https://www.corrieredellacalabria.i...droga-ramo-principale-per-la-ndrangheta/“millennium” investigation
Cocaine Routes: The Drug Business "Main Branch" for the 'Ndrangheta
The management of drug trafficking is «unitary and centralized». The reconstruction: «Cocaine leaves the port of Gioia Tauro through the Pesce and the Piromalli»
Published: 22/05/2025 – 6:19
REGGIO CALABRIA The drug trafficking sector is «inevitably and inextricably» linked to the power of the 'ndrangheta clans. It has become the main economic activity in which organised crime is involved and the main source of income, so much so that a real «interdependence between drug trafficking and 'ndrangheta» has been created . In this sense, the enormous proceeds from the purchase and sale of narcotics constitute "the main income" of the premises in Platì. An analysis that emerges in the context of the "Millennium" investigation by the DDA of Reggio Calabria that led to the arrest of 97 people, including leading members of the clans of Sinopoli, Platì, Locri, Melicucco and Natile di Careri, as well as those of the premises in Volpiano, in the province of Turin, and Buccinasco (Milan).
Among the most affected gangs is that of the Barbaro of Platì , whose main source of income appears to be the drug trafficking business.
The drug business " main and necessary branch"
In Platì – it emerges from the ordinance – what should be only one of the «various branches of the company» becomes «the main and necessary branch» capable of determining the control and management of the clan, and where the management of drug trafficking occurs in a «unitary and centralized» manner . A circumstance confirmed by the collaborator of justice Domenico Agresta who on this point makes important statements to the investigators. A modus operandi, that of the Platì clans, also useful to «prevent any discontent and thus avoid possible feuds». « In Platì – explains Agresta – an attempt was made to create a unitary management of drug trafficking so as not to displease anyone and to avoid further feuds and further murders. Whoever has a way to import large quantities of cocaine must allow the other members to invest (that is, to bet with their own cash): this is why in Platì today there are no more feuds or murders. Everyone is given the opportunity to earn and exploit the various ways ».
From South America to the drug dealing squares of Lombardy
And the collaborator, during the interrogations, also provides details on the methods of importation and distribution of the drug. From South America to Platì, to reach the drug dealing areas of Lombardy , where the clan has rooted its criminal interests. Once the drug arrived in Platì, it was introduced into the Milanese and Pavia hinterland by individuals originally from Platì who lived in the North. Through «direct contacts in South America» «the cocaine arrives in the port of Gioia Tauro» , from where it leaves «via the Pesce and the Piromalli . These last two groups from what I know – Agresta states – do not participate in the collection of the money but are responsible for taking the cocaine out of the port and take a percentage that I am not able to tell you how much it amounts to but I know that they are paid with cocaine and not in cash» . Very pure cocaine: «The cocaine in this group is the one marked with the scorpion (it is pure cocaine, the best, purchased at a price that I am not able to report)» .
( mr )
