On Monday 21 April 2025, Siderno is preparing to experience a special Easter Monday, amidst sweetness, tradition and celebration! After last year's success, the famous Sguta dei Record, which entered the Guinness Book of Records with its 544 metres, is aiming for a new milestone: 545 metres of Easter sweetness, for an event involving the entire community. Starting at 15:30, the city will come alive with workshops, shows and activities for all ages. In Piazza Vittorio Veneto, space will be given to creativity and beauty with the art and craft expo, while in Piazza Portosalvo the youngest will be the protagonists with creative workshops. At 4.30 pm, the official measurement of the sguta will take place, followed by the validation of the new record at 5.30 pm by notary Mariangela Muià. From 18:00, in Piazza Risorgimento, there will be a party. Street viewInterestedFestivalsThe Spicy Night19 - 21 Sep Jul 18 - 23 Aug other dates: Jul 19, 2025, Jul 20, 2025, Aug 21, 2025, Aug 22, 2025 and Aug 23, 2025 Content owned by the Calabria Region | Tourism and Commerce Department issued under CC-BY License Download OFFICIAL TOURIST INFORMATION SITE © 2022 Calabria Region Tourism and Commerce Department Get quality reporting directly into your inbox Vincenzo Muià was determined to find out who had killed his brother Carmelo a leader in a faction of the feared ’Ndrangheta crime group who was gunned down on the streets of Siderno Muià wanted to talk with Angelo Figliomeni whom Canadian police have accused of leading a faction of the ’Ndrangheta so powerful that it is dictating events in Siderno from across an ocean “They know; they know who shot,” said Muià on a wiretap quoted in a court document from Italy where authorities were investigating him for his alleged involvement in organized crime After Italian police notified their counterparts in Toronto about Muià’s impending journey across the Atlantic Italian officers were watching as Muià cleared customs and immigration at Toronto’s Pearson International Airport on the evening of March 31 Muià’s trip to Canada to speak with Figliomeni, which was previously reported by the National Post underscores the power of the ’Ndrangheta faction he allegedly leads in the Greater Toronto Area according to Italian and Canadian authorities and experts Figliomeni declined to comment through his lawyer While Italian court documents show that Muià thought he had information about who may have killed his brother there is no allegation that Figliomeni was in any way responsible for the murder The episode also highlights problems Canada has in prosecuting organized crime groups due to what experts say are overly broad interpretations of laws meant to protect individual rights “The Canadian security intelligence apparatus does not have the same protections and the same benefits that our international partners have when it comes down to investigating transnational organized crime threats,” said Calvin Chrustie a retired senior federal Royal Canadian Mounted Police officer said Italian authorities are “frustrated” by the fact that alleged ’Ndrangheta members have found security in Canada “There's just case after case of offenders who would otherwise be in jail in the United States or Italy that are roaming free here,” said Schneider the author of “Iced: The Story of Organized Crime in Canada.” Figliomeni was previously convicted on weapons charges in Italy and still faces charges there where court documents show he was wanted for “mafia association.” But he is safe in Canada where the “mafia association” charge is not an extraditable offense it doesn’t even exist in the Canadian legal code a deputy director general of Italy’s Public Security Department said inconsistencies in laws between countries challenge international efforts to combat the ’Ndrangheta “The misalignment of legal systems is a constant in cooperation activity,” said Rizzi who leads an initiative against the ’Ndrangheta involving law enforcement in 18 countries Read the previous story in this series on the ’Ndrangheta in Canada added to a long list of Canada’s failed efforts to prosecute organized crime which experts blame mainly on two quirks of the legal system: an obligation for prosecutors to disclose to defense lawyers more information than in other countries — which can lead to lengthy wrangling over what must be shared — plus a separate law requiring cases that go before a province's Superior Court to be completed within 30 months of charges being laid Such laws “make it virtually impossible to prosecute certain criminal and threat convergence cases in Canada,” according to a recent report by the International Coalition Against Illicit Economies said defense lawyers in Canada have the right to far more information than their counterparts in countries like the U.S. “There are extremely limited provisions to protect sensitive information informants or investigative techniques,” he said in an interview The decision to drop the case against Figliomeni and his associates frustrated the officers who worked on Project Sindacato York Regional Police had spent $8 million (US$6.1 million) and involved 500 officers in what they touted as the largest organized crime investigation in their history An officer emerges from a building holding alleged gambling paraphernalia during raids in the Project Sindacato investigation in July 2019 As the former York Regional Police superintendent for organized crime Mike Slack was a senior officer on the investigation He said he was at police headquarters in a meeting with “the main players in the case” –– including investigators and prosecutors –– the evening the decision came down from government prosecutors that it would be abandoned “A lot of emotions were expressed,” recalled Slack walking around and coming back and sitting down.” Slack said police did not use calls between lawyers and their clients to build their case and added that among about 1.5 million intercepted communications it was normal that investigators might capture such calls “They don’t have enough resources,” he said of the government Crown prosecutors The Crowns are basically working on their own trying to go through volumes and volumes of disclosure We get disclosure in a file with terabyte hard drives now." Adam Boni, a Toronto criminal lawyer and former federal Crown prosecutor, called the criticisms made by senior York Regional Police officers “hard to swallow.” “These decisions to stay proceedings because of error carelessness or downright dishonesty –– these are decisions that are not lightly made,” said Boni who was not involved in Project Sindacato but has handled many organized crime cases in his 30-year career “It just smacks of armchair quarterbacking now to say we could have or we should have proceeded,’” he said It was the wiretapped calls between suspects and their lawyers that convinced prosecutors to stay the charges lawyers for the defendants also filed a joint motion arguing that police had mischaracterized “mundane and innocuous actions as sinister criminal meetings” to match their preconceived notion that the accused were mobsters Ontario provincial prosecutors declined to answer questions about why they decided to stay charges relating to organized crime and money laundering in the Sindacato case Life in Canada is good for Figliomeni and his associates judging by the huge amounts of cash and possessions police confiscated from them in 2019 Authorities seized assets worth more than 35 million Canadian dollars (US$27 million) from the Figliomeni group That included CAN$1 million (US$750,600) in cash the equivalent amount of jewelry and Rolex watches as well as luxury cars — including one Ferrari valued at CAN$880,000 (US$660,000) Police also restrained 27 properties –– meaning they could not be sold –– worth about CAN$24 million (US$18 million) All of it had to be given back to Figliomeni and his group after prosecutors decided not to pursue the case Figliomeni moved to Canada in the early 2000s but Italian court documents show that his family’s roots in crime and politics in Siderno run deep including a relative who served as mayor before he was sent to prison as a ’Ndrangheta member Vincenzo Figliomeni –– known locally as “U Brigante,” or “The Bandit” –– was also an ’Ndrangheta member and was murdered outside his home in Siderno in 1988 His clan had been at war with a rival group and he was shot twice in the head and torso with a shotgun Figliomeni is alleged to have influence over his ’Ndrangheta clan back home Siderno –– a situation Italian authorities have described as unprecedented “This is something we have never seen in Italy,” said Fausto Lamparelli senior director of the Italian state police at a 2019 press conference in Toronto announcing charges against alleged members of Figliomeni’s group and its global operations have always been dictated by leaders in southern Italy But that is apparently not the case for the Toronto-based faction allegedly led by Figliomeni According to Italian prosecutors on the case Figliomeni's alleged association with the ’Ndrangheta reflects the organization’s increasingly international profile according to Italian prosecutor Giuseppe Lombardo He described the criminal network as “a huge mafia holding company.” The group’s illicit earnings provide “enormous capital to invest” into the legal economy mob violence on both sides of the Atlantic brought authorities in Canada and Italy together to investigate the Siderno group Dubbed “Canadian ’Ndrangheta Connection 2” by Italian authorities the collaborative investigation exposed the power of the faction operating in Toronto according to a report by Italy’s anti-mafia division Filgiomeni’s group had allegedly become embroiled in a war with a rival crime clan in the Greater Toronto Area city of Vaughan in 2017 drive by shootings and arson,” according to York Regional Police who launched Project Sindacato to investigate violence had also exploded back in Siderno where authorities were investigating the murder of Carmelo Muià When Vincenzo Muià traveled to Toronto seeking information about the murder he brought along a phone that police had infected with “Trojan” bugging software The tapped phone –– which picked up