.it/cronaca/il...iano-i-milioni-della-ndrangheta-h5nz6fp1

Around the world (and back) in four transfers: here's how the 'ndrangheta's millions travel

https://www.lacnews24.it/cronaca/nd...a-per-un-debito-da-200mila-euro-tz86p8op

'Ndrangheta and Cosa Nostra, drug deals and clashes: threats to the Santapaolas for a 200,000 euro debt

the Santapaolas wanted to respond militarily but then everything was ironed out with a meeting; a similar thing happened between the mafiosi of Palermo and those of Agrigento in the last maxi-blitz, the bosses of Agrigento supplied drugs to those of Palermo in that case, even before the Ndrangheta

What a horribly translated article, extremely painful to read on translate.

'Ndrangheta, 22 arrests in Calabria, Tuscany and Lombardy

The Carabinieri operation is also underway in Arezzo. The investigating judge of Catanzaro has ordered 12 people to be held in prison, and the other 10 to be placed under house arrest with an electronic bracelet

An operation is underway by the Carabinieri of the Provincial Command of Catanzaro to execute a precautionary custody order issued by the investigating judge of the Calabrian capital, at the request of the DDA, against 22 people accused of being linked to the 'ndrangheta, Gaglianesi clan. The arrests are being carried out in Catanzaro and in the provinces of Monza Brianza and Arezzo. In particular, the people involved in the operation are charged with mafia-type criminal association and simple criminal association, in addition to a series of crimes against the person and property, some of which are aggravated by mafia methods. For 12 of the suspects, the investigating judge has ordered precautionary custody in prison and for the other ten, house arrest with an electronic bracelet.

https://www.corrieredellacalabria.i...-racconti-del-pentito-vincenzo-pasquino/

THE PROCESS
'Ndrangheta and drug trafficking from South America: doubts about the stories of the repentant Vincenzo Pasquino
The minutes of the Samba investigation were acquired in the abbreviated version of Eureka. Some contradictions of the narcos could put his credibility at risk
Published: 27/02/2025 – 6:16

REGGIO CALABRIA The credibility of a very important collaborator of justice is at stake, that of Vincenzo Pasquino, born in 1990, born and raised in Turin, an international drug trafficking broker in business with the 'ndrangheta along the routes that led from Italy to South America and Brazil. Pasquino is fully included at the top of the 'ndrangheta club in Volpiano, Piedmont, but he is also considered an exponent of the "new generation" of the same club, especially after the various operations that had hit the Assisi and Agresta families and the detention of the boss, Antonio Agresta (class of '60).

Capture and extradition
Pasquino was extradited to Italy after being detained in Brazil since 2021, the year in which he was arrested in a residence in Joao Pessoa by the federal police of the South American country and the Carabinieri of the ROS, after a period of fugitiveism, while he was in the company of the 'ndrangheta boss and drug trafficker Rocco Morabito.
Some of his statements made in the reports in Brazil at the end of November 2023 and those attached to the arrest warrant of the operation "Samba" of the Turin DDA, were acquired in the context of the "Eureka" proceedings - in abbreviated form - as requested by the lawyers Vincenzo Sorgiovanni and Giuseppe Gervasi, defenders of the defendant Ivano Piperissa and ordered by the preliminary hearing judge of the Court of Reggio Calabria.

READ ALSO: Drug trafficking from South America and links with the 'ndrangheta: 23 arrests between Italy and Brazil – VIDEO

The “Samba” Investigation
Pasquino, in particular, is involved in the investigation of the Turin DDA called “Samba”, a complex international investigation concerning three criminal groups, distinct from each other but connected, dedicated to drug trafficking on the Atlantic route. A cooperation developed with the Brazilian authorities since 2019 and which had led, at the time, to the arrests of Nicola and Patrick Assisi. The investigation, moreover, would have allowed to identify important connections between the spheres of the Italian 'ndrangheta and the criminal organizations supplying narcotics operating in the South American country , capable of moving large quantities of drugs, in particular cocaine, towards Europe via the ports of Paranà. The Turin investigation has also documented how the Turin criminal group, through the former fugitive Vincenzo Pasquino – arrested in Joao Pessoa on 24 May 2021 – had solid ties with a local criminal structure in the state of Paraiba.

