A parliamentary report into the 'ndrangheta says Italy's notorious crime syndicate spreads its tentacles like al-Qaeda and resembles a fast-food chain because of its ability to market its brand as it expands abroad.
The report is the first comprehensive study by parliament's anti-Mafia commission on the 'ndrangheta, a group that came into the spotlight last summer with the killing of six Italians outside a pizzeria in Germany.
It offers solid evidence to claims by investigators that the syndicate has eclipsed the Sicilian Mafia in recent years in power and international reach.
"Today the 'ndrangheta ... is the most modern organization, the most powerful one as far as cocaine trafficking goes," the commission said in a 239-page report, which was released on Wednesday.
It is "the one able to obtain and offer deadly weapons of war and destruction."
The commission report said the 'ndrangheta has reached a "basically exclusive" control over cocaine imports from Colombia, forcing all other criminal organizations, including Sicily's Cosa Nostra, to deal with it if they want to have access to the drug.
Over the decades, the group, originally based in the southern Calabria region, has spread to central and northern Italy, in much of Europe as well as in Argentina, Brazil and Colombia, Morocco, Canada, the US and Australia, the report said.
"In the same way as great fast-food-chains, it offers -- all over the world, in places very different from one another -- the identical, recognizable, reliable brand and the same criminal product," it said.
What sets the 'ndrangheta apart from other crime syndicates, including its equivalent in Sicily, is mostly its structure, which is strictly based on close family ties. This makes the 'ndrangheta less vulnerable to the risk of turncoats, whose testimony has dealt harsh blows to the Mafia in the past years.
The structure also allows for an effective infiltration in other countries.
The 'ndrangheta has developed "like al-Qaeda, with a similar tentacular structure," and without a centralized leadership, the report says.
Feuds between powerful families have proven deadly.
The past summer's slayings of six Italians in Germany were seen as a family vendetta and the latest chapter of the long-standing feud between rival clans.
Last week, the boss of what investigators described as a "ferocious" family in the 'ndrangheta syndicate, Pasquale Condello, was arrested in the regional capital, Reggio Calabria. The man had been on the run for 20 years and was on the police list of Italy's most dangerous fugitives.
Kehinde Sanni spends his days smoothing out dents and repainting scratched bumpers in a modest autobody shop in Lagos. He has never left Nigeria, yet he speaks glowingly of Burkina Faso military leader Ibrahim Traore. “Nigeria needs someone like Ibrahim Traore of Burkina Faso. He is doing well for his country,” Sanni said. His admiration is shaped by a steady stream of viral videos, memes and social media posts — many misleading or outright false — portraying Traore as a fearless reformer who defied Western powers and reclaimed his country’s dignity. The Burkinabe strongman swept into power following a coup in September 2022
‘FRAGMENTING’: British politics have for a long time been dominated by the Labor Party and the Tories, but polls suggest that Reform now poses a significant challenge Hard-right upstarts Reform UK snatched a parliamentary seat from British Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s Labor Party yesterday in local elections that dealt a blow to the UK’s two establishment parties. Reform, led by anti-immigrant firebrand Nigel Farage, won the by-election in Runcorn and Helsby in northwest England by just six votes, as it picked up gains in other localities, including one mayoralty. The group’s strong showing continues momentum it built up at last year’s general election and appears to confirm a trend that the UK is entering an era of multi-party politics. “For the movement, for the party it’s a very, very big
ENTERTAINMENT: Rio officials have a history of organizing massive concerts on Copacabana Beach, with Madonna’s show drawing about 1.6 million fans last year Lady Gaga on Saturday night gave a free concert in front of 2 million fans who poured onto Copacabana Beach in Rio de Janeiro for the biggest show of her career. “Tonight, we’re making history... Thank you for making history with me,” Lady Gaga told a screaming crowd. The Mother Monster, as she is known, started the show at about 10:10pm local time with her 2011 song Bloody Mary. Cries of joy rose from the tightly packed fans who sang and danced shoulder-to-shoulder on the vast stretch of sand. Concert organizers said 2.1 million people attended the show. Lady Gaga
SUPPORT: The Australian prime minister promised to back Kyiv against Russia’s invasion, saying: ‘That’s my government’s position. It was yesterday. It still is’ Left-leaning Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese yesterday basked in his landslide election win, promising a “disciplined, orderly” government to confront cost-of-living pain and tariff turmoil. People clapped as the 62-year-old and his fiancee, Jodie Haydon, who visited his old inner Sydney haunt, Cafe Italia, surrounded by a crowd of jostling photographers and journalists. Albanese’s Labor Party is on course to win at least 83 seats in the 150-member parliament, partial results showed. Opposition leader Peter Dutton’s conservative Liberal-National coalition had just 38 seats, and other parties 12. Another 17 seats were still in doubt. “We will be a disciplined, orderly
RSS