calls as well as sounds nearby –– gave Italian and Canadian police extra insight into the inner life of Figliomeni’s group “an important conversation” Muià had with Figliomeni over dinner at the home of Luigi Vescio who runs the Fratelli Vescio funeral homes in Greater Toronto and was charged in Italy for alleged mafia association (Vescio did not respond to a request for comment.) The fact that Muià took a flight to Canada to see Figliomeni is “one indication of how the power shifted to Toronto,” said Schneider The wiretaps show Muià trying to get answers about his brother’s murder in the middle of a discussion about facial skin care with Vescio urging the other guests to try the high-end French brand La Mer “All these actors and actresses use this,” Vescio tells Figliomeni “I'll give you a sample this evening,” he says leaving Figliomeni and Muià alone together As Figliomeni muses about getting a facelift Muià brings the conversation back to his reason for traveling to Toronto Otherwise I don’t know what the fuck I came for,” says Muià but Muià appears to have left Canada frustrated and “embittered,” according to Italian court documents he is currently serving a five-year sentence after being convicted on charges including extortion and weapons Support from readers like you helps OCCRP expose organized crime and corruption around the world you’ll be directly supporting investigative journalism as a public good You’ll also gain access to exclusive insights and benefits Luxembourg’s company registry turns up firms controlled by people with ties to the ’Ndrangheta The Number 1BC platform has become popular after the law enforcement crackdown on SkyECC An Albanian underworld figure is accused of doing business with Italian mafia bosses while usurping prime real estate in his.. Please select what you would like included for printing: Copy the text below and then paste that into your favorite email application Enter your phone number above to have directions sent via text This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply Service map data © OpenStreetMap contributors Vincenzo Crupi was just another businessman helping to make the Netherlands the largest exporter of cut flowers in the world.To the police Crupi was a mafia suspect allegedly concealing drugs worth millions of dollars alongside fragrant bouquets he trucked to Italy So they bugged his offices at the flower market.In conversations recorded by hidden microphones and cameras the 52-year-old Italian was heard speaking at length about mafia affairs according to previously unpublished details of the investigation contained in 1,700 pages of Italian court documents reviewed by Reuters.Crupi was heard allegedly discussing drug deals arms shipments and a lethal power struggle between mafia members in Canada "They are killing each other over there," he said in one recorded telephone call after returning from a trip to Toronto.Last September at least two decades after Crupi began working at the flower market police swooped while the Italian was on a trip home arresting him in the dead of night south of Rome Prosecutors will seek trials against Crupi later this year for drug trafficking and mafia membership judicial sources said.Police and prosecutors say the case sheds new light on the 'Ndrangheta – the Calabrian mafia – and the way it has spread its tentacles from southern Italy into dozens of countries across five continents More than 50 other suspects were arrested in the same investigation.Crupi told Reuters that his client was an honest businessman "He's been in the flower business forever," said Belcastro "He had a legal and functioning flower business and there is proof of that."The police and prosecutors disagree They say the 'Ndrangheta has cleverly kept a low profile abroad and that Crupi embodies its international business model because it was the perfect cover for the 'Ndrangheta to expand overseas smuggle drugs and launder illicit profits."The (secretly recorded) conversations confirm the full participation" of Crupi and others in an international mafia network says the arrest warrant issued in Reggio Calabria the capital of Calabria in Italy's southern tip.A spokeswoman for the FloraHolland cooperative said the cooperative was never aware he was a suspected mobster.MAFIA BLOODLINEFor much of the last century the Calabrian mafia made its money from extortion and kidnappings Then in the late 1980s and early 1990s the group which consists of about 160 patriarchal clans bet big on the cocaine trade.Its success at drug smuggling catapulted the 'Ndrangheta past its more storied Sicilian rival Italian authorities now consider the 'Ndrangheta to be Europe's single biggest importer of cocaine."The 'Ndrangheta is a trademark of criminal seriousness," said David Ellero the head of Europol's organized crime squad in The Hague.Crupi grew up in a family with known mafia connections in Siderno a town in the "toe" of Italy's deep south according to turncoats interviewed by prosecutors he moved to Holland and set up in business at the FloraHolland market in the town of Aalsmeer two former employees of Crupi's company told Reuters.In 2002 who had spent 13 years in prison in the United States for drug smuggling Macri was in charge of collecting unpaid bills from clients former employees said.To the flower traders of Holland Crupi and Macri appeared to be ordinary businessmen While they often dined in fine restaurants and frequently visited Italy they were not flashy."These guys were up at four o'clock in the morning most of the time and they went straight to FloraHolland," said the police commander in charge of the Dutch side of the investigation "They didn't have Ferraris or big watches If you looked at them you wouldn't see anything strange but they were not."What the employees at the flower market did not know was that Crupi and Macri were – prosecutors allege – part of the Commisso clan which prosecutors say is based in the small coastal town of Siderno and is one of the 'Ndrangheta's most powerful arms.Both Crupi and Macri are related to one of the three bosses who together regulated affairs for the entire 'Ndrangheta network until the mid-70s Antonio "Uncle 'Ntoni" Macri was the "living symbol of organized crime's omnipotence," Italian magistrate Guido Marino wrote in a 1970 court ruling.'Ntoni's daughter And 'Ntoni's son is Vincenzo Macri the business partner and brother-in-law of Crupi.In 1975 a hit squad shot the 72-year-old 'Ntoni dead after his daily game of bocce The murder set off a bloody mafia war that cost some 233 lives in three years an estimated 5,000 people attended the funeral of Uncle 'Ntoni.Vincenzo is currently a fugitive and could not be contacted for comment a lawyer who says she was hired by a family member to defend Macri said that he is innocent."I've never spoken directly with him but I do know he intends to defend himself or I would not have been hired," she said "I believe he will deny the accusations."Belcastro said of Siderno and his client: "It's a very small town so it's normal that he would know people who may have a criminal background but that doesn't make him a criminal."Crupi's wife did not respond to attempts to contact her through her husband's lawyer.SMUGGLING NETWORKAt the FloraHolland market Crupi and Macri ran a business called Fresh BV which boasted on its website that it was "a major player of the Italian wholesale market" with a trucking business providing "distribution that allows us to be proud of our speed and methods." In the mid-2000s Fresh BV was sending about a truckload of flowers a day to Italy but the company was still sending several trucks each week.The FloraHolland market in Aalsmeer is enormous Since speed is of the essence in delivering fresh flowers 18-wheeler trucks rumble in and out at all hours.With the port of Rotterdam and Schiphol airport nearby Crupi's flower business was perfectly positioned to receive drug shipments from South America and distribute them onwards say police and prosecutors.As Italian police investigated Crupi they asked their Dutch counterparts to bug the offices of Fresh BV The eavesdroppers allege they heard Crupi and Macri speaking at length about mafia affairs Court documents allege the two men discussed selling and shipping cocaine to a Neapolitan crime family; Macri's desire to set up a drug trafficking operation in Venezuela; the first birthday of an alleged clan member's son; how to fence millions of euros in stolen Lindt chocolate (see sidebar); and the deadly 'Ndrangheta power struggle in Canada.Prosecutors allege Crupi and Macri were wary of surveillance and behind closed doors spoke in Calabrian dialect They usually referred to other suspected mobsters only by nicknames such as "Chubby the son of Grace," "the brigand" and "the chosen one." Crupi often called Macri by his nickname "pumadoru" – dialect for "tomato."The court documents allege that Crupi Macri and others ran an organization "systematically and regularly dedicated to importing from Holland large quantities of cocaine to be sold on the Italian market." They represented the international business side of the 'Ndrangheta rather than being feared bosses ruling home turf through clan loyalty and intimidation.Police carried out the first arrests in the investigation in August 2014 when they witnessed an Albanian man allegedly picking up drugs in Rome from a flower-truck driver working for the Crupi family one of Crupi's truck drivers allegedly picked up more than 11 kilos of cocaine from a man in Rotterdam and shuttled it to Italy in a hidden compartment according to police eyewitness accounts and a recording from a listening device in the cabin The driver was recorded saying he had picked up the "black tulip bulbs," which police took to be code for the drugs.The driver was arrested in December 2014 at an isolated warehouse district in northern Italy where he met the alleged buyer of the drugs prosecutors allege in Crupi's arrest warrant were "just the tip of the iceberg."SPECIAL LAWTo tackle the likes of the Cosa Nostra and 'Ndrangheta Italy has made it a criminal offence to be a member of a mafia organization The offence carries a sentence of up to 24 years in prison if mafia activities