drug brazil CC samba
Relations with the Assisi, the PCC, Platì and the Sanlucoti
The defense, therefore, contested several statements made by the collaborator of justice. Starting with the relationships with the Assisi that the repentant says - in the reports - to have "interrupted to reach an agreement with the Brazilian PCC" . Relationships that the prosecutors of the Turin DDA first and the investigating judge later, had instead defined as "indissoluble" thanks to a series of investigative elements that emerged on the relationships between Pasquino, the "Platioti" and the Assisi. As reconstructed by the “Samba” investigation, in fact, Vincenzo Pasquino, after his release from prison in May 2017, worked to obtain a passport and, once obtained, he left for Calabria in the direction of Platì to carry out a decisive task in the drug trafficking business: to act as “guarantor” for the Platioti in Brazil, as recounted by the same informer in some reports, while in others he had included the Nirta family of San Luca – known through Ivano Piperissa – in search of a «collaborator for the “climbs” from the port of Santos». Pasquino himself, in some of his statements - and this is another of the lawyers' objections - talks about the Assisi's lack of trust in the Platioti family for the exfiltration of a 200kg load of cocaine from the port of Gioia Tauro , in others, however, he talks about "having gone to Brazil to help Antonio Agresta" for the transatlantic route, "thanks to the "exit" at Gioia Tauro through Rosario Grasso" and "having gone to Brazil to provide material help to the Assisi family after Michael's arrest".

READ ALSO: 'Ndrangheta, Pasquino's revelations: «Those from San Luca were not as reliable as the platioti»

The Assisi and the passport
Vincenzo Pasquino also told buyers that he had severed ties with the Assisis in the summer of 2018 and resumed them only two years later . But when Patrick and Michael Assisis were arrested in July 2019, the Brazilian authorities found in their home, during the search, the original passport of Vicenzo Pasquino , but also the manuscript from which no cargo was sent to Gioia Tauro, contrary to the ports of Antwerp and Rotterdam. The Brazilian authorities had asked Vicenzo Pasquino to account for the presence of a copy of his passport and a receipt for the plane tickets also in his name, found at the Assisis' home. Without, however, giving a clear explanation. "All those expenses were paid by the family. An accounting of all the expenses incurred had to be kept. For example, in 2021 I spent 20,000 euros just on cryptophones, since I also bought them from Pateta and other Brazilians…».

operation samba turin 'ndrangheta
Pour us
And then there is the figure of Michelangelo Versaci (born in 1986) , investigated in the “Samba” investigation. According to the informer, the latter had urged him not to tell the platioti anything «about the business that he had facilitated with the Nirtas», even though he had told him that «the Nirtas were not reliable» . In the minutes, in fact, Pasquino explains: «(…) in 2017 he had asked me to open a channel through Pinuccio and Ivano Piperissa with the Nirtas of San Luca and Sebastiano Giampaolo, then he came in 2018 to tell me that instead it was safer to work remaining with the platioti».
These are, therefore, disputes that will then have to be addressed and clarified point by point in the trial phase. What could emerge from this is a completely unpredictable scenario that could also have significant repercussions on the investigations that, precisely from the statements of Vincenzo Pasquino, have had a significant starting point. His position in the “Samba” proceedings, finally, could soon be reunited in the abbreviated “Eureka”. (g.curcio@corrierecal.it)

https://www.lacnews24.it/cronaca/gu...il-processo-per-20-persone-nomi-eolkurj3

Portosalvo Investigation
'Ndrangheta war in Vibo Valentia, the Catanzaro DDA requests the trial of 20 people - NAMES

The suspects are charged with six murders and an attempted ambush. The preliminary hearing has been set for March 14th.

https://www.lacnews24.it/cronaca/nd...-lombardia-e-toscana-22-arresti-iozww4az

'Ndrangheta, Catanzaro DDA blitz: Gaglianesi clan and Roma crime in the crosshairs, 22 arrests and 34 investigated – NAMES

https://www.corrieredellacalabria.i...-lezione-alle-nuove-leve-dei-gaglianesi/

clean money
'Ndrangheta, the boss Girolamo Costanzo «a symbol like Totò Riina» and the lesson to the new recruits of Gaglianesi
The investigation reveals the loyalty (but also the criticism) to the old boss detained in prison and the "pulling of the ears" of the affiliate to the young people
Published: 28/02/2025 – 7:00

CATANZARO On one side the new recruits , unscrupulous young people with easy violence, on the other the “ old guard ” who intervene to settle issues and give lessons to their successors. In the Clean Money investigation , which led to the arrest of 22 people in yesterday's operation, a real generational change emerges within the historic Gaglianesi clan, “re-emerged” in recent years after the investigations that had disjointed it in the past. With the historic boss Girolamo Costanzo in prison and sentenced to life imprisonment for the murder of Pietro Cosimo which occurred in the 90s, new structures and balances involve the Catanzaro 'ndrina. At the top the “uncle” Lorenzo Iiritano is identified as the “regent” , arrested, but the criminal landscape is now also being sprung up with new recruits, ready to take over from the old bosses.

