Greater than 100 people were arrested during early morning raids on Wednesday in several European countries as a part of a crackdown on the Italian ‘Ndrangheta mafia. The arrests were a part of a coordinated probe by investigators in Germany, Belgium, France, Italy, Portugal and Spain, German authorities said.
In Italy, the Carabinieri arrested 108 people suspected of being involved with the group, and in German, greater than 1,000 officers searched dozens of homes, offices, and stores in several states. The suspects are accused of cash laundering, criminal tax evasion, fraud and smuggling of medication, mafia-type criminal association, possession and trafficking of weapons.
Codenamed Operation “Eureka,” the raids got here after almost 4 years of highly secretive investigations into the Calabrian mafia organization. The group is predicated in Calabria in southern Italy and is seen as considered one of the biggest and strongest crime syndicates in Europe.
The mafia organization is believed to have smuggled large amounts of cocaine from South America to Europe in container ships arriving in Antwerp, Rotterdam and the Calabrian port of Gioia Tauro. An element of the cocaine delivery was then sent on to Australia. In Germany, the raids were focused on targets within the states of North Rhine-Westphalia, Bavaria, Thuringia, Rhineland-Palatinate and Saarland. The inside minister of Rhineland-Palatinate, Michael Ebling, called the raids an “effective blow” against organized crime. “Today sends out a really clear signal: There isn’t a place for organized crime in Europe and there’s actually no place for it here with us in Rhineland-Palatinate,” he said.
Investigators uncovered a widespread network of restaurants, pizzerias, cafes and ice cream parlors within the western German state of North Rhine-Westphalia, suspected to be a part of the mafia’s money laundering operations. MDR also reported that suspected members of ‘Ndrangheta were being investigated within the east German state of Thuringia. Within the southern state of Bavaria, authorities said that they had been investigating a lady and 7 men, with Italian nationality and between the ages of 25 and 48, since July 2020. The group, living in Munich, is suspected of being involved in co-financing cocaine smuggling and money laundering. Over 30 suspects who had outstanding warrants were arrested in Germany.
In accordance with reports, the investigations began partly after Belgian authorities uncovered a connection between a pizzeria within the town of Genk and the ‘Ndrangheta mafia in 2019. The owners of the restaurant were allegedly in touch with various cocaine dealers. Police then began to look into the cousin of two of the suspects who was living in Munich. Investigations into crypto phones played a significant role in resulting in Wednesday’s operations. Police were capable of crack the crypto services EncroChat and SkyEcc, giving them a glimpse into the inner workings of the mafia organization. The ‘Ndrangheta had previously avoided speaking on phones entirely, preferring to drive lots of of miles for a gathering. However the coronavirus pandemic and the restriction on movement forced them to vary tact.