have an international dimension Italian prosecutors say the lack of such a law outside Italy is a serious impediment in tackling mafiosi operating internationally."Italy because the authorities have had to struggle against the mafia for decades has the best anti-mafia legislation and the best investigators," said Ellero the head of Europol's organized crime squad in The Hague it's back to square one."That is why many mafia operators have increasingly shifted activities and assets abroad "The crime of mafia membership doesn't exist anywhere in the world except Italy but the mafia is everywhere," said Reggio Calabria prosecutor Antonio De Bernardo who is leading the southern court's investigation against Crupi.In February 2015 Italy's elite SCO police – knowing that rituals like birthday parties weddings and funerals remain important occasions for the 'Ndrangheta – bugged a car Crupi rented in Siderno He and his wife drove the car to their nephew's first birthday party at Siderno's Hotel President.During the trip home he was recorded speaking to a known 'Ndrangheta member This time police raided the place where Crupi was staying and took him to jail He has remained in prison ever since.The police investigation is ongoing prosecutors plan to seek a trial against Crupi Macri and others for drug trafficking and mafia membership later this year some of Crupi's former colleagues in Holland are still shocked at the accusation that he's part of the mafia "If it's true," said a former employee of Crupi's flower company "then he's a better actor than Robert de Niro and Al Pacino rolled into one."Additional reporting by Morgan Sharp in Toronto Editing by Simon Robinson and Richard Woods Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles., opens new tab , opens new tab Browse an unrivalled portfolio of real-time and historical market data and insights from worldwide sources and experts. , opens new tabScreen for heightened risk individual and entities globally to help uncover hidden risks in business relationships and human networks. © 2025 Reuters. All rights reserved the reputed leader of the Gambino crime family was shot to death outside his house in Staten Island on Wednesday night in a killing that echoes Mafia murders of the 1980s The New York Police Department says that at 9:17 p.m officers received a 911 call reporting an assault in progress in front of Cali's house officers found a 53-year-old male with multiple gunshot wounds to the torso," the police said in a statement sent to NPR Cali was taken to Staten Island University Hospital Photos from the scene showed officers working around Cali's SUV on Wednesday night with shell casings marked by overturned plastic cups Witnesses told New York media outlets that they heard a number of shots before a blue pickup truck fled the area Cali was commonly known as either Frank or "Franky Boy." He was believed to have had deep ties to the Mafia in Italy: As Staten Island Live reports Cali "was born in Brooklyn and married into the Inzerillo family of Palermo and cultivated close ties with members of the Siderno cartel in Italy." Cali was first reported to be in charge of the Gambino family in 2015 The Gambino family had previously gained a high profile under the leadership of John Gotti — who orchestrated the last public killing of a Gambino crime boss in 1985 when Paul Castellano was gunned down outside of Sparks Steak House in Manhattan Cali lived in the Todt Hill section of Staten Island on a leafy street near the private Richmond County Country Club golf course — and not far from where Castellano lived in a mansion when he ran the Gambino family sits the house that portrayed the Corleone estate in The Godfather Cali and dozens of Mafia figures were arrested on federal racketeering charges serving 16 months in prison for his part in a scheme related to a proposal to build a NASCAR track in Staten Island The Gambino family is one of five Mafia families that have long been seen as running Italian-American organized crime syndicates in New York "The assassination of Mr. Cali came on the same day that Joseph Cammarano Jr., the reputed acting boss of the Bonanno crime family, was acquitted at trial," The New York Times reports a longtime boss of the Colombo crime family You want to know what is really going on these days We can help you keep up.  The Lookout is a free daily email newsletter with news and happenings from all over Colorado Sign up here and we will see you in the morning Colorado Postcards are snapshots of our colorful state in sound. They give brief insights into our people and places, our flora and fauna, and our past and present, from every corner of Colorado. Listen now. © 2025 Colorado Public Radio. All Rights Reserved. Privacy Policy This geological guide presents the description of locations associated with a two-day field trip arranged in relation to the 10th International Congress of Tidal Sedimentology (Tidalites) The field guide describes sedimentological features of the largest among a series of tectonically controlled tidal straits that dissected the Calabrian Arc in southern Italy during the Early Pleistocene 50x20 km- wide Siderno Strait connected the Tyrrhenian with the Ionian seas Due to tidal phase opposition between the two basins continuous water-mass exchanges occurred through the strait Sediments filling the Siderno Strait derived from both fluvial supply from the margins and intra-basinal autochthonous carbonate-factory debris The main objective of the two-day field trip is to guide the visitor through a cross-section of the ancient strait The focus during the day one is on strait-margin deltaic fluvial-dominated deposits northern border and reworked by tidal currents in their distal reaches (delta front) 4–5 m-thick pebbly-sandstone strata intercalated with 2–3 m-thick tidally-generated cross strata stack into a ca exposed in a series of outcrops progressively located down-current with respect to the inferred entry point to the north 150–190 m-thick succession consisting of cross-stratified mixed (bioclastic-siliciclastic) deposits elongated ridges that accumulated in the south-eastern axial zone of the Siderno Strait The selected stops offer panoramic views of exceptionally continuous sections and close-up observations revealing different scales of depositional architectures and a variety of sedimentary structures and trace fossils that record the development of these tidal sand ridges during the strait lifespan The interplay between the tectonic uplift of a central bedrock sill and a number of syn-sedimentary faults and high-frequency relative sea- level changes (induced by glacio-eustacy and active tectonics) can be deciphered from the architecture of the tidally-generated cross strata composing the main body of the ridges Visualize the volume International investigators warn the ‘Ndrangheta mafia family now resembles a “criminal blockchain” following the recent decentralization of its internal power structures Usually, ‘Ndrangheta families in Canada take orders from “mother clans” in Calabria, but for the first time, mobsters outside of Siderno are making decisions that impact operations all the way back to Italy, reports National Post “The governing body of the Siderno branch no longer operates only in Calabria but also does so directly on Canadian soil to give it a more effective and efficient command structure,” said Italian authorities in court documents Sure, it appears the ‘Ndrangheta is decentralizing, but it isn’t using a blockchain to do so The latest rumblings from the EU tech scene which seems to be the foundation of this bizarre analogy Police have said the concentration of ’Ndrangheta authority in Canada has become something “never seen before.” Parallel organizational structures in Toronto to where many notable ‘Ndrangheta mobsters have fled reportedly allows operations to run smoothly even if police happen to raid crime bosses back in Italy this resembles a decentralized blockchain-powered network like Bitcoin (kinda) If you take down any number of Bitcoin nodes Bitcoin’s design indeed means it will stay alive after a large percentage of its network suddenly goes dark but to say that any system with a degree of decentralization is a blockchain (as these mafia experts have done) is it’s certainly refreshing to see the phrase “criminal blockchain” used to describe something actually illegal instead of as a slight against Bitcoin or some other cryptocurrency When IEO Get the most important tech news in your inbox each week The organized crime group, whose home is the southern Italian region of Calabria, is a global juggernaut that controls, among other things, the import of tens of billions of dollars of Latin American cocaine into Europe every year generations-old codes of behavior and secrecy Jole Figliomeni appears to have built her life away from the mafia triggering a scandal that brought the clans to the brink of war Caught between two angry families and facing the arrest of her father she packed her bags and struck out on her own moving to the West African country of Ivory Coast Jole said she left to find a society that’s not based on who you are and who you know But Italian law enforcement documents obtained by the Investigative Reporting Project Italy (IRPI) show that the move may not have been quite so clean a break Jole’s new home placed her at the center of what has become one of the most important hubs in the ‘Ndrangheta’s cocaine importation network Wiretap transcripts obtained by IRPI show that she never severed her ties with her family post-war sprawl on the shores of the electric blue Ionian Sea the Calabrian town of Siderno is an unassuming capital for a global narco-empire the town is home to one of the ‘Ndrangheta’s most powerful groups Even compared to Italy’s other major crime groups -- Cosa Nostra in Sicily and Camorra in Naples -- the ‘Ndrangheta is a prodigious smuggler of drugs Some specialists estimate that the network controls the majority of Europe’s cocaine imports the four main families in Siderno – the Commisso and the Figliomeni – are among the biggest players “Decisions made by the four families can affect global cocaine prices,” De Bernardo told IRPI it falls to