Criticisms of the boss Girolamo Costanzo «a symbol like Totò Riina»
From prison, however, the one who holds the position as the " undisputed and respectable boss " is the boss Girolamo Costanzo. But even he, investigators reconstruct, is not exempt from criticism from his associates who remained outside , including Pietro Procopio (arrested, ed.), according to whom "with his behavior he had created problems for everyone". In the conversation, the historic boss is criticized because "he was in prison even though he was innocent of the Cosimo murder" and because, in choosing his alibi, "he had limited himself to saying that on that occasion he was in the company of a woman". An attitude that would even have made one think of his eventual choice to collaborate with justice. Procopio himself would later say that the real perpetrators of the murder are now deceased, but that even if Costanzo were to leave prison " he would move away from the city, because now the scenario has changed, but he would always remain as a symbol, like the mafia boss Totò Riina ".

“Lessons” for the new generation
A scenario that has also changed due to the presence of new young people. Among these, investigators identify Manuel Pinto and Emanuele Riccelli , both born in 1997 and arrested in yesterday's operation, towards whom Maurizio Sabato , now deceased and considered a historical affiliate of the 'ndrina, holds a real "lesson". Sabato, warned by a third party of a discussion that would have involved Pinto and Riccelli, addresses with a " pull of the ears to the two young people who try to play down the incident due to the fact that perhaps they were all a little drunk". In the conversation, he invites them to "always think about the consequences of what they do". In particular, Riccelli during the discussion with the boy allegedly used the expression " I'll break your face because I'm from Gagliano ", something that Sabato himself did not like "because the consequences would have fallen on him". Even when faced with divisions within the group, feared by Pinto, Sabato «replies that instead they all have to consider themselves linked to each other 'like a chain' ». Therefore, in front of the new recruits, Sabato «sets himself up as a teacher and trainer of the new members regarding the rules of conduct, such as not starting useless fights with other criminal groups and regarding the need to turn to the internal leaders for support and advice». ( ma.ru. )

The gypsy gangs now have arsenals of weapons that would make the 'ndrine of the 1980s envious.
The gypsy gangs now have arsenals of weapons that would make the 'ndrine of the 1980s envious. They have widespread control of the territory. Ciccarello, Arghillà and the Rione Marconi are now more impenetrable strongholds than Archi ever was. All this is there for all to see and perhaps that is why we have become accustomed to it. Journalism has a deontological duty in the face of this relatively new mafia phenomenon: to offer readers and citizens the incentive to develop a critical opinion. Today's in-depth articles dedicated to the gypsy gangs are written with the idea of ??helping to outline an awareness of the new great challenge that we are all already called upon to counter, willingly or unwillingly.

https://www.strettoweb.com/2025/02/ndrangheta-zingari-complessita-narrare-denunciare/1877049/

https://www.corrieredellacalabria.i...a-per-le-indagini-sono-piu-furbi-di-noi/

clean money
'Ndrangheta, the «people's house» of Gaglianesi and the fear of investigations. «They are smarter than us»
A shack in Mater Domini as the gang's "headquarters". Fear of investigations and extortion of the funeral home
Published: 28/02/2025 – 16:15

CATANZARO A consolidated group, headed by the alleged boss Lorenzo Iiritano , flanked by historical affiliates such as Pietro Procopio and Maurizio Sabato . It was the “uncle” who gave the orders from the Gaglianesi headquarters, a wooden shack surrounded by a large square and located on “a piece of land owned by the municipality” in the Mater Domini neighborhood. There, until late at night, the meetings and gatherings of the gang took place, as demonstrated by the investigations that led to yesterday's operation called Clean Money against the Catanzaro 'ndrangheta. The investigators are reconstructing hierarchies, relationships with other clans and the attempt by the “revived” Gaglianesi 'ndrina to establish itself as the hegemonic gang in the Catanzaro area.

