'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 ...
Italy
Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...
. The
'ndrina
The 'ndrina (, plural: ; , plural: ) is the basic unit of the 'Ndrangheta of Calabria, made up of blood relatives, and is the equivalent of the Sicilian Mafia’s "family" or ''cosca''.Varese, How Mafias Migrate'Gratteri & Nicaso ''Fratelli di ...
is based in
Rosarno
Rosarno is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Metropolitan City of Reggio Calabria in the Italian region of Calabria. It is about southwest of Catanzaro and about northeast of Reggio Calabria. Rosarno stands on a natural terrace cloaked in olive ...
The Pesce clan is one of the most powerful clans in the 'Ndrangheta. Activities range from drug trafficking, extortion and the control of nearly all commercial businesses in the
Gioia Tauro
Gioia Tauro () is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Metropolitan City of Reggio Calabria (Italy), on the Tyrrhenian coast. It has an important port, situated along the route connecting Suez to Gibraltar, one of the busiest maritime corridors in t ...
plain. Jointly with the Bellocco clan and in collaboration with the Piromalli-Molè 'ndrina they controlled the public contracts for the construction of the
container terminal
A container port or container terminal is a facility where cargo containers are transshipped between different transport vehicles, for onward transportation. The transshipment may be between container ships and land vehicles, for example train ...
in the port of
Gioia Tauro
Gioia Tauro () is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Metropolitan City of Reggio Calabria (Italy), on the Tyrrhenian coast. It has an important port, situated along the route connecting Suez to Gibraltar, one of the busiest maritime corridors in t ...
.'Ndrangheta, arrestato boss "Uno dei 30 latitanti più pericolosi" La Repubblica, February 16, 2005
After the construction of the port, the Piromalli-Mole and Pesce-Bellocco clans controlled activities tied to the port, the hiring of workers, and relations with port unions and local institutions, according to a report of the Italian
Antimafia Commission The Italian parliamentary Antimafia Commission ( it, Commissione parlamentare antimafia) is a bicameral commission of the Italian Parliament, composed of members from the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate. The first commission, formed in 1963, was ...
. They would guarantee peace and order on the docks in return for a ‘security tax’ of US$1.50 per for each transshipped container.Gioia Tauro 'controlled by mafia for over a decade' Lloyd’s List, February 21, 2008 The clan is also alleged to have secured lucrative public building contracts related to the Salerno-Reggio Calabria highway. Anti-mafia police arrest 17 in 'Ndrangheta bust ANSA, January 12, 2010
The Pesce clan was an important power behind the decision to appoint
Domenico Oppedisano Domenico Oppedisano (Rosarno, 5 December 1930) is an Italian criminal and a member of the 'Ndrangheta, a Mafia-type organisation in Calabria. He is based in Rosarno.
Capo crimine
In August 2009 he was appointed ''capo crimine'', the ceremonial he ...
as ''
capo crimine A capocrimine is the elected boss of the ''crimine'', an annual meeting of the 'Ndrangheta ''locali'' near the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Polsi in the municipality of San Luca during the September Feast.Paoli, ''Mafia Brotherhoods'', p. 59
At least s ...
'' – the ceremonial head of the 'Ndrangheta – in August 2009. The election of Oppedisano had not been easy.
Giuseppe Pelle Giuseppe Pelle (; born 20 August 1960) is an Italian criminal from San Luca, and member of the 'Ndrangheta, a Mafia-type organisation in Calabria. He is the son of Antonio Pelle, also known as ''Ntoni Gambazza'', the ''capo crimine'', the ceremonial ...
aspired to replace his ailing father Antonio ''Gambazza'' Pelle as ''capo crimine'' and keep the title in
San Luca
San Luca is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Reggio Calabria in the Italian region Calabria, located about southwest of Catanzaro and about east of Reggio Calabria. The town is situated on the eastern slopes of the Aspromonte ...
at the risk of triggering a conflict between clans. However,
Vincenzo Pesce Vincenzo Pesce (Rosarno, May 27, 1959), also known as ''Cenzo'', is an Italian criminal and a member of the 'Ndrangheta, a Mafia-type organisation in Calabria. He is based in Rosarno and heads the Pesce 'ndrina.
The son of Francesco Pesce, a hist ...
felt that the nomination of Pelle would distort the equilibrium in the 'Ndrangheta and threatened to form a separate organization taking some 30 '' locali'' – local 'Ndrangheta organisations – with him. As a result, Oppedisano became the ''capo crimine'' instead of Pelle. Un compromesso favorisce Micu Oppedisano , Gazzetta del Sud, March 9, 2011Oppedisano, il patriarca considerato una garanzia Corriere della Sera, March 8, 2012 At the time Pesce boasted to command some 500 affiliates.Traditi dalle telecamere del capo La Repubblica, April 18, 2012
Leadership
The historical boss of the 'ndrina was Giuseppe Pesce (1923-1992), who transformed the clan from a rural criminal organisation in the service of large landholders into an entrepreneurial organisation. He also elevated the clan among the most influential 'Ndrangheta clans due to his capacity to avoid conflicts through mediation.Da Giuseppe ad Antonino, scalata al potere del clan Pesce , Gazzetta del Sud, November 24, 2010
After the demise of Giuseppe Pesce in 1992, the clan is headed by his cousin Antonino Pesce (born in 1953) and his brother Salvatore Pesce (born in 1961), both in jail. Antonino Pesce was arrested in February 1993. Salvatore Pesce was arrested on charges of international drug trafficking on November 30, 2005. La Repubblica, November 30, 2005 After their arrest, Antonino's son Francesco Pesce took over the command.