Siderno’s women to keep the trade going That’s why ‘Ndrangheta marriages aren’t just about love according to wiretap transcripts obtained by IRPI Jole is the daughter of Alessandro Figliomeni But the man she struck up a relationship with was a member of another of the four local ‘Ndrangheta families relationships between members of two different families are a typical and even essential part of forging alliances The problem is that Crupi was already married His wife was the sister of Siderno’s boss of bosses a man universally known as U’Mastru – The Master According to documents stemming from a 2015 investigation Siderno’s ‘Ndrangheta society disapproved of Giuseppe Crupi’s actions --not so much because he had violated the “code of ethics,” but because his behavior had reduced the stature of U’Mastru in front of the whole ‘Ndrangheta a Canadian-based member of the group was overheard explaining that the scandal had damaged the honor of U’Mastru’s family while strengthening relations between the Crupi and Figliomeni -- a big deal In the past, ‘Ndrangheta wars have proven bloody and ruthless. The feud of San Luca, sparked in 1991 when a group of Pelle-Vottari boys threw eggs at boys from the Nirta-Strangio family, continued for years. It ended only after the infamous 2007 Duisburg massacre in Germany the tensions didn’t escalate into violence -- likely because the families were tightly intertwined by a series of marriages “It seems that they needed a stronger reason than adultery to spark an internal war.” with the arrest – and eventual conviction – of mayor Figliomeni on charges of corruption and mafia-type association the four families involved set aside their differences “After the earthquake that hit my father for things that are still being discussed in an ongoing trial to a developing country,” Jole said in an email to IRPI “in order to be valued for my abilities and not to be pre-judged based on personal things that happened to my father.” If Jole was indeed trying to distance herself from the ‘Ndrangheta Ivory Coast may not have been the best choice Over the last decade the countries of West Africa have become increasingly important as waypoints in the cocaine trade to Europe where direct shipments from South America raise red flags Organized crime groups typically run numerous routes at once allowing them to switch and adapt in response to law enforcement action According to an Italian police note obtained by reporters Ivory Coast is recognised as one of these hubs It’s unclear exactly what Jole did for her first three years in the country. In one 2013 newspaper interview she described herself as a “consultant” for the local publishing industry -- an intermediary attempting to build ties between her home region and the small Ivorian city of Doropo Italian authorities launched a fresh investigation into Siderno’s clans It was a continuation of an earlier operation dubbed “Apegreen Drug,” after a laundromat owned by U’Mastru which included intensive surveillance and phone wiretaps showed that the clan used West African ports to bring cocaine into Europe via the Belgian port of Antwerp “Listening to [Siderno clan members] for over two years we confirmed that U’Mastru was the leader of an extremely powerful drug ring based in the Locride [region in which Siderno is located],” Anti-mafia prosecutor De Bernardo said “He is a sort of feudal lord through whose hands the entire illicit traffic had to pass the Siderno clan reached out to their wayward daughter a Siderno logistics manager travelling in Abidjan making a call to another of U’Mastru’s lieutenants Pezzano requested an update on an unnamed “girl.” She’s been coming around with me for three days.” The name of the “girl” in question does not appear in the wiretaps -- but police working on the Apegreen Drug investigation appeared to have identified her as Jole since they included this transcript in a document sent to prosecutors that alleged her involvement in his trip “The wiretaps seem to show Spataro was in Ivory Coast to organise drug trafficking,” according to the November 2015 document Police surveillance during the operation showed that he had also travelled to Brazil, also a major 'Ndrangheta hub According to a summary of evidence put together for prosecutors police believe that U’Mastru had tasked Spataro with setting up a drug route from Abidjan to the Belgian port of Antwerp The girl in question appears to have been seen by U’Mastru as key to the effort the officers working on the Apegreen Drug investigation decided to strike they watched Spataro push a wheelbarrow through a field he retrieved a plastic package from the wheelbarrow and placed it inside the building When police swooped in and searched the vehicle they found a single white brick of cocaine Claudio Spataro (in white shirt) and a man picking up the white bag of cocaine in a police surveillance video The operation resulted in the arrest three months later of Spataro Pezzano and 21 others on drug trafficking charges arrested in July 2010 in a separate operation Police traced the one-kilo brick to a shipment that had arrived in Antwerp just days before But that’s as far as the investigation went Italian law enforcement bodies are tightly constrained by national borders Case documents show there was no local follow-up after the 2014 wiretap of Spataro in Abidjan With no investigators on the ground in Ivory Coast and no ability to tap local phones police had little information on how the Siderno families may have used the port It is unclear if Jole’s involvement was merely as a one-off tour guide provides some clues on what she did after Spataro’s visit just 15 days after the phone call in which Spataro said he came “precisely for her,” Jole started what appears to have been a good job as an operations manager at a highly connected Abidjan information technology and cyber-security firm IRPI reporters reached out to the company’s owner in mid-August He did not answer questions about whether he had any contacts with the Siderno clan Jole told IRPI that the company had fired her as a result of reporters’ questions But her Facebook profile shows that she left the firm in June -- at least six weeks before reporters reached out to the owner It’s not known exactly what Jole did for the Siderno clan or how long her assistance may have continued Jole told IRPI she would answer questions to help fight the ‘Ndrangheta a Professor of Criminology at the University of Oxford her involvement demonstrates a key strength of the ‘Ndrangheta: family Other groups such as Sicily’s Cosa Nostra -- the mafia popularized by Hollywood -- allow non-family members to join This makes it easier to members to leave and for the police to develop sources on the inside But the ‘Ndrangheta’s relies much more on family ties "The crucial thing to distinguish is that the Italian mafias are based on family ties and this is particularly true for the ‘Ndrangheta where the blood-tied families mainly mirror the mafia families They are all related with each other; they are the same thing Varese said the ‘Ndrangheta literally move by a chain migration whereby family members move across the globe before sending for others Varese said this is a key part of their success “The ‘Ndrangheta has a much larger global reach than the other Italian mafias and this is also linked to the fact they are all relatives,” Varese said When they establish a new base or do business in a foreign land some Italian community or national who already lives in the country and who knows their way around preferably somebody who doesn't mind dealing with the clans “it’s really hard to say no to close family.” This story was produced in partnership with IRPI and Correctiv and funded by the Flanders Connecting Continents Grant It is part of the Global Anti-Corruption Consortium, a partnership between OCCRP and Transparency International. 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Or sign-in if you have an account When his brother was killed last year in an ambush Vincenzo Muià became the boss of his Mafia clan in southern Italy One of his first acts of leadership was to gather his loyal soldiers to plan their defence Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience according to a translation of a police wiretap that captured his conversations Muià’s arrival in Toronto this spring to consult Mafia leaders living in Ontario came at a terrible time for the grieving boss York Regional Police had an ambitious anti-mob probe underway targeting the very people he had come to consult Get a dash of perspective along with the trending news of the day in a very readable format By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc The next issue of NP Posted will soon be in your inbox Interested in more newsletters? Browse here. helped investigators not only understand more about the murder of Muià’s brother but also a raft of other crimes producing 12 arrests in Italy including one of a Canadian man born in Toronto It was the international counterpart to the large Toronto-area Mafia busts announced with fanfare last week and its surprising findings highlight how important mobsters in Canada have become in the global underworld Italian police had their interest sparked on Jan a Mafia stronghold in Italy’s southern region of Calabria the proper name of the powerful Mafia of Calabria is part of a confederation of ’Ndrangheta families in and around Siderno that is often called the Siderno Group considered one of the world’s foremost criminal enterprises Muià was apoplectic over his brother’s murder He started deconstructing and analyzing the ambush It was an inopportune time for them to come someone with a sharp grievance — someone whose two brothers were killed during a previous mob feud involving Muià’s family The wiretaps captured Muià’s complaints that the victors left a surviving brother who could someday seek vengeance Muià pulled family loyalists together and ordered them to rearm and get ready left for Canada to spend a week or two trying to confirm his suspicions “It was an inopportune time for them to come,” said Det Carl Mattinen of York police’s new anti-Mafia taskforce which ran the probe called Project Sindacato “We happened