The authority of Iiritano and the "people's house" as headquarters
: After the arrest of the historic boss Girolamo Costanzo, Lorenzo Iiritano, whose authority was recognized by all the members, would have held power. As Maurizio Sabato states, recalling an episode in which, trying to quell a fight over trivial reasons, “uncle” Iiritano «had reduced everyone to silence and peace with a gesture that at the same time served to remind everyone of his power and control». The alleged boss would have taken the knife, then « he stuck it in the middle… for ten minutes no one spoke ». The clan's headquarters was, in fact, the « people's house » in the Mater Domini neighborhood, where meetings were «frequent, intense and crowded», which only decreased when lighting work was done in the neighborhood, near where the video surveillance camera had been positioned, probably «found or identified» so as to have alerted all the frequenters of the shack.

Fear of investigations
Attention to the control systems of the police forces also determined by the constant " fear of investigations ". "Beware of this f****** phone" Pancrazio Opipari, arrested, is said to have said in a conversation, recommending to use the cell phone as little as possible for fear of interceptions. Opipari is also said to have recommended to use at least as much cryptic language as possible which " could have been suspicious, because they (the police, ed.) are smarter than us ". The constant fear of investigations imposed strict rules on the gang for every type of illicit action, which before being carried out had to be submitted to the higher levels. An example of this is a series of intimidating acts carried out against two funeral homes in Catanzaro Lido. It is always Opipari who reprimands one of the subjects involved, underlining that "such an action cannot be carried out without a prior activation of the group rules", that is, to warn the "superiors" before carrying it out. "There are those f****** steps, you understand? The ranks», he would have said, claiming «a criminal hierarchy to be respected before moving on the territory».

Extortion of the funeral home
The same intimidation would have irritated the clan because it risked altering the structure that «the clan had created in the business sector of funeral services». The episode shows the imposition of a bribe to funeral services companies to «take a mortucedu», or «celebrate a funeral in the Gagliano neighborhood». An extortion worth 600 euros in total for a single rite celebrated. For this reason, the intimidating acts risked «clashing with this agreement between the group and the company, which could have complained of having suffered the extortionate demand, despite having paid what was “due” to the clan». A situation that ends with the associate's “apology” to the company for the mistake made. ( ma.ru. )

https://livesicilia.it/mafia-catania-scontro-santapaola-ndrangheta/

Mafia, the boss who doesn't pay: the clash of the Santapaolas with the 'ndrangheta

CATANIA – Ten kilos of cocaine, a debt of 290 thousand euros, the threat of seizures and a military escalation : between September 2022 and August 2023 the Santapaola – Ercolano clan is in full tension with a group of the Calabrian 'ndrangheta, which supplied the drugs to the mafia in Catania and wants to be paid.

From the investigation of the “Mercurio” blitz emerges the story of a debt contracted by a regent , Francesco Napoli, who some men of the clan accuse of having a selfish management of the drug business, involving the Santapaola family in private matters such as his drug trafficking.

The history of the contrast is also that of a primacy . By now it would be the Calabrians who dominate the wholesale of cocaine trafficking, supplying the Sicilians who instead would be forced to resort to loans, usury and even propose the barter of means of transport to pay off debts.

The cocaine shipment
Shortly before his arrest in September 2022 in Operation “Sangue blu” , the regent of the Santapaola – Ercolano clan, Francesco Napoli, buys ten kilos of cocaine from a group of Calabrian suppliers. The purchase negotiation is carried out on his behalf by Giuseppe Scuto and his son Fabrizio, both involved in the investigations of Operation Mercurio.

Naples ends up in prison and leaves behind a debt of 290 thousand euros for cocaine , of which only 70 thousand have already been paid. The Calabrians want their money, and they put pressure on Giuseppe Scuto.

“Outside conversations are of no interest”
The hidden microphones of the Carabinieri meanwhile intercept Rosario Bucolo , considered a leading figure in the Castello Ursino group of the Santapaola – Ercolano clan. According to the investigators, Bucolo was one of the trusted men of Francesco Napoli, a “reserved” boss who did not come into contact with the men of the clan for fear of being arrested, except for a few loyal followers.

Among these loyalists there would have been Bucolo himself . In a wiretap he tells another member of the clan that Giuseppe Scuto involved him as an intermediary to try to resolve the issue with the Calabrians.

At first Scuto tries to have Francesco Napoli intervene directly , but from prison he lets it be known that he is staying out of the matter. “I am not interested in the discussions outside,” the regent of the Santapaola – Ercolano family is said to have said, effectively leaving the hot potato in the hands of his intermediaries.

