Vincenzo Macrì (born 3 January 1965, Siderno) is a member of the

'Ndrangheta The 'Ndrangheta (, , ) is a mafia-type organized crime, criminal syndicate originating from the Calabria region of Italy. Gratteri & Nicaso, ''Fratelli di Sangue'', pp. 65–68 This body, also referred to as the Commission in reference to the ...

, a criminal and mafia-type organisation in

Calabria Calabria is a Regions of Italy, region in Southern Italy. It is a peninsula bordered by the region Basilicata to the north, the Ionian Sea to the east, the Strait of Messina to the southwest, which separates it from Sicily, and the Tyrrhenian S ...

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

. He was born in

Siderno Siderno ( or ; ) is a town and ''comune'' in the Metropolitan City of Reggio Calabria, Calabria, southern Italy, about 3 kilometres from Locri. Siderno Marina is the newer town located on the Ionian coast. It is a destination for both Italian ...

on the Ionic coast of

. He is the son of

Antonio Macrì Antonio Macrì (; – 20 January 1975), popularly known as ("Unca Tony"), was a historical and charismatic boss of the 'Ndrangheta, a criminal and mafia-type organisation in Calabria, Italy. He was born in Siderno on the Ionian coast of Calabr ...

, a historical and charismatic boss of the 'Ndrangheta, whose murder in 1975 triggered a 'Ndrangheta war that cost some 300 lives.Arrestato in Brasile Vincenzo Macrì, figlio del boss “dei due mondi”
Strettoweb, 10 June 2017

Criminal career

Macrì is considered to be one of the main brokers of cocaine for the

Commisso 'ndrina The Commisso 'ndrina () is a powerful clan of the 'Ndrangheta, a criminal and mafia-type organization in Calabria, Italy. The 'ndrina is based in Siderno, but also has a branch in the Greater Toronto Area in Canada as part of the Siderno Gro ...

in Siderno, in charge of managing the drug trafficking routes between Europe and Latin America.'Ndrangheta: catturato in Brasile Vincenzo Macrì, capo della cosca Comisso
La Repubblica, 10 June 2017 The clan has a branch, the

Siderno Group The Siderno Group is a criminal association in Canada, Australia and Italy related to the 'Ndrangheta, a Mafia-type organization in Calabria. The association is labelled the "Siderno Group" because its members primarily came from the town of Side ...

, in the

Greater Toronto Area The Greater Toronto Area, commonly referred to as the GTA, includes the Toronto, City of Toronto and the regional municipality, regional municipalities of Regional Municipality of Durham, Durham, Regional Municipality of Halton, Halton, Regional ...

in Canada. He spent 13 years in prison in the United States of America, since his arrest in Wilmington, (

Delaware Delaware ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic and South Atlantic states, South Atlantic regions of the United States. It borders Maryland to its south and west, Pennsylvania to its north, New Jersey ...

) on 18 July 1989 with 3 pounds of heroin, by the Federal Bureau of Investigation on charges for international drug trafficking.The mafia and a very special flower arrangement
Reuters, 11 April 2016Drug dealer gets prison
The News Journal (Wilmington, Delaware), 18 May 1990

Cocaine trafficking through Aalsmeer

With his brother-in-law, Vincenzo Crupi, Macrì was involved in the flower trade in

Aalsmeer Aalsmeer () is a municipality and a town in the Netherlands, in the province of North Holland. Its name is derived from the Dutch for eel (''aal'') and lake (''meer''). Aalsmeer is bordered by the Westeinderplassen lake, the largest open water o ...

in the Netherlands, the largest flower auction in the world. In 2005, they set up Fresh BV, a flower business in Aalsmeer, which was a cover for the large scale import of cocaine from Latin America through the Aalsmeer flower auction, according to Prosecutors in Italy.The ‘ndrangheta’s Dutch flower power

Correctiv Correctiv (self-styled CORRECT!V) is a German nonprofit investigative journalism newsroom based in Essen and Berlin. It is run by ''CORRECTIV – Recherchen für die Gesellschaft gemeinnützige GmbH'' ("CORRECTIV – Investigations for the Soci ...

, 27 March 2017 Due to major logistics hubs such as the

port of Rotterdam The Port of Rotterdam is the largest seaport in Europe, and the world's largest seaport outside of Asia, located in and near the city of Rotterdam, in the province of South Holland in the Netherlands. From 1962 until 2004, it was the List of bus ...

and

Schiphol airport Amsterdam Airport Schiphol , known informally as Schiphol Airport (, ), is the main international airport of the Netherlands, and is one of the major hubs for the SkyTeam airline alliance. It is located southwest of Amsterdam, in the municip ...

, the Netherlands is an important gateway for cocaine smuggling to Europe. Trucks transporting flowers to Italy used by the group generally transported small amounts, between six and eleven kilograms of cocaine, to avoid damages in case the police intercepted a shipment, police evidence shows. Some shipments, however, could transport up to 100 kilos, for which the group allegedly paid 100,000 euro, according to intercepted communications presented in evidence to a court in Rome. According to the Brazilian federal police, Macri was part of an international criminal organization that imported and trafficked cocaine and hashish, from Morocco, the Netherlands and the Dominican Republic. The drugs arrived in Italy via shipping containers.Mafioso italiano procurado pela Interpol é preso em aeroporto de SP
Folha de S. Paulo, 9 June 2018Alleged Italian mobster-drug kingpin detained in Brazil
Toronto Star, 10 June 2018

Arrest and extradition

In September 2015, Vincenzo Crupi was arrested in Italy with more than 50 suspects in an operation known as the ''Acero-Krupy Connection''.I Crupi e i nuovi equilibri tra le famiglie di 'ndrangheta
Corriere della Calabria, 28 September 2015 (In March 2018, Vincenzo Crupi was sentenced to 20 years in prison for international drug trafficking in flower shipments from the Netherlands.Coca nei fiori dall’Olanda, sei condanne
Corriere della Calabria, 16 March 2018) Macrì became a fugitive, but was arrested at the international airport of

São Paulo São Paulo (; ; Portuguese for 'Paul the Apostle, Saint Paul') is the capital of the São Paulo (state), state of São Paulo, as well as the List of cities in Brazil by population, most populous city in Brazil, the List of largest cities in the ...

on 9 June 2017, while on his way to

Caracas Caracas ( , ), officially Santiago de León de Caracas (CCS), is the capital and largest city of Venezuela, and the center of the Metropolitan Region of Caracas (or Greater Caracas). Caracas is located along the Guaire River in the northern p ...

in Venezuela, where he had been living for some time using a false identity. He was extradited on drug trafficking charges to Italy on 5 June 2018.Estradato in Italia Vincenzo Macrì, il "boss dei due mondi"
Rai News, 5 June 2018
ANSA, 5 June 2018 According to police investigators, from Caracas Macrì had continued to coordinate purchases and trafficking logistics not only for his clan, but for all of the 'Ndrangheta families that wanted to "invest" in cocaine trafficking, deciding through which supply channels to obtain the drug and the places where to deliver the drug, as well as the modalities of distribution of the profits.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Macri, Vincenzo 1965 births Living people People from Siderno 'Ndranghetisti