to be live (with wiretaps) when they traveled here.” collectively called  “u Briganti” (the Brigands) Police announced Angelo’s arrest in Vaughan Mattinen named him as the head of the Figliomeni crime family Italian court documents refer to both Figliomeni brothers as “fugitives” in Canada having left Italy ahead of Mafia-association charges revealed Muià seeking answers and advice on the consequences of pursuing his brother’s murderer however — something that shocked even veteran Mafia investigators in Italy There has been a shift in the Siderno Group’s power structure the ’Ndrangheta families of Siderno operating in Canada — about seven of them — have been governed by a board of directors called the “camera di controllo,” or chamber of control as in other countries around the world and other regions of Italy where clans have spread have all been subservient to the mother clans of Calabria under a body known as “il Crimine di Siderno.” Police in both countries now say the ’Ndrangheta’s Canadian presence has become so powerful and influential that the board north of Toronto has the authority to make decisions not only in relation to Canada’s underworld Decisions might be taken in Canada first and arrive in Siderno later The Canadian board can have influence over the “entire ’Ndrangheta,” Italian authorities said to give it a more effective and efficient command structure,” Italian authorities said in court documents This shows that Canada’s mobsters are “more strategically powerful than we had thought before,” said Anna Sergi a senior criminology lecturer at the University of Essex who specializes in the ’Ndrangheta “From the wiretaps it appears that — differently from the situation portrayed in (previous investigations) — the chamber of control in Toronto can extend its strategic resonance to Siderno as well for the first time reversing the order,” said Sergi “Decisions might be taken in Canada first and arrive in Siderno later.” It appears to be both a reflection of the realities of immigration and a strategic survival plan A large number of respected and influential Calabrian mobsters have immigrated to the Toronto area including some fleeing Italy’s anti-Mafia probes if police make a decisive sweep against bosses in Italy there is already a parallel structure operating with influence and international recognition that can keep the business running Investigators described it as a form of “criminal blockchain.” director of the Central Operational Service of Italy’s Polizia di Stato said this level of ’Ndrangheta authority now concentrated in Canada is unprecedented “This is something we have never seen before,” he said That explains why Muià would seek counsel in Canada on a matter as important as accusing a fellow ’Ndrangheta member in Siderno of an unsanctioned murder The arrests in Italy — where police called their probe Operation “Canadian ’Ndrangheta Connection” — included Gregoraci He was charged with Mafia association and financial crimes Muià is also charged with interfering with the police investigation into his brother’s murder not only by trying to ensure he finds the gunman before police do but also by taking his brother’s cell phone from the scene of his murder to hide any evidence from police transmission or republication strictly prohibited This website uses cookies to personalize your content (including ads), and allows us to analyze our traffic. 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By continuing to use our site, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy You can manage saved articles in your account Please enable JS and disable any ad blocker This website is using a security service to protect itself from online attacks The action you just performed triggered the security solution There are several actions that could trigger this block including submitting a certain word or phrase You can email the site owner to let them know you were blocked Please include what you were doing when this page came up and the Cloudflare Ray ID found at the bottom of this page By the time Santo Rumbo turned up in Luxembourg he was already deeply enmeshed in the world of the Italian mafia he’d allegedly risen to one of the highest ranks of the ’Ndrangheta the vicious Calabrian crime group that is responsible for a good chunk of Europe’s cocaine trade So Italian police were more than a little concerned to learn he had moved to the tiny northwestern European nation where he got involved in a restaurant business along with a group of young migrants from an impoverished Italian village near his hometown of Siderno The intensely hierarchical and clannish ’Ndrangheta have fanned out across the world from their home base in southern Italy often using family-based chain migration to get footholds in new markets is still the capital of their global narco-empire the mighty Commisso clan rules over a number of ’Ndrangheta families that are so powerful that their decisions can affect global cocaine prices Santo Rumbo’s father, Riccardo, was one of these family leaders, heading the Rumbo-Figliomeni ’ndrina subgroup He had a reputation for power and ruthlessness the younger Rumbo set up a money-lending business in Siderno under his father’s guidance Santo allegedly took an important role in the Rumbo ’ndrina At some point after that — investigators don’t know when — Santo Rumbo made his way to Canada where he spent time with mob bosses there and received one of the ’Ndrangheta’s highest rankings The upper echelons of the ’Ndrangheta are intensely secretive and almost impossible to penetrate Even lower-ranking mafiosi might not know who holds what dote But we do know that doti are incredibly important Only mafiosi holding one of these top rankings are allowed to interact with heads of other mafia groups and members of the fraternal order of Freemasons Mafiosi above a certain dote are also eligible to sit on the provincia the institution that rules over the entire ’Ndrangheta the ’Ndrangheta can suffer from title inflation The Vangelo ranking was created relatively recently after bosses felt the ranks of the Santa had become too crowded Prosecutors in Reggio Calabria only learned about Santo Rumbo’s high ranking by chance when they overheard two ’Ndrangheta bosses in Canada talking about him on a wiretap One mentioned that Rumbo was given a higher dote than his brother If Rumbo did hold a ranking of Trequartino before the age of 30 this would have been an extraordinarily rapid rise through the mafia ranks around that time an Italian police operation was under way to root out branches of the ’Ndrangheta in Canada Wiretapped conversations from Operation Canadian Connection 2 tipped police off that Santo Rumbo’s next stop was Luxembourg where Santo Rumbo turned up after allegedly climbing through the ranks of the ’Ndrangheta The tiny country in the heart of Europe is one of the continent’s most notorious tax havens and has a poor record on corporate transparency Until recently there was no public information available about who owned companies registered in Luxembourg This can make it hard for Italian investigators to follow networks into that country These very same qualities made it a draw for the mafia a top antimafia prosecutor in the ’Ndrangheta stronghold of Reggio Calabria “The ’Ndrangheta sees Luxembourg as an interesting place to invest and launder capital precisely because there are financial systems and discreet ‘coffers’ that are extremely attractive for those who need to stash illicit money and black funds,” he said on the basis of the Canadian wiretap evidence “But we never got to investigate what he was doing [there],” said an Italian officer who led the Canadian operation speaking on condition of anonymity so he did not expose himself while working on anti-mafia investigations Members of the OpenLux project decided to try Luxembourg established a public database of the ultimate beneficial owners (UBOs) of companies registered within its borders But the new register has a major limitation: It can only be searched by company name or registration number It doesn’t allow searches using the names of people who own the companies allowing them to maintain a degree of secrecy French newspaper Le Monde managed to scrape 3.3 million records from the register’s online platform then collaborated with OCCRP’s data team to make them searchable This allowed journalists from across the world to search the register by name for the first time and determine who owns what Searching through newly available data on corporate ownership in Luxembourg Santo Rumbo was not alone in the Grand Duchy Surrounding him was a group of around 20 young entrepreneurs from Siderno and Mammola a village of around 2,700 people perched in Italy's Aspromonte mountains just above the Siderno seaside Some of them opened and closed a succession of restaurants working together with Rumbo and another mafia scion the son of the ’Ndrangheta chief in Mammola Mammola is a small village that sits in the mountains overlooking Siderno Mammola’s branch of the ’Ndrangheta takes orders from Siderno’s which ranks above it in the mafia hierarchy But while members of the Siderno mafia famously migrated en masse to Canada and Australia Mammola families mostly made their way north a professor of criminology at the University of Essex “It is thought from investigations in Germany that Luxembourg is a transit territory for both mafia individuals and their activities and money,” explained Sergi By cross-referencing corporate ownership and social network data OCCRP’s partner IrpiMedia identified a larger group of 17 families from Mammola who have social ties and run a number of restaurants in Luxembourg’s Esch-sur-Alzette canton Some of these restaurants make explicit references to the mafia in their decor and theme with framed pictures of Scarface on the walls and bakers dressed in aprons emblazoned with images of El Padrino — The Godfather Coming from Mammola doesn’t automatically make anyone a criminal but Sergi said youth in the impoverished village are highly vulnerable to ’Ndrangheta recruitment “Mammola is a tiny village without many opportunities for young people so it becomes easy for youngsters to be lured by the possibilities