“He didn't think of anyone”
Bucolo has much to say about Naples' behavior . On another occasion he meets with Giuseppe Scuto and the latter's brother, Andrea Alfredo Massimiliano, who tell Bucolo that the situation with the Calabrians is increasingly tense.

Bucolo says he is ready to address the matter with them but wants authorization from the clan's top brass : he says "If any of the big guys tell us to proceed with this matter and go and break things up", but then he also says that it is not prudent to go into direct conflict with the Calabrese mafia.

He then accuses Naples of having used the name of the Santapaola – Ercolano family to gain credibility with the clan and of having made the debt fall on his shoulders, even though in reality the drug business was a personal business of Naples, who for this reason never shared the profits with anyone. Bucolo tells his interlocutor “He didn’t think of anyone”.

The threat of kidnapping
Between June and August 2023, other facts emerge about Naples' behavior with the Calabrians . The one who visits Bucolo and is now being intercepted is Fabrizio Scuto, Giuseppe's son, since his father ended up in prison. Scuto is scared: the Calabrians have sent him the threat that, if he did not pay, they would kidnap one of his relatives.

Bucolo reacts by saying that the Calabrians would not go that far , because the clan would immediately retaliate. Furthermore, the Calabrians do not seem to worry Bucolo precisely because of their ability to act in Catania. "They can't do any harm, 'mbare, because they can't come with another family to do the same bad thing as this one."

The Calabrians are asking the Scutos to account because , as the investigations always show, Francesco Napoli lied to his drug suppliers. Telling them that he had paid for the cocaine and given the money to the Scutos.

Then there are other rumours about another debt of 300 thousand euros , again contracted by Francesco Napoli and again for drug-related matters, which the group from San Giovanni Galermo had to take care of.

Bucolo says he had a beef with Naples precisely because of these things , but he also tells Fabrizio Scuto that the debt must be paid to the Calabrians to protect the credibility of the Santapaola – Ercolano family.

The accounts
Fabrizio Scuto, however, says he does not have the money to pay the debt . And Bucolo suggests that he agree to pay in installments. Scuto, to close everything, says he is also available to give the Calabrians a tractor with two semi-trailers for a value of 100 thousand euros.

Fabrizio's uncle, Andrea Alfredo Massimiliano, instead reports that in order to recover 38 thousand euros, part of the advance of 75 thousand euros already delivered to the Calabrians, they had been forced to resort to a usurious loan that they were still paying for 6 thousand euros per month.

The intervention
Bucolo finally decides to intervene with his Calabrian contact to put things right. Intervening precisely for the good name of the clan. "Bucolo was consulted and involved - we read in the precautionary custody order of the GIP -. To resolve a matter of direct interest to the regent, but which could have had an impact on the entire mafia association".

In Operation Mercurio, 19 people were arrested and the Santapaola – Ercolano clan was hit .

https://latinatu.it/chili-di-droga-...amionista-narcos-legato-alla-ndrangheta/

KILOS OF DRUGS FROM SPAIN TO ITALY: DRUG TRUCK DRIVER LINKED TO 'NDRANGHETA ARRESTED IN LATINA

https://www.corrieredellacalabria.it/2025/03/04/ndrangheta-cosa-nostra-e-camorra-oggi-piu-pervasive/

inauguration of the academic year
«'Ndrangheta, Cosa Nostra and Camorra are more pervasive today»
Thus the general commander of the Carabinieri Salvatore Luongo
Published: 04/03/2025 – 13:55

ROME "The fight against organized crime and corruption continues to be crucial. The recent operations conducted by the Carabinieri, in fact, demonstrate the virulence and pervasiveness of the 'ndrangheta, Cosa Nostra and Camorra . In my opinion, a cohesive and functional network of legal diplomacy, judicial cooperation and police is extremely indispensable to combat them, in support of the traditional prevention and repression strategy." This was stated by the general commander of the Carabinieri, Salvatore Luongo, speaking at the inauguration ceremony of the Academic Year 2024/25 of the Carabinieri Officers' School , in Rome, in the presence of the Prime Minister, Giorgia Meloni. "In the three-year period 2021-2024, the investigations carried out by the Arma led to the arrest of 2,074 people for mafia-type associations 416 bis , while on the front of the attack on illicit assets, an integral part of our investigative culture, seizures for over one billion and 243 million euros and confiscations for 587 million euros were carried out", added Luongo.