While in jail, Salvatore Pesce used Radio Olimpia, a local radio station that operated an unlicensed transmitter from premises in Pesce’s fiefdom Rosarno, to send coded messages. Police listening in on a conversation between Pesce and his wife heard him talking about record requests. Pesce told his wife, after scribbling down the name of a tune: "If it's positive you send me
his
His or HIS may refer to:
Computing
* Hightech Information System, a Hong Kong graphics card company
* Honeywell Information Systems
* Hybrid intelligent system
* Microsoft Host Integration Server
Education
* Hangzhou International School, in ...
In January 2006, 54 members of the Bellocco-Pesce clan were arrested in an operation against international drug trafficking. They were supplying the drug markets 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 ...
,
Como
Como (, ; lmo, Còmm, label=Comasco dialect, Comasco , or ; lat, Novum Comum; rm, Com; french: Côme) is a city and ''comune'' in Lombardy, Italy. It is the administrative capital of the Province of Como.
Its proximity to Lake Como and ...
Brescia
Brescia (, locally ; lmo, link=no, label= Lombard, Brèsa ; lat, Brixia; vec, Bressa) is a city and ''comune'' in the region of Lombardy, Northern Italy. It is situated at the foot of the Alps, a few kilometers from the lakes Garda and Iseo. ...
,
Bergamo
Bergamo (; lmo, Bèrghem ; from the proto- Germanic elements *''berg +*heim'', the "mountain home") is a city in the alpine Lombardy region of northern Italy, approximately northeast of Milan, and about from Switzerland, the alpine lakes Como ...
,
Treviso
Treviso ( , ; vec, Trevixo) is a city and ''comune'' in the Veneto region of northern Italy. It is the capital of the province of Treviso and the municipality has 84,669 inhabitants (as of September 2017). Some 3,000 live within the Veneti ...
,
Alessandria
Alessandria (; pms, Lissandria ) is a city and ''comune'' in Piedmont, Italy, and the capital of the Province of Alessandria. The city is sited on the alluvial plain between the Tanaro and the Bormida rivers, about east of Turin.
Alessandria ...
,
Naples
Naples (; it, Napoli ; nap, Napule ), from grc, Νεάπολις, Neápolis, lit=new city. is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 909,048 within the city's adminis ...
and
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 ...
. The cocaine was imported from Colombia, Brazil, Spain and the Netherlands, heroin from the Balkans and ecstasy from the Netherlands.Un cartello della ndrangheta gestiva il traffico della coca nel nord Italia Nuova Cosenza, January 19, 2006
On April 28, 2010, the clan was hit in a police operation, known as Operation ''All Inside'', that led to the arrest of 30 people accused of Mafia association. Another 10 for whom arrest warrants were issued were still on the run. One of the most important bosses to escape was Francesco Pesce, known as "Cicciu testuni" and the son of Antonino, who was arrested on August 9, 2011, in the area around the port of Gioia Tauro. ADN Kronos International (AKI), August 10, 2011
On April 21, 2011, Italian police seized around 190 million euros worth of assets of the clan. Among the impounded properties were 40 businesses in the transport, agriculture and trade sectors, 44 apartments, four villas, 60 parcels of land, 164 cars and even two football teams, Interpiana and
Sapri
Sapri is a town and ''comune'' in the province of Salerno in the Campania region of south-western Italy. It is one of the southernmost towns of the region of Cilento and its population is 6,783.Italy seizes two football teams in mafia bust The Daily Telegraph, April 21, 2011
On September 20, 2011, 11 members of the clan were convicted at the All Inside trial. The bosses of the clan,
Vincenzo Pesce Vincenzo Pesce (Rosarno, May 27, 1959), also known as ''Cenzo'', is an Italian criminal and a member of the 'Ndrangheta, a Mafia-type organisation in Calabria. He is based in Rosarno and heads the Pesce 'ndrina.
The son of Francesco Pesce, a hist ...
and Francesco Pesce, known as "Cicciu testuni", were sentenced to 20 years in prison. The testimony of the pentita Giuseppina Pesce was important element in the trial.Condannati a 20 anni Vincenzo e Ciccio Pesce , Gazzetta del Sud, September 21, 2011
On February 2, 2013, Domenico Leotta, the righthand man of Francesco Pesce was arrested in
Catanzaro
Catanzaro (, or ; scn, label= Catanzarese, Catanzaru ; , or , ''Katastaríoi Lokrói''; ; la, Catacium), also known as the "City of the two Seas", is an Italian city of 86,183 inhabitants (2020), the capital of the Calabria region and of its p ...