The Bellocco 'ndrina is a clan 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 ...
. 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 ...
, on the
Tyrrhenian coast, and belongs to the ''
locale'' of that town, particularly very active in drugs trafficking, arms trafficking, extortion and control of commercial and entrepreneurial activities.
The
pentito
''Pentito'' (; lit. "repentant"; plural: ''pentiti'') is used colloquially to designate collaborators of justice in Italian criminal procedure terminology who were formerly part of criminal organizations and decided to collaborate with a public ...
Antonino Belnome affirms that regarding the supply of drugs through the
Port of Gioia Tauro, it was necessary to refer to the
Mancusos, the
Pesce Pesce may refer to: Geography
* The Pesce Peninsula in West Antarctica Cinema
* Il pesce innamorato (‘The Fish in Love’), Italian comedy film released in 1999 People
* Brett Pesce (born 1994), American hockey player
* Emidio Pesce (born 2002 ...
or the Bellocco. The last took 30% of the goods in transit or in cash or drugs.
Powerful 'Ndrangheta clan
The Bellocco 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 ...
plain. Jointly with the
Pesce clan and in collaboration with the
Piromalli-Molè 'ndrina they controlled the public contracts for the construction of the
container terminal
A container port, container terminal, or intermodal 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 v ...
in the port of Gioia Tauro.
['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 Antimafia Commission () is a bicameral commission of the Italian Parliament, composed of members from the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate of the Republic. The first commission, formed in 1963, was established as a body of inquiry tasked wi ...
. They who 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 also has a strong presence in northern Italy, in particular in
Varese
Varese ( , ; or ; ; ; archaic ) is a city and ''comune'' in north-western Lombardy, northern Italy, north-west of Milan. The population of Varese in 2018 was 80,559.
It is the capital of the Province of Varese. The hinterland or exurban part ...
(
Lombardy
The Lombardy Region (; ) is an administrative regions of Italy, region of Italy that covers ; it is located in northern Italy and has a population of about 10 million people, constituting more than one-sixth of Italy's population. Lombardy is ...
), where they controlled drug trafficking.
[Arrestato il boss della 'ndrangheta Bellocchio]
Rai News, February 16, 2005
Leadership
The head of the clan is
Umberto Bellocco
Umberto Bellocco (; 17 December 1937 – 22 October 2022) was an Italian criminal and a member of the 'Ndrangheta, a mafia-type organisation in Calabria. He was the capobastone and founder of the Bellocco 'ndrina from the 1960s until his arres ...
(1937–2022), arrested in February 1993.
[Mafia arrest]
The Independent, February 18, 1993 Umberto or his brother
Carmelo Bellocco became a member of ''
La Provincia
The ''Camera di Controllo'' (Board of Control), is a collegial body of the 'Ndrangheta, a Mafia-type organisation in Calabria in Southern Italy. It is also known as ''La Provincia'' (the Province) or ''Camera di Compensazione'' (compensation board ...
'', a provincial commission of the 'Ndrangheta, formed at the end of 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 Reggio Calabria grouped into eith ...
in September 1991 to avoid further internal conflicts.
[Sentenza procedimento penale Olimpia]
, Tribunale di Reggio Calabria, January 19, 1999
In the beginning of the 1980s Umberto Bellocco was involved in setting up the
Sacra Corona Unita
(; ; acronym: SCU), also known as the Fourth Mafia, is a Mafia-type criminal organization from the Apulia region in Southern Italy, and it is especially active in the areas of Brindisi, Lecce, and Taranto.
Origin of the name
Informer Cosimo ...
(SCU), a mafia-type organization in
Apulia
Apulia ( ), also known by its Italian language, Italian name Puglia (), is a Regions of Italy, region of Italy, located in the Southern Italy, southern peninsular section of the country, bordering the Adriatic Sea to the east, the Strait of Ot ...
, to counter the growing influence of the
. On his instigation
Giuseppe Rogoli
Giuseppe is the Italian form of the given name Joseph,
from Latin Iōsēphus from Ancient Greek Ἰωσήφ (Iōsḗph), from Hebrew יוסף.
The feminine form of the name is Giuseppa or Giuseppina.
People with the given name include:
:''Note ...
imported the codes, structure and initiation rites of the 'Ndrangheta to be used by the SCU.