From escape with sheets to hostage-taking of Berlusconi's accountant: prison sentences of up to 15 years in major drug trial in Liège
At a major drug trial in Liège, the ringleaders have been given sentences of up to 15 years in prison. Links with the mafia clan Ndrangheta, a prison escape with sheets and a broomstick and two brothers who were once involved in the hostage-taking of Berlusconi's accountant: the account of this trial reads like a film script.

Hanne Decré
Thu Feb 2711:21
Patience is a virtue. For the roots of this story, we have to go back a decade, to early 2015. In Calabria, "Operation Gentleman" unfolds, in which the Guardia di Finanza takes a rough brush through a local 'Ndrangheta clan. This Italian investigation brings to light a large-scale drug trafficking.

However, one of the leaders manages to escape and flees to Germany, where he is arrested three years later in Frankfurt. In those three years, he has managed to set up a new logistical base from which to continue his drug trade.

How the investigators ended up in our country
The link with Belgium? We have to look there. Because the police discover that several key figures regularly travel to our country to have contact with an Albanian accomplice. In November 2020, the Belgian justice system is tipped off that several suspects are said to be in the region around Liège. The investigators from the various countries join forces and work on the investigation for 2.5 years.

Because that mysterious Albanian henchman - Ilir Pere - is far from a small shrimp. His contacts range from the Italian Ndrangheta mafia to the Mexican drug cartel of Joaquín Guzman - El Chapo. Contacts that the Ndrangheta can appreciate.

There is still a lot to tell about Pere himself. He had to serve a 28-year prison sentence in Italy, but in the aftermath of an earthquake there he was able to escape from the heavily guarded prison of Rebibbia together with two others. The three were able to saw through their bars and then lower themselves down the watchtower with sheets and a broomstick. "Prison Break" in real life.

Die Pere had to put together so-called "extraction teams" in Liège together with an accomplice. These teams had to retrieve the drugs, originating from the South American cartels, from ports spread across Europe. In order to then hand them over to the Italian mafia.

They covered all of Europe - Norway, Sweden, the Netherlands, Spain and Ukraine. Often in their own vehicles, which were converted to cross the borders unnoticed with money and drugs. The law can also link a cocaine lab in Antwerp to the gang. In such an illegal lab, the cocaine is "purified", for example, the cocaine is extracted from objects.

The payment is said to have been made in kind - they were allowed to keep a percentage of the cocaine.

The federal prosecutor suspects that the Albanians provided their "logistical services" to the 'Ndrangheta from 1 June 2019, and that their criminal activities continued until 2023. During that time, Pere had to put together several teams. Several members of the first team were intercepted in Odessa by the Ukrainian secret service, for example.

The kidnapping of Berlusconi's accountant
We'll make a brief side trip about that first team, but the story is too good not to tell. Because that team included the Tanko brothers. And they were involved in the hostage-taking of Silvio Berlusconi's accountant in October 2012. It goes like this. When Giuseppe Spinelli wanted to take the elevator to his apartment, he was overpowered by six criminals. They beat him up, broke his glasses and forced him to listen to their "interesting and sensitive information" about Berlusconi.

Silvio Berlusconi (left) and his accountant (right)

In exchange for 35 million, they would give their information to Berlusconi with which he could - according to them - contest his conviction. But the story ended with a huge fizzle. Their USB stick turned out to be incompatible with Spinelli's computer. Spinelli did call Berlusconi to deliver the message, after which they released him with the USB stick. They never saw their money.

Furthermore, they hadn't really made things difficult for the investigators. Their cigarette butts were still in the apartment, and they had taken beer from the fridge and then left it there. Read: their DNA was everywhere.

Enter a second and third team
Back to our country. Pere has to put together a new team, again with two Albanian brothers and a Kosovar. At that moment, Liège is no longer the center of gravity, it has shifted to Brussels and Antwerp. But that second team is also intercepted - at that moment, a second investigation is already underway, this time in Brussels.

Enter a third team. That team also includes Mikel Rakipllari, an Albanian fellow prisoner who managed to escape from the Italian prison with Pere. What's more: Rakipllari survived a hail of bullets in Brussels. He was shot in our capital in 2022 with no less than six bullets and barely survived .

And there are more hallucinatory details. Two kilograms of cocaine were found in the children's bedroom of one of the extractors. "What an upbringing," the prosecutor said during the trial. The family lived on benefits, but drove a Mercedes, had thousands of euros in cash at home, and in photos they could be seen on jet skis and on trips to Milan or Barcelona.

