Dozens of suspected members of the ‘Ndrangheta mafia were arrested on Wednesday in co-ordinated raids as part of what is being hailed as the biggest ever EU operation against organised crime.
A total of 84 suspects were arrested as police in Italy, Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg raided the homes of suspected mafia bosses and searched restaurants and other businesses in the early hours of the morning. Italian authorities say that further raids were conducted in South America.
The ‘Ndrangheta, a mafia organisation that operates out of the Calabria region of southern Italy, is one of the largest crime syndicates in the world, and is thought to make billions of pounds through cocaine trafficking every year.
Operation Pollino was co-ordinated by Eurojust, the EU’s cross-border justice authority, which described it as a “decisive” intervention against organised crime.
“Today, we send a clear message to organised crime groups across Europe. They are not the only ones able to operate across borders; so are Europe’s judiciary and law enforcement communities,” said Filippo Spiezia, vice president of Eurojust.
Just under half of the suspects were detained in Italy. In Germany, the raids constituted the country’s greatest strike against the mafia, as several hundred officers searched over 60 properties and arrested 14 suspects.
The raids are the culmination for two years of co-operation between justice authorities in the five countries, which have led to the seizure of four tonnes of cocaine and large quantities of ecstasy. Investigators in Germany say that they expect roughly €2million (£1.78 million) in cash to have been seized during the operation.
The ‘Ndrangheta are believed to have aggressively expanded their territory in Europe in recent years. Money earned in the narcotics trade is re-invested in property and businesses such as restaurants, cafes and ice cream parlours where the crime families launder their illicit revenues.
According to Eurojust, the ‘Ndrangheta have deliberately exploited a lack of cross-border co-ordination between judicial authorities. Mr Spiezia said the raids were a sign that this weakness in European justice had been tackled.
“By working together and using the unique tools at our disposal in the EU, such as the possibility to form a joint investigation team and with the practical support through EU agencies such as Eurojust and Europol, we are able to detect, investigate and prosecute this kind of serious organised crime,” he said.
In Germany, the public has been aware of the rising power of the ‘Ndrangheta ever since a power struggle between two mafia families spilled out onto the streets of Duisburg in 2007.
On that occasion six members of a family operating under the ‘Ndrangheta umbrella were shot dead outside an Italian restaurant by members of a rival family who hail from the same tiny mountain village in Calabria.
One expert warned last year that “the mafia in Germany is invisible, but represented almost everywhere.”