Paolo Serraino (born March 21, 1942), is an Italian criminal and a member of the

'Ndrangheta The 'Ndrangheta (, , ) is a prominent Italian Mafia-type organized crime syndicate and secret society, criminal society based in the peninsular and mountainous region of Calabria and dating back to the late 18th century. It is considered one of ...

Calabria , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = , demographics1_info1 = , demographics1_title2 ...

. He was born in

Cardeto Cardeto () is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Metropolitan City of Reggio Calabria in the Italy, Italian region Calabria, located about southwest of Catanzaro and about southeast of Reggio Calabria. Cardeto borders the following municipalit ...

, about 10 km southeast of the city of

Reggio Calabria Reggio di Calabria ( scn, label= Southern Calabrian, Riggiu; el, label= Calabrian Greek, Ρήγι, Rìji), usually referred to as Reggio Calabria, or simply Reggio by its inhabitants, is the largest city in Calabria. It has an estimated popul ...

Personal

He is the younger the brother of the boss of the

Serraino 'ndrina The Serraino 'ndrina (also known as Serraino-Di Giovine 'ndrina) is a clan of the 'Ndrangheta, a criminal and mafia-type organisation in Calabria, Italy. The 'ndrina is based in Cardeto, about 10 km southeast of the city of Reggio Calabria. Th ...

, Francesco Serraino (born in 1929), known as the “king of the mountains” for his control over the wood industry in the

Aspromonte The Aspromonte is a mountain massif in the Metropolitan City of Reggio Calabria ( Calabria, southern Italy). The literal translation of the name means "rough mountain". But for others the name more likely is related to the Greek word Aspros ( Ά ...

mountains.Paoli, ''Mafia Brotherhoods'', p. 153Sentenza procedimento penale Olimpia
Tribunale di Reggio Calabria, January 19, 1999 At the age of 17, he was already denounced for illegal possession of firearms. The Serraino clan is related with the Di Giovine clan. The Di Giovine clan, headed by Maria Serraino, a cousin of Paolo Serraino, and her son Emilio Di Giovine were active in arms and drug trafficking in

Milan Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city h ...

, in northern Italy. The organisation was dismantled in 1993-1995.Milano: le donne della ’Ndrangheta
, Omicron Nr. 19, October 1999Women in the 'Ndrangheta: The Serraino-Di Giovine Case, by Ombretta Ingrasci, in Fiandaca, ''Women and the Mafia'', pp. 47-52

Second 'Ndrangheta war

The Serraino clan was a protagonist in the

Second 'Ndrangheta war The Second 'Ndrangheta war was an internal struggle in the 'Ndrangheta, a criminal organisation in Calabria (southern Italy). The conflict raged from 1985–1991 in Reggio Calabria. Practically all the 'ndrine in the city of Reggio Calabria gro ...

(1985–1991), which grouped all the 'ndrine in the city of Reggio Calabria into either one of two opposing factions: the Condello, Imerti, Serraino and Rosmini clans on one side, and the

De Stefano 'ndrina The De Stefano 'ndrina, or the De Stefano family or De Stefano-Tegano family, is one of the most powerful clans of the 'Ndrangheta, a criminal and mafia-type organisation in Calabria, Italy. The 'ndrina hailed from the Archi neighbourhood in Reg ...

, Tegano, Libri and Latella clans on the other. Gratteri & Nicaso, ''Fratelli di Sangue'', pp. 65-68 Francesco Serraino was killed on April 23, 1986, in a hospital in the city of Reggio Calabria, with his son Alessandro (born in 1959). He was held responsible for killing Giorgio De Stefano, at the time the boss of the De Stefano 'ndrina, in 1977, at the end of the First 'Ndrangheta war. Gratteri & Nicaso, ''Fratelli di Sangue'', p. 63 Paolo and his brother Domenico Serraino (born in 1945) took over the reins of the clan. Paolo Serraino became one of the leaders in the war. He financed the purchase of several

bazooka Bazooka () is the common name for a Man-portable anti-tank systems, man-portable recoilless Anti-tank warfare, anti-tank rocket launcher weapon, widely deployed by the United States Army, especially during World War II. Also referred to as the ...

s. The arms were delivered by their relatives of the Serraino-Di Giovine clan in Milan. Both he and his brother Domenico became members of '' Camera di Controllo'', a provincial commission of the 'Ndrangheta, formed at the end of the war in September 1991 to avoid further internal conflicts.

Arrest and convictions

After nine years on the run, Paolo Serraino and his brother Domenico were arrested in Cardeto in July 1995.Catturati i mandanti
Corriere della Sera, July 14, 1995 He had already been convicted to life in November 1992 for murder and Mafia association. In 1998, he received a life sentence for ordering the killing in 1989 of the

Christian Democrat Christian democracy (sometimes named Centrist democracy) is a political ideology that emerged in 19th-century Europe under the influence of Catholic social teaching and neo-Calvinism. It was conceived as a combination of modern democratic ...

politician

Lodovico Ligato Lodovico Ligato (; 15 August 1939 – 27 August 1989) was an Italian Christian Democrat politician from Reggio Calabria and the former head of the Italian State Railways. He was killed by the 'Ndrangheta – the Calabrian equivalent of the Mafi ...

, former head of the

Italian State Railways Ferrovie dello Stato Italiane S.p.A. ( "Italian Railways of the State"; previously only Ferrovie dello Stato, hence the abbreviation FS) is Italy's national state-owned railway holding company that manages transport, infrastructure, real estat ...

.Omicidio Ligato cinque ergastoli
La Repubblica, March 22, 1996 Ligato demanded a 10 percent bribe on public work contracts, jeopardizing agreements already reached among a so-called "business committee" of local politicians and 'Ndrangheta groups.
The Independent, December 7, 1992 In January 1999 he received a life sentence for murder and Mafia association in the Olimpia Trial.

References

Sources

*Fiandaca, Giovanni (ed.) (2007),
Women and the Mafia: Female Roles in Organized Crime Structures
', New York: Springer * Gratteri, Nicola & Antonio Nicaso (2006).
Fratelli di Sangue
', Cosenza: Luigi Pellegrini Editore *Paoli, Letizia (2003).
Mafia Brotherhoods: Organized Crime, Italian Style
', New York: Oxford University Press

by Klaus Von Lampe)

by Alexandra V. Orlova) {{DEFAULTSORT:Serraino, Paolo 1942 births 'Ndranghetisti People from the Province of Reggio Calabria Living people 'Ndranghetisti sentenced to life imprisonment People convicted of murder by Italy