The End
On June 5, 2023, the entire criminal organization around Pere falls . The police raid our country, Germany and Italy at the same time. Pere himself is found in Germany, in a remote location in Gründau.

During the operation, 3.8 million euros were also seized - cash, drugs, but also expensive cars.

The file is built up from observations, tapped conversations, but also from the now well-known SKY ECC telephones, which the investigators were able to crack.

The trial started in October. In the dock: extractors, transporters, port workers and ringleaders. 24 in total, all between 30 and 75 years old. The debates are translated into Dutch, Italian and Albanian - which immediately indicates the international character of this trial.

Not all of them are present at their trial - some, including one of the Tanko brothers, are still in custody in Ukraine.

The prosecutor demanded sentences of up to 20 years for the import, export, manufacture and possession of drugs, for participation in a criminal organization, for forgery and for possession of weapons.

The most severe sentence that was eventually handed down was 15 years in prison and a fine of 800,000 euros. 19 other defendants were sentenced to sentences ranging from 2 to 12 years in prison. They were also given fines ranging from 8,000 to 600,000 euros.

https://www.vrt.be/vrtnws/nl/2025/01/29/drugsproces-luik/

Cassation: Boss under 41 bis can hear the music
AMDuemila March 03, 2025
The boss under 41 bis can buy a CD player and listen to the music he prefers. The Court of Cassation has thus ruled in favor of Domenico Laurendi , 56, originally from Sant'Eufemia di Aspromonte, known by the nickname 'Rocchellina', who in 2024 was sentenced on appeal to 19 years of imprisonment in the context of the 'Ndrangheta trial that originated from the Eyphemos operation of the DDA of Reggio Calabria (directed at the time by the magistrate Giovanni Bombardieri).
The man is detained in a penitentiary in the North-West under a 'hard prison' regime. The supreme judges confirmed the decision of the Turin surveillance court and declared the appeal presented by the Ministry of Justice "inadmissible".
The prisoner had asked to buy a device, with the relative headphones, to listen to CDs (he had combined study and work reasons with music). The court noted that if the player is adequately 'sealed', and if the discs are regularly marked Siae and sealed at the time of sale, the operation - which must be taken care of by the maintenance company - is feasible as there is no risk of external manipulation. As an additional precaution, the judges of the Subalpine region had also ordered constant checks on the device during delivery hours. A similar incident, in a Piedmontese prison, but with another inmate under 41 bis, had occurred in 2022.

https://www.miocomune.tv/post/striscia-notizia-cetraro-macri-aggredito

Journalist attacked while asking questions about the Ndrangheta

https://www.corrieredellacalabria.i...di-milano-in-mano-al-nipote-dei-mancuso/

THE INVESTIGATION
'Ndrangheta, the distributor and car wash on the outskirts of Milan in the hands of the Mancuso nephew
The DDA has reconstructed the story with Orazio Desiderato and his most "faithful" associates as protagonists. The front man, the debts and the disappointing deal
Published: 05/03/2025 – 6:48

MILAN Apartments, company shares. And a gas station. In the empire attributable to Francesco Orazio Desiderato (born in 1974), investigators from the Milan Anti-Mafia District have also identified this economic activity, particularly advantageous for the suspects, because it would have allowed them to launder large sums of cash, at least on paper, deriving from the performance of services such as refueling and, above all, car washing. This is one of the details that emerged from the investigation that, in recent days, led to the arrest of 12 people on the orders of the investigating judge. Among them is Orazio Desiderato himself – who ended up in handcuffs – who, according to investigators, is linked to the Mancuso clan of Limbadi because he is the nephew of Zi 'Ntoni Mancuso.

The distributor in viale Fulvio Testi
The investigators are convinced that they have reconstructed all the phases that accompanied the approach to the commercial activity, thanks to the interceptions that took place in the office of the car wrecker in via Girardengo, the place where Desiderato himself would have managed all the operations in person, but also through his right-hand man, Massimiliano Crocco, from Cosenza born in '77, considered by the investigators to be "Desiderato's contact both for the control of commercial activities and for the sale and custody of significant quantities of narcotics". It is January 5, 2022 and it is he who, intercepted, contacts a certain Bruno to ask him about legal developments for a fuel distributor, then informing him that he is interested in the acquisition. From the interceptions of the pg, it is understood that the distributor in question was, in fact, disputed with another potential buyer. And, once they learned the news, the reactions are vehement: "Where does that b**ch live, I'll burn down his house!".