of moving away and setting up a business abroad on behalf of Despite the difficulties of investigating in Luxembourg Italian prosecutors say they have reason to believe the ’Ndrangheta have established a significant presence there Calabrians flocked north to take jobs in the burgeoning steel industry hub of Minett with one family member settling up north and then sending for others which is strategically located near the border between Belgium and France Three young Italian girls in front of a market in the Italian quarter of Dudelange a professor of criminology at the University of Oxford said this type of chain migration is a key part of the ’Ndrangheta’s success giving them “a much larger global reach than the other Italian mafias.” the ’Ndrangheta also have the advantage of longevity Many mafia families have been there for decades and their members never had criminal records in Italy we have detected the active presence of people linked to the ’Ndrangheta who are not easily classified because the connections date back a long time,” he said “At the time there wasn’t yet proper investigative activity [in Calabria] aimed at mapping all the foreign projections of the ’Ndrangheta.” The anti-mafia investigator who spoke on condition of anonymity said Italian authorities had seen a number of young people from “‘Ndrangheta environments” moving to Luxembourg to open restaurants — “clearly not with pocket money said that his client had every right to move to Luxembourg he chose Luxembourg to get away from a land that caused him much suffering due to mere prejudices not backed by evidence,” he added In 2014, two young men from Mammola opened a Luxembourg company, I Bronzi Sarl The first thing it did was set up a frozen yogurt shop called Happy Yogo in Differdange’s historic center a now defunct frozen yogurt shop set up in the center of Differdange by a company that later had ties to high-ranking ’Ndrangheta member Santo Rumbo it closed and the company was declared dormant The Mammola men were struck off the register in January 2019 I Bronzi opened a nearby sports bar serving Italian food In a Facebook picture taken shortly after it opened grinning as they grip a bottle of champagne a beer being poured out over a barrel topped with the bar’s logo One of the men pictured is the 25-year-old nephew of Tito Figliomeni an associate of Santo Rumbo’s father in the Rumbo-Figliomeni ’ndrina The second man is known by police intelligence as an active drug trafficker from northern Europe and was arrested in France in 2006 in possession of amphetamines Such small companies are not required to use a chartered accountant and need only provide an abridged report of profits and losses so it’s impossible to know the company’s real finances the accounts that OpenLux reporters do have show very little activity for a restaurant Rumbo’s lawyer claimed his client was only “a simple employee of the bistro,” never an investor or manager and therefore couldn’t answer questions about its finances Rumbo is listed in Luxembourg’s business register as a director of the company (“Your source is wrong,” his lawyer said when asked about Rumbo’s control of the company.) In this photograph taken shortly after I Bronzi’s sports bar opened Santo Rumbo stands between two associates from Siderno cutting into an unusual cake in the form of a bottle of beer being poured over the bar’s logo one of the two young men from Mammola co-founded another Luxembourg company This company also opened an Italian restaurant One of the co-founders was another character with family ties to the ’Ndrangheta the capo locale (local head) of the organized crime group for Mammola and a high-ranking member of the ’Ndrangheta hierarchy The pattern is striking: scions of both the Rumbo and Scali families managed companies in Luxembourg established with the help of the same young man from Mammola OpenLux also identified yet another group of three young people from Mammola that opened and closed two restaurants in Differdange since 2017 They also founded a restaurant management company with very little capital at the same address later used to open Romeo e Giulietta Opening restaurants and cafes with just a tiny amount of capital and almost no money on the books according to the senior antimafia investigator who tracked Rumbo down This creates an excuse to open a local bank account and move money in without allowing a company to get so big it attracts regulation and attention OCCRP has uncovered no evidence that any of these Luxembourg businesses engaged in illegal activity But one thing is now clear: the Rumbo family had a relationship with Luxembourg dating as far back as 2008 That’s the year in which an associate of the Rumbo ’ndrina — a man who was tried launder drug money through a property development — opened a real estate company in Luxembourg the beneficial owners of Luxembourg companies were kept secret and the man may have assumed his tie to this firm would never be revealed Dodgy money from around the world has poured into secretive shell companies based in Luxembourg A UK-based accountant keeps getting accused of helping the Italian mafia hide its money — and British authorities keep doing.. Alessandro Figliomeni “belongs to” and plays a “top managerial role” in the ‘Ndrangheta The former Calabrian mayor was a candidate for Berlusconi’s People of Freedom Party Figliomeni made it to the high rank of ‘santista’ in the Commisso clan one of the most powerful and richest divisions of the ‘Ndrangheta The Siderno-based clan was lead by Guiseppe “il Mastro” Commisso until a few years ago and had associates as far as Canada and Australia. The international organization is also known as the Siderno Group. Figliomeni’s role in the clan was uncovered during operation “Recovery,” which lead to 50 detention orders carried out by a mobile operations team of the police a few months after the 2010 regional elections. Through recording conversations, the operation uncovered the criminal group's moves between Calabria and Australia. The mobile operations team had planted a bug in Commisso’s laundry and recorded a conversation saying that "... even the mayor of Siderno is a Christian like us" and that " the mayor of Siderno knows that he is the local leader in Siderno.” Il Mastro had such influence in local politics that he could favor “the electoral outcome” and destroy “on the political level, any opponent,” said the Prosecutor General of Calabria. The prosecutor’s office said that Figliomeni is "a politician of reference for the criminal association in Siderno and who, at the regional level, also promotes the interests of the gang.” Osorno Cóleman, a one-time foe of the dictatorial Ortega regime, joined forces with the government as top officials aided a... A hitman hired by Dublin’s Kinahan cartel was paid €130,000 (US$148,161) to murder members of the rivaling Hutch gang, with... The United States sanctioned Monday a Russian microelectronics company that has facilitated the Kremlin’s military research... Cosimo Stalteri, a retired Woodbridge businessman credited with helping take the Calabrian Mafia in Toronto from a poor group of immigrants to a global criminal powerhouse, was sent off in a funeral filled with family, friends and flowers on Saturday. Enjoy the latest local, national and international news. Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Mr. Stalteri was born on Jan. 20, 1925, in Siderno, a town on the Ionian coast of southern Italy. He died Tuesday at the William Osler Health Centre in west Toronto at age 86. His soft smile and grey hair meant many did not realize the warm businessman, father and grandfather carried such history and respect within the underworld. The 200 mourners who gathered at St. Peter’s Catholic Church in Woodbridge brought mountains of flowers for Mr. Stalteri. Heading the procession of family and friends was a gleaming black Jaguar sports car. Mr. Stalteri immigrated to Canada in 1952 after establishing himself within the ‘Ndrangheta, the secretive Mafia formed in the southern Italian region of Calabria. In 1946 he was convicted of assault causing bodily harm; in 1948 of theft. In 1950 he received amnesty after a conviction for carrying an unregistered gun and also beat a Mafia association conviction. In 1958, he received another amnesty from the Italian authorities clearing his criminal record. After arriving in Toronto, he was appointed to the Camera di Controllo, the board of control that resolves disputes and organizes competing enterprises among the Calabrian crime clans. In April 1971, Canadian police had an intelligence coup when they watched 23 suspected gangsters meet inside Mr. Stalteri’s home after listening to wiretaps placed on the phone of Calabrian mob boss Mike Racco. It is believed they were there to induct a new member into their clan in an initiation ceremony passed down over generations. The men were part of what became known as the Siderno Group, a cluster of crime families with their origins in Siderno that is hugely powerful today. Police said Mr. Stalteri wielded great influence within the Canadian underworld and was considered the boss of his ‘Ndrangheta clan. In 1973, Mr. Stalteri returned to visit Italy and killed a street vender in a dispute over a toy before fleeing back to Canada. He was never extradited for the killing, however. With Italian authorities apparently believing Mr. Stalteri had died, his arrest warrant was cancelled. Mr. Stalteri was tracked by the police in Canada for decades. In 1992, Canadian police at a secret summit on organized crime conference pinned him as a significant leader of the ‘Ndrangheta in Canada. He was named as the boss of one of 10 ‘Ndrangheta clans in Ontario, based in Toronto, Hamilton, Ottawa and London. By then a skilled diplomat, he stayed out of the limelight and avoided the bloodshed from various feuds that consumed many of his peers. His influence waned as he aged and younger men took over his hands-on role, but his respect within the milieu was never forgotten. Indeed, in the summer of 2009, secret police wiretaps installed by police in Italy in downtown Siderno caught a parade of mobsters talking indiscreetly. Among the chatter were mafioso noting