Maxi-trial opens for Italy's other mob group, 'ndrangheta
LAMEZIA TERME, Italy (AP) — A maxi-trial is opening Wednesday in southern Italy against the ‘ndrangheta crime syndicate, arguably the world's richest criminal organization that quietly amassed power in Italy as the Sicilian Mafia lost its influence.
Prosecutors are hoping the trial will be a decisive blow for the ‘ndrangheta, the Calabrian-based mob organization that has exploited tens of billions of dollars in cocaine revenues to extend its criminal reach across Europe and into several continents.
The hearing against more than 300 defendants is opening in a specially constructed bunker on the sprawling grounds of an industrial park in Calabria, the “toe” of the Italian peninsula.
The ‘ndrangheta “has almost a monopoly on cocaine importation in Europe,’’ Prosecutor Nicola Gratteri told reporters in Rome this week.
Investigators say the ‘ndrangheta has established bases in much of western, northern and central Europe, Australia, North and South America and is active as well in Africa.
The trial grew out of the investigation of 12 clans linked to a convicted ‘ndrangheta boss. That figure is Luigi Mancuso, who served 19 years in Italian prison cells for his role in leading what investigators allege is one of the ‘ndrangheta’s most powerful crime families, based in the town of Vibo Valentia.
Among the various accusations being considered by the court are drug and arms trafficking, extortion and Mafia association, a term used in Italy’s penal code for members of organized crime groups. Others are charged with complicity with the ’ndrangheta without actually being a member.
Some 325 defendants were ordered to be tried in the Lamezia Terme, while some 90 more defendants in the investigation chose to have a fast-track trial, which begins later...