READ ALSO: The Mancuso nephew's penthouse in Nicotera: the works via WhatsApp and the Easter "surprise"
The project and the front man
10 days have passed since the first contact between Bruno and Crocco, and Desiderato takes charge of the situation, with a phone call in which he once again lets Bruno know their intentions to acquire the distributor, promising to "make him work", even by building a new car wash at their expense. With the "hope" of convincing the other party, once the phone call ended, Desiderato, turning to his accomplices in the office, replied that he would acquire the petrol station in any way, threatening, otherwise, repercussions for the contact person . "If he doesn't give me this f**king thing, I'll put him in trouble". In short, after the initial and timid approaches, Desiderato accelerates and takes the matter head on. On January 19, 2022, he reaches the distributor and makes contact with the outgoing manager, with whom they will meet again a few days later in his office while in the meantime the contacts with the contact person of the oil company were already well underway. All that was needed was a mass of documentation and, above all, a “clean” front man that Desiderato identified as a young 21-year-old, daughter of his partner. “She is perfect, she enters a clean company, perfect” also because he could not appear “due to his criminal record”, already known to the intermediary. The latter, for his part, would have assured the group that he had put in a good word with the company, advising them to add some false information to the girl’s CV.

All Desiderato members
Orazio Desiderato would have thought of everything, as reconstructed by the investigators, even the initial capital needed to start the business: he would have used his precious watches as a pledge for an initial loan (giving them as collateral) and would have personally taken care of everything, including an initial transfer to the specially opened current account. The business is very close to starting. In fact, it is March 2022 when Orazio Desiderato would have worked to "organize the opening of the VAT number in favor of the front man" and would have started the first talks to hire trusted personnel in his distributor, such as Pietro Valente (class of '87) known as the "dwarf", also among those arrested and, of course, Massimiliano Crocco for the car wash. However, Saverio Lo Mastro, class of '63, who ended up under house arrest, had more than one doubt, particularly worried that this new operation would have had negative consequences, also on a judicial level. In particular, discussing with Desiderato's all-rounder, the Russian Maria Savelieva known as "Masha", also under house arrest, he said that, having already a pile of debts quantified at 500,000 euros in tax bills, they would surely face some hypothesis of crime, then pointing the finger at the choice of the young woman, just 21 years old, who would surely end up under the control of the investigators. «(...) they are following her, she doesn't have the money to eat a hamburger and she becomes the owner of the column...».

The risks after arguments with your partner
The situation worsens in May, when the first problems arise with the front girl. At the base, it will be discovered later, there were some arguments between Desiderato and his partner - mother of the 21-year-old - with the suspect who at a certain point feared that the two women could tell the police uncomfortable details about his illicit activities. To take cover, Marco Roberto De Gaetano, born in Vibo Valentia in 1977, partner of the Russian Savelieva and also placed under house arrest, comes forward, ready to open a VAT number and take over the contract with the oil company. Despite the concerns, however, everything remained as before according to what emerged from the investigations. After opening the account in the name of the young woman, in July they proceeded to purchase new equipment for the fuel distributor while, in the background, there were disagreements between Francesco Orazio Desiderato and the former managers of the plant, who "had promised the former earnings far higher than the actual ones". In fact, Desiderato would have felt cheated because he was convinced to invest 100 thousand euros to buy a new tunnel for the car wash. «Now… you both have pissed me off, I tell him… you and the gas station attendant, go fuck yourself…». ( g.curcio@corrierecal.it )

https://www.corrieredellacalabria.it/2025/03/05/ndrangheta-in-emilia-portato-in-carcere-cesare-muto/

BOLOGNA Cesare Muto, 45, from Calabria, was taken to prison this morning by the Carabinieri of Gualtieri (Reggio Emilia), after his 2-year and 8-month sentence became definitive on February 26th in one of the procedural strands arising from the 2019 “Grimilde” investigation, which focused on the infiltration of the 'ndrangheta in Emilia and dismantled the branch of the Grande Aracri clan headed by Francesco, brother of the Cutro boss Nicolino Grande Aracri. Cesare Muto, in September 2006 and December 2013, was responsible for the crimes of mafia-style criminal association and fraudulent transfer of assets. The criminal enforcement office of the Attorney General's Office at the Court of Appeal of Bologna, after the definitive sentence, issued the execution order for the imprisonment of the 45-year-old. The man was then reached by the Carabinieri at his home, in the municipality of Gualtieri, and accompanied to prison to serve his sentence. ( Ansa )