Mr. Stalteri’s declining health and praising him for a lifetime of able service. “In America … he maintained a good organization,” said Giuseppe “The Master” Commisso, named as a senior boss in Italy. (Police in Italy say Canada is so important to the Calabrian mob that when they speak of “America” they really mean Canada.) “Yes, yes, always good,” agreed another man. “He didn’t despise strangers,” Mr. Commisso went on. “They still respect him, believe me,” the other man said. “He respected everyone.” In Mr. Stalteri’s secretive world, little better could be said about anyone. York police in Ontario are calling the year-long investigation the largest traditional organized crime takedown in the history of their department  Canadian police arrested 15 suspects for money laundering and illegal gambling, including nine top-level members of the Figliomeni crime organization They also seized more than CAD$35 million (US$27 million) in assets Just one of the Ferraris had an estimated value of US$672,000 “These arrests signify the fall of power for the most significant ‘Ndrangheta crime family operating in York Region,” said Chief Eric Jolliffe conducted his crimes by using Canadian accounting firms and real estate and construction companies Casinos acted as the main front to the laundering operation “The subjects could then leave with thousands of dollars each night under the guise of successful casino play,” Detective Sergeant Carl Mattienen said during a Thursday press conference Figliomeni is being charged with money laundering defrauding the Canadian government and directing a criminal organization Canadian police coordinated with Italian state police which led to the additional arrest of 12 suspects with connections to the Siderno group in Italy The Italian suspects face charges of possession of weapons fraudulent activities and armed mafia association On Wednesday, Italian police and the FBI arrested 19 members of two Italian Mafia clans that were trying to build up their criminal power in Palermo while maintaining their connections in the United States.  Italian police and the FBI have arrested 17 people in Italy and seven in the United States during an operation that... The “Brainy Don,” Semion Mogilevich, known up to now as merely a shadowy controller of Eastern European gas pipelines, a... Luxembourg’s company registry turns up firms controlled by people with ties to the ’Ndrangheta. Italian authorities say the... Part of Lawford’s work with Caron is to raise awareness of the fact that addiction is a family disease. He said, “If somebody had really taken me at fifteen years old and said, ‘You’re going to change your life,’ like my Aunt Eunice did with some of my cousins, it might have made a difference.” (In the book, he writes, “My mom once said, ‘You can’t make the daiquiris anymore?’ ”) For a minute, Lawford was sounding a lot like another Kennedy cousin who has recently heeded the call of public service. Is being thrust into the spotlight for the betterment of humanity the clan’s latest curse? Lawford was sympathetic to his cousin Caroline’s plight. “I don’t have the same kind of judgment about my situation that she’s facing,” he said. “I mean, people are, like, welcoming me. With her, it’s been a tough thing.” His advice: “I would say, to thine own self be true. If this is really in your heart, then you’ve got to do it. Fuck what people say.” (Just don’t ask Caroline, who recently snapped at Times reporters, about her moment of clarity.) Sign In Register It is with profound sadness that we the family announce the passing of Cosimo Pasqualino He immigrated to Canada in 1972 where he built a new foundation for his family and had resided here in Thunder Bay since He worked as a roofing labourer for many years until his retirement from Racco’s Industrial Roofing Cosimo instilled a strong work ethic from a very young age and carried that characteristic in him in everything he did and hard-working individual who always lent a helping hand and put the needs of others above his own He instilled a strong influence to “do the best you can do” in our upbringing and we will be forever grateful for this and hope to continue carrying forward his true values in all of our families Even when we noticed a decline in his physical wellbeing He continued to support us with truly the best care that any family could ever ask for This is one of his greatest legacies that will always be remembered and the resilience he portrayed at his weakest times are inspirations to us all good-hearted man and a friend to all who knew him and his coffee get-togethers right after with close friends Cosimo will be forever loved and deeply missed by wife Rosina of 60 wonderful years together Cherished by grandchildren Rosamaria (James) Porobic Lorenzo Pasqualino & fiancée Elaina Turcotte Lisamarie Riccio & fiancé Darin Pretto Great-grandchildren Janelle and Giordano Porobic and Aaliyah Riccio He will be held dear in the hearts of his sisters Ida Lizzi and all surviving relatives in Thunder Bay Predeceased by parents Maria and Carlo Pasqualino mother and father in law Emelia and Giuseppe Sgambelluri Our families acknowledge with sincere appreciation all expressions of kindness to each of our families during this time of bereavement a private funeral Mass will be held with immediate family at St Dominic Church to be celebrated by Father Mike Mahoney Entombment will follow at Our Lady of Charity Mausoleum donations may be made in honour of Cosimo to a charity of your choice Capello for her compassion and care throughout all these years To Nurse Practitioner Megan Ross for providing great assistance with all necessary needs to assist our Father A special thank you to Cosimo’s home health care nurse Pierre Belda from Paramed Words cannot express enough the exceptional care you have delivered since day one and for the compassion you showed Cosimo and all of our family members You truly made our Dad feel comfortable and assured him with every home care visit To all the Personal Support Workers from Bayshore Home HealthCare we have so much gratitude for the support you provided Cosimo to continue being at his home until his passing He truly respected each and every one of you Dialogue and debate are integral to a free society and we welcome and encourage you to share your views on the issues of the day. 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To learn about our commenting policies and how our community-based moderation works, please read our Community Guidelines passed away unexpectedly while on vacation visiting family and friends in Siderno Pool 15 until his retirement.  He enjoyed spending time at the beach while on vacation working in the garden and playing cards with family and friends.  especially his grandchildren who brought him so much joy.  He will be lovingly remembered and dearly missed by his wife Elisabetta sons Franco and Giuseppe daughter Ivana (Matthew) Simmons Maria and Domenico Pagliacolo from Toronto He was predeceased by his parents Francesco and Rosina and siblings: Giuseppe Antonio and Domenico.  Funeral services will be held on Saturday 2016 when family and friends will gather in St Church for the Funeral Mass beginning at 9:30 a.m Visitation for friends will be held on Friday Court Street where the Vigil Service will begin at 6 p.m.  As expressions of sympathy memorials to the charity of your choice would be appreciated).  On-line condolences may be made at www.sargentandson.com more than 27.000 containers would move through the port of Antwerp The second largest entry point for goods shipped to Europe only a fraction of containers are inspected by customs or police a small coastal city deep in southern Italy a man would walk across a field in the hills above the town pushing a wheelbarrow filled with broken bricks The man would make his way towards a small warehouse used to store old tires at the other end of the field before placing a white plastic bag inside the warehouse A little later he would hand the bag over to the driver of a jeep Officers would stop the jeep not long after the transaction search it and find a white brick: about one kilo of pure cocaine The hand-over of a cocaine shipment near the Italian city of Siderno the police would later piece together the route these drugs took to reach Calabria the home to the powerful ‘ndrangheta mafia group likely tens of kilos of pure cocaine from Latin America that entered Europe in a container passing through Antwerp a few weeks before the seizure arriving from the Western African port of Abidjan Cocaine trafficking is the primary source of the power of the ‘ndrangheta The group is at home in the Southern Italian region of Calabria while other mafia groups operate from the area around Naples and the Cosa Nostra from Sicily The ‘ndrangheta is estimated to control 40 percent of global cocaine shipments and is the main importer of cocaine into Europe which are estimated by some to be more than 25 billion euros per year They are thought to use Germany and Switzerland in particular two countries in which anti-money laundering and anti-mafia laws are lax So many ‘ndrangheta members come from the Calabrian city Siderno that an important subgroup of the ‘ndrangheta has been named after the town: the Siderno group of crime The rugged town is richer than Beverly Hills thanks to the narco-dollars Some of the richest men of Italy meet here in a laundry shop or in the garage of a wretched building their decisions moving  global cocaine prices and impacting cocaine growers as far away as Latin America The Siderno syndicate has a global reach and consists of four major families: the Commisso and which sees its fortune decline depends heavily on how many of its members are in jail the women of the families have to keep the criminal family business going while their men are jailed Women born to ‘ndrangheta families have few rights and are subjected to the decision-making of the paternal rulers Marriages are directed by dynastic rules and a woman who wants to chose her love will either have to escape or raise a scandal It’s precisely a scandal within the most powerful crime group of the world that Juliana (name changed) caused in 2009 Juliana studied at university in Milano and is fluent in English and French She’s also the daughter of a former top official in the government of Siderno and from one of the most powerful ‘ndrangheta families of the city the wrong man: a relative of the boss of the Siderno syndicate who goes by the alias U’Mastru (the master) U’Mastru was furious and blamed Juliana’s father for not exercising control over his daughter to stop the relationship Juliana’s love affair would end far less tragically than Shakespeare’s star-crossed Romeo and Juliette investigators believe the affair and its subsequent end seriously burdened the relationships between the families their common business interests trumped emotions A coincidence also helped defuse the tensions Antimafia prosecutor Nicola Gratteri ordered the arrest of Juliana’s father over corruption and mafia membership charges police arrested him just as he was attempting to escape to Australia but only to pack her bags and make a final move out of the country A court in Italy sentenced her father to 12 years in prison having landed in Abidjan just three days earlier Claudio Spataro called one of his associates in Italy Is she taking your around?