A total of 108 arrest warrants were executed in a large-scale international operation against the mafia today. Several people have been arrested in Germany on the basis of a European arrest warrant, as the Italian Carabinieri announced today.
European arrest warrants were also executed against six people in Belgium, three in France and one each in Portugal, Romania and Spain.
A court in the port city of Reggio Calabria issued more than 100 arrest warrants at the request of the anti-mafia prosecutor. The alleged criminals are accused of membership in a mafia-type association, drug and arms trafficking, money laundering and other crimes. The majority of the accused were arrested in Italy, it was said.
‘Ndrangheta one of the most powerful associations
According to the German public prosecutor’s offices in Düsseldorf, Koblenz, Saarbrücken and Munich, as well as the state criminal investigation offices in Bavaria, North Rhine-Westphalia, Rhineland-Palatinate and Saarland, there have been raids in several German federal states against suspected members and helpers of the Calabrian ‘Ndrangheta. There were also searches in Thuringia.
The ‘Ndrangheta is one of the most dangerous, richest and most powerful mafia groups in Italy. It is said to control a large part of the global cocaine trade. The organization recently spread further into northern Italy, where it uses, among other things, regularly registered companies for money laundering.
Also Europol and Eurojust involved
“The background is a procedure related to Italian organized crime, which is directed against those responsible and members of the ‘Ndrangheta association.” The procedure is being conducted by a joint investigation team in which Europol and Eurojust are involved, the statement said.
