The 'Ndrangheta: Versatile Middlemen in the Cocaine Pipeline to Europe

[Judi Lynn]

COCAINE
/23 NOV 2022 BY DOUWE DEN HELD

The port of Gioia Tauro was buzzing with activity in December 2020. In addition to deliveries of legitimate cargo, a container from Santos, Brazil, had arrived carrying 300 kilograms of cocaine.

One of the world's most powerful criminal organizations, the 'Ndrangheta, allegedly paid a customs officer 261,000 euros to doctor the container's X-ray scans so it could pass inspection.

But that officer wasn't acting alone, according to Italian authorities. Complicit dockworkers shifted the cocaine into a second container, which was then loaded onto a truck belonging to a complicit freight company. Local coordinators ensured the smooth execution of the complex plan.

Those involved likely didn't know that Italy’s Financial Police (Guardia di Finanza) would descend on Gioia Tauro less than two years later, having planting undercover officers in the port and accessed encrypted phone calls with the goal of breaking up the 'Ndrangheta's corruption ring.

More:
https://insightcrime.org/investigations/ndrangheta-versatile-middlemen-cocaine-pipeline-to-europe/

[Judi Lynn]

1. The 'Ndrangheta Connection to Colombia's Paramilitaries

AUC
/23 NOV 2022 BY DOUWE DEN HELDEN

Salvatore Mancuso, one of the most powerful paramilitary commanders in Colombia, and Giorgio Sale, a well-connected Italian businessman, helped each other become rich men.

In the late 1990s and early 2000s, the two became lynchpins of a connection between the ‘Ndrangheta, Italy’s largest mafia group, and Colombian paramilitaries, which lasts to this day.

Mancuso headed the United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia (Autodefensas Unidas de Colombia – AUC), which controlled vast areas of coca production across the country. The paramilitary group needed buyers for cocaine and partners to launder the immense wealth they were accumulating, and Mancuso set out to find them.

Giorgio Sale was the perfect partner. He was an Italian entrepreneur with plentiful investments all over Colombia and a good reputation among the South American country’s upper classes. His businesses included the luxury clothing company Gino Passcalli, which had dozens of stores and employed over 600 workers. He counted several judges on Colombia’s Supreme Court among his circle of friends. And his fine-dining restaurants were focal points for the societal elites of Colombia’s main cities.

More:
https://insightcrime.org/investigations/ndrangheta-connection-colombia-paramilitaries/

[Judi Lynn]

2. Cocaine Brokers: The Flexible Backbone of the 'Ndrangheta Trafficking Empire

ARGENTINA
/23 NOV 2022 BY DOUWE DEN HELD

Rocco Morabito could see beachfront bars from his hotel room in João Pessoa, in the Brazilian state of Paraíba. He could feel the breeze dancing in off the Atlantic Ocean, swimmers paddling the blue waters, and sunbathers enjoying the golden sands.

But when authorities tracked him down in May 2021, Morabito was trapped inside his hotel. As a prominent member of the 'Ndrangheta's Morabito clan and Italy's second-most wanted man, he could not afford to take risks.

Morabito had helped the 'Ndrangheta bolster its connections with South American cocaine suppliers, aiding the Italian mafia group's rise as one of Europe's most powerful trafficking organizations.

However, despite Morabito's important role in the 'Ndrangheta, his time on the lam hadn't majorly disrupted its operations. The network of clans that make up the 'Ndrangheta act largely independently of one another, meaning the structure as a whole is highly resilient to the loss of even top-level players.

More:
https://insightcrime.org/investigations/cocaine-brokers-flexible-backbone-ndrangheta-trafficking-empire/