[Sciarrone, ''Mafie vecchie, mafie nuove'', p. 174][Audizione del collaboratore di giustizia Salvatore Annacondia]
Commissione parlamentare di inchiesta sul fenomeno della mafia e sulle associazioni criminali similari, July 30, 1993
After his arrest in 1993, he was succeeded as acting boss by his cousin Gregorio Bellocco
Gregorio Bellocco (; born 1956 in Rosarno) is an Italian criminal and a member of the 'Ndrangheta, a mafia-type organisation in Calabria. He is the boss of the Bellocco 'ndrina from Rosarno in Calabria. He was a fugitive and included in the list ...
, arrested in February 2005, and Giuseppe Bellocco
Giuseppe Bellocco (; born February 22, 1948) is an Italian criminal and a member of the 'Ndrangheta. He is the capobastone of the Bellocco 'ndrina from Rosarno in Calabria. He was a fugitive since 1997 and included in the list of most wanted fug ...
, arrested in July 2007.[Don in a manger: Italy police nab wanted mobster]
DPA, July 17, 2007
Recent developments
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 ( , , ; ) is a city in northern Italy, regional capital of Lombardy, the largest city in Italy by urban area and the List of cities in Italy, second-most-populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of nea ...
, Como
Como (, ; , or ; ) is a city and (municipality) in Lombardy, Italy. It is the administrative capital of the Province of Como. Nestled at the southwestern branch of the picturesque Lake Como, the city is a renowned tourist destination, ce ...
, Sondrio
Sondrio (; ; ; archaic or ; ) is an Italian city, ''comune'' and administrative centre for the province of Sondrio, located in the heart of the Valtellina. , Sondrio counted approximately 21,876 inhabitants. In 2007, Sondrio was named the Alpine ...
, Brescia
Brescia (, ; ; or ; ) is a city and (municipality) in the region of Lombardy, in Italy. It is situated at the foot of the Alps, a few kilometers from the lakes Lake Garda, Garda and Lake Iseo, Iseo. With a population of 199,949, it is the se ...
, Bergamo
Bergamo ( , ; ) is a city in the Alps, alpine Lombardy region of northern Italy, approximately northeast of Milan, and about from the alpine lakes Lake Como, Como and Lake Iseo, Iseo and 70 km (43 mi) from Lake Garda, Garda and Lake ...
, Treviso
Treviso ( ; ; ) is a city and (municipality) in the Veneto region of northern Italy. It is the capital of the province of Treviso and the municipality has 87.322 inhabitants (as of December 2024). Some 3,000 live within the Venetian wall ...
, Alessandria
Alessandria (; ) is a city and commune in Piedmont, Italy, and the capital of the Province of Alessandria. It is also the largest municipality of the region. The city is sited on the alluvial plain between the Tanaro and the Bormida rivers, ...
, Naples
Naples ( ; ; ) is the Regions of Italy, regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 908,082 within the city's administrative limits as of 2025, while its Metropolitan City of N ...
and Reggio Calabria
Reggio di Calabria (; ), commonly and officially referred to as Reggio Calabria, or simply Reggio by its inhabitants, is the List of cities in Italy, largest city in Calabria as well as the seat of the Metropolitan City of Reggio Calabria. As ...
. 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 January 12, 2010, the Italian police arrested 17 people in Bologna and Calabria linked to the Pesce-Bellocco clan. They were expanding their drug and arms trafficking activities to Bologna
Bologna ( , , ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the Emilia-Romagna region in northern Italy. It is the List of cities in Italy, seventh most populous city in Italy, with about 400,000 inhabitants and 150 different nationalities. Its M ...
, where Carmelo Bellocco was serving a 17-year sentence for racketeering. Bellocco is accused of leading the group's activities while on day-leave from prison.[ Anti-mafia police arrest 17 in 'Ndrangheta bust]
ANSA, January 12, 2010
In 2020, the Italian police dismantled a cocaine trafficking scheme used by the D'Alessandro clan, who with the support of the Bellocco and Pesce 'ndrine, were able to supply the entire region of Castellammare di Stabia
Castellammare di Stabia (; ) is a (municipality) in the Metropolitan City of Naples, Campania region, in southern Italy. It is situated on the Bay of Naples about southeast of Naples, on the route to Sorrento.
History
Castellammare di Stabia ...
with drugs.
References
* Sciarrone, Rocco (1998).
Mafie vecchie, mafie nuove: radicamento ed espansione
', Rome: Donzelli Editore,
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bellocco 'Ndrina
1960s establishments in Italy
'Ndrine