“ his contact asks him according to transcripts of police wiretaps seen by CORRECTIV: „Yes seemingly glad he has help in a foreign country he struggles to navigate on his own Cocaine smugglers are using the Western African city of Abidjan to move the drugs from South America on to Europe in charge of the logistics of smuggling cocaine through Europe and the subsequent distribution to buyers in Siderno Investigators also believe that U Mastru sent Spataro on trips abroad to strike drug deals and set up smuggling logistics His cover in Siderno was a gas station that he owned and a business that traded old tires It was Spataro who had stored the kilo of cocaine at the end of a field near Siderno that had come via container from Abidjan The girl helping him around Abidjan was Juliana but her family had requested her help and it appears she was unable to divorce herself from the family business Court records show Spataro used her brother’s phone number  to register his plane ticket West Africa has become an important logistics hub for the Italian ‘ndrangheta as shipments from South America arriving directly at European ports raise more suspicion than those arriving from Western African ports there are few custom controls in the region and bribery is common The presence of the Italian mafia has had a devastating effect on the region It has increased the level of drug use in countries that previously had no market for cocaine It also undermines the rule of law in countries where corrupt payments offered by the mafia by far exceed the salaries of state officials organized crime teams up with local guerrillas who then use the proceeds to fund their wars Guinea-Bissau and Ghana were the first countries to be identified as major cocaine hubs in the region The Italian mafia is also thought to have a presence in Senegal as well as a stake in the Moroccan hashish trade cocaine smuggling through the Ivory Coast seems set to grow Spataro explained to his associate at home that Juliana took three days off work to help him The conversation continues with what investigators believe is a cryptical description of setting up a smuggling operation including a reference to finding out the cost for a container but investigators believe it is a code for cocaine smuggling The members of ‘ndrangheta know their phones are likely tapped by Italian police “The wiretaps seem to show Spataro was in Ivory Coast to organise drug trafficking“ it says in police records that are part of a police investigation into the Commisso clan of the Siderno syndicate Spataro spoke to Juliana at length about the installment of a mysterious sand cleaning machine Juliana initially said she was „honoured“ and wished „to contribute to the fight against the ‘ndrangheta in her home country“ She did not respond to a list of questions submitted before publication of this article charged with storing and selling cocaine in Siderno for U’Mastru A lawyer for Spataro did not respond to a request for comment During the investigation, police say they discovered Spataro not only travelled to the Ivory Coast but also undertook numerous trips to Brazil, an important ‘ndrangheta hub. we confirmed how U’Mastru was the leader of an extremely powerful drug ring based in the Locride“ „He is a sort of feudal lord through whose hands the entire illicit traffic had to pass Italian police believe Claudio Spataro was tasked by U’Mastru to set up a successful smuggling route connecting Abidjan to Siderno on behalf of the Commisso clan The port of Antwerp and the surrounding Flanders region was a key hub in-between Court records show the Siderno syndicate had helpers in the region who are still at large today A close associate of U’Mastro often received phone calls from another associate whose last known residence is the Flanders city of As The two would discuss different import-export businesses which are thought to be a cover up for drug trafficking In one of the latest wiretapped conversations his associate talks about a mysterious Dutch man who is „a big fish“ having a company that can be used „as a bridge“ for a „standard item“ that weighs „250 units“ The news of that unidentified Dutch man on the wiretap is rather revealing It demonstrates the number of helpers associated with the ‘ndrangheta extends far beyond West Africa It underscores the power and vast network of individuals like Juliana who allow the criminal organization to move drugs worldwide This publication is a cooperation with the Italian journalist centre IRPI and the Occrp network It has been funded by the Flanders Connecting Continents Grant If you would like to securely leak information and documents to us, please visit this page. Unsere Reporterinnen und Reporter senden Ihnen Recherchen, die uns bewegen. Sie zeigen Ihnen, was Journalismus für unsere Gesellschaft leisten kann – regelmäßig oder immer dann, wenn es wichtig ist. called dangerous Mafia clan's ‘most important personality’Immigration authorities pressured Antonio Coluccio to leave Canada — and his wife and five children You can save this article by registering for free here. Or sign-in if you have an account a ring of police officers roused Antonio Coluccio from slumber inside a house in Siderno a village on Italy’s picturesque coast that has stubbornly remained a stronghold for the Mafia arresting him — again — and putting another dent in his hope of returning to his home and family in Canada until he was pressured to leave in 2010 by Canada’s immigration authorities who said he was involved in organized crime His arrest this week will not aid his contention he is wrongfully accused of being a leading member of the ’Ndrangheta the proper name of the powerful Mafia formed in the southern Italian region of Calabria His arrest is part of a large joint investigation by Italy’s authorities Coluccio and 26 others are accused of muscling in on public works contracts for infrastructure and waste management along the Ionian coast including school renovations and a dam construction said a senior police officer involved in the investigation He is the most important personality in [his home town of] Gioiosa Jonica and in ’Ndrangheta,” said an official with the Polizia di Stato in Reggio Calabria who did not wish his name published as the only one of three Coluccio brothers not in prison had become the family’s main figure in a three-clan alliance that became the most important crime organization in Italy’s south “He had an important role with Giuseppe Commisso and with Rocco Aquino These are the most important families of Calabria There is an alliance with these families.” The accusations include extortion and collusion between the mob and politicians both in public procurements and in elections a politician and former president of Siderno city council The municipality was dissolved last year by the government because of accusations of Mafia infiltration Most firms in the area were victimized and under the clans’ control “The firms were made to pay a bribe of 3% on the value of the work The bribe dropped a bit in value because the companies bidding on the work were considered ‘friends’ of the men of the ’Ndrangheta,” officials said The investigation “highlighted the leadership of the Commisso clan that is capable of projecting its criminal activities transnationally Coluccio and his co-accused were led out of a police station in handcuffs and taken to jail to await court appearances dressed brightly in a yellow and black striped shirt as he was in 2010 shortly after he arrived back in Italy from Canada charging more than 300 men in an attack against the ’Ndrangheta including several men with strong ties to Canada One of those men nabbed in 2010 was Vincenzo “Vince” Tavernese Italian prosecutors said at the time he was the head of one of seven ’Ndrangheta clans in the Toronto area Tavernese forcefully said he had been wrongfully imprisoned and expects compensation from Italian authorities Put that in the newspaper; I sue you people,” he said when approached for comment by the National Post the government is going to pay me for real I sue for $2-million,” he said before ending the interview Tavernese’s case could not be independently confirmed prior to deadline said he was unaware of the recent arrest and has not heard from his client recently “He was cleared of all of that a few years ago He was completely exonerated before,” said Mr all moved to Canada in 2005 ahead of criminal charges against Salvatore and Giuseppe in Italy making waves within the senior echelons of the province’s underworld where he lived in hiding until found and arrested in a secret bunker air conditioning and a large supply of food Giuseppe was listed as one of Italy’s most dangerous fugitives while living in a luxury condominium on Toronto’s waterfront he was arrested here and found with $1-million He was deported and charged in Italy for masterminding a vast international drug-trafficking network where he is fighting against deportation after the Canada Border Services Agency accused him of being involved in organized crime