https://www.corrieredellacalabria.i...anti-e-pizzerie-dalla-ndrina-di-cariati/

boreas
'Ndrangheta in Germany, the “made in Italy” food imported and imposed on restaurants and pizzerias by the 'ndrina of Cariati
The investigation by the District Anti-Mafia Commission has revealed the business carried out by Greco and Talarico "through front men and VAT evasion"
Published: 01/04/2025 – 14:03

LAMEZIA TERME For some restaurateurs in Germany, using Italian ingredients was not a choice, but an imposition . A strategy that did not respond to the laws of the market and the German passion for “made in Italy” but to the obligations of some members of the 'ndrangheta who had long since put down roots in the Baden-Württemberg region .
Wine, oil, cheeses and dairy products in general. And then hams and sausages, tomato sauce and other products for the preparation and packaging of pizza: these were the products that were imported into Germany in particular by the Cariati group. This is what investigators from the Catanzaro Anti-Mafia District reconstructed during the “Boreas” operation which, this morning, led to the arrest of 29 individuals between Calabria and Germany. Twenty in Italy alone, 13 of whom ended up in prison and 7 under house arrest.

Giorgio Greco's group
The members of the Cariati 'ndrina, led by Giorgio Greco (class of '64) who ended up in prison today , would therefore have been involved in importing, distributing and marketing Italian food products in Germany . But not only that: from some wiretaps, investigators are convinced, some members would also have spoken of the marketing of car tires. According to the investigative findings, the distribution of the products in German territory was carried out under the instructions of Raffaele Talarico (class of '60) who was also arrested - at least until the end of August 2021 - that is, until Talarico left Germany to move to Modena, "moving away from the direct management, on site, of the activities in German territory" and from a small group of people, of which, over time, among others, Fiorenzo Santoro, Gaetano Roberto Bruzzese and Cataldo Scilanga, all three ended up in prison, were part.


'Ndrangheta, Stuttgart under siege by the 'ndrina of Cariati between extortion and intimidation
The imposition on restaurateurs
According to the investigations, the once important food products «were marketed both through the warehouse at Falkenstraße 12 in Fellbach, and through direct distribution to restaurants and pizzerias in the area». In this case, the investigations would have shown how «the purchase of the goods, in some circumstances, was in fact imposed on restaurateurs who did not choose to do so voluntarily», leveraging the intimidating power deriving from the membership of the “proponents” to organised crime, «with respect for strict territorial jurisdiction, evidently the result of agreements with similar criminal organisations». The goods were shipped on board some vans while for the purchase of the goods to be distributed, the man from Cariati would have used the company attributable to Fiorenzo Santoro, but also other companies registered to other “front men” with no criminal record or with continuous changes of company presumably «functional to avoiding the consequences of the tax crimes committed such as VAT evasion».

“Faceplate” companies and VAT evasion
According to the prosecution, some wiretaps revealed the fraudulent methods of "purchasing and managing the products" by Talarico through VAT evasion at Santoro's company. "(...) he has one thousand euros left... one thousand five hundred euros clean and he puts them in his pocket", Fiorenzo himself tells Roberto Bruzzese while the two, on 9 April 2021, were on board the Fiat Ducato used by the group. During the continuation of the conversation - the DDA investigators observe - the two would have gone into even more detail, explaining how the Fellbach group, managed by Raffaele Talarico, "to make ends meet and avoid paying VAT on the products marketed, operated using two companies, one of which was in Santoro's name". The two, Greco and Talarico, according to the accusation, would have availed themselves of the work of, among others, Antonello Zavattini, former driver of "uncle Raffaele" and factotum of the organization, and Antonino Perone known as "the accountant", who «were participants in the illicit affairs of the association and well aware of the criminal role of the aforementioned as leaders of the 'ndrina of Cariati». ( g.curcio@corrierecal.it )