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One of the main trials against the Calabrian mafia begins in Germany

2020-10-27T01:53:58.297Z


The 14 defendants, five of them alleged members of the 'Ndrangheta organization, are accused of drug trafficking


Five alleged members of the 'Ndrangheta mafia organization, and nine other people, have appeared this Monday in the Higher Regional Court of Düsseldorf, Germany, accused of drug trafficking in the framework of a macro-trial that will last for 90 sessions.

The trial should have started on the 12th, but was suspended because an accused had had contact with his mother, who tested positive for coronavirus.

The 14 defendants, whose ages range between 31 and 57, are accused of having trafficked 680 kilos of cocaine between January 2014 and December 2018. According to Sarah Bader, spokeswoman for the Duisburg Regional Court, the 'Ndrangheta -the Calabrian mafia- financed and organized the operation, although some of the accused are not accused of having dealt with drugs themselves.

According to the Prosecutor's Office, some 400 kilos were transported and “concrete negotiations” were carried out on the remaining 280 kilograms.

Also, some of the defendants are accused of forming and supporting a foreign criminal organization and drug trafficking, and others, of money laundering and violating the arms law.

On Monday, prosecutors were finally able to read the charges against the defendants in the high security wing of the Higher Regional Court in Düsseldorf, where the trial is taking place on security grounds.

Some of them come from San Luca, a town of 3,500 inhabitants in Calabria, which is considered the nucleus of the powerful Ndrangheta, which controls much of the world cocaine trade.

The trial was about to be suspended again this Monday due to a new incident related to the pandemic.

One of the three prosecutors had to leave the room after being informed that he had had contact with a policeman who had been infected.

After a couple of hours of suspense, the trial was resumed after verifying the three prosecutors.

The process is the result of a large-scale international raid focused on the Rhineland region in early December 2018. In the so-called Operation Pollino, coordinated by Eurojust - an EU agency dedicated to strengthening judicial cooperation between member states - With the support of Europol, several members of the 'Ndrangheta were arrested in Germany, Italy, the Netherlands and Belgium.

The Interior Minister of North Rhine-Westphalia, Herbert Reu, stressed at the time that organized crime had been hit hard.

Investigators also seized assets of the defendants for more than five million euros ($ 5.9 million).

On Monday the prosecution charged five Italian citizens with having belonged to the 'Ndrangheta and having financed and coordinated the drug trade.

"The 'Ndrangheta is a complex, large-scale logistics company," prosecutors said, accusing an Italian citizen living in the German city of Solingen of having acted like a straw man.

His fictitious company Rigano Im- und Export, based in Düsseldorf, was used to disguise cocaine deliveries with legal goods, they added.

The defendants are Italians, Turks, Dutch, Moroccans, Germans, and Portuguese.

Most were registered in various cities in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia, in northwestern Germany.

One is registered in Belgium and one in Italy.

Eight of the men, including those suspected of being members of the mafia, are in preventive detention.

All will be defended by 40 lawyers.

The process, it is estimated, will last until the end of 2021. The documentation available to the Prosecutor's Office offers an image of the world drug trade and also allows a deep understanding of the inner life of the Calabrian mafia.

Researchers from Germany, Italy and the Netherlands have written observation reports, witness interviews, recorded phone call protocols, and interrogations on thousands of pages.

Source: elparis

All news articles on 2020-10-27

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