Italy in new swoop against notorious ‘Ndrangheta crime group

Italian police on Tuesday made 31 arrests in connection with an alleged plot by an offshoot of the notorious ‘Ndrangheta crime group to take control of Rome’s cocaine trade. The dawn sweeps came two months after a similar move against ‘Ndrangheta cells in and around Milan, which provided the strongest confirmation yet of the secretive syndicate’s expansion outside its southern heartland. Tuesday’s arrests were made following revelations that emerged from an investigation into the 2013 murder of Roman mobster Vincenzo Femia. In the course of the arrests and related raids, officers seized some 600 kg of cocaine, sizeable quantities of hashish and a stash of firearms, as well as documentary evidence of the arrested suspects having been initiated into the mafia group, the police said.

They have a presence in Rome, we can’t yet say they made it a base but it is no less dangerous for that.

Rome prosecutor Michele Prestipino

Based in the impoverished southern region of Calabria, the ‘Ndrangheta is said to be behind most of Europe’s cocaine business, and is regarded as the most powerful mafia organisation in Italy. The bosses of ‘Ndrangheta’s semi-autonomous Roman offshoot were reported to have lived in the capital for years, and to have established their own links with cocaine producers in Colombia and smuggling kingpins in Morocco. Tuesday’s arrests were made following revelations that emerged from an investigation into the 2013 murder of Roman mobster Vincenzo Femia. Police now believe that killing was motivated by the desire of two ‘Ndrangheta clans operating in the capital to carve up the lucrative local cocaine market between themselves.