Nicola Gratteri (Gerace, 62 years old), an anti-mafia prosecutor from Catanzaro, has lived in an armored bunker for decades.
He has not gone to the movies or set foot on the seashore for years.
Today it is the scourge and main target of the 'Ndrangheta, the largest mafia in Europe, which has grown enormously in recent decades and has a turnover of some 43,000 million euros and has subsidiaries around the world.
Gratteri has just launched the largest trial in history against this mafia.
A
maxiprocess
only comparable in number of defendants to the one Giovanni Falcone instructed against Cosa Nostra.
In 2019, more than 400 people were arrested in Italy, Germany, Bulgaria and Switzerland, in the framework of the
Rinascita-Scott
operation.
, named after the late Sieben William Scott, a special agent with the US anti-drug unit, the DEA, in Europe.
On Thursday he led another large operation where they charged 50 people, including businessmen, gangsters and politicians.
One of them was Lorenzo Cesa, the historic leader of the Unión de Centro (UDC) party, the man with whom Giuseppe Conte was negotiating the decisive parliamentary pass for his Executive to survive the crisis.
He already sounded like a minister.
The political operation has been ruined.
And they accuse Gratteri of doing watchmaker justice.
On the phone, he denies it and reveals the immense power of the organization he is after.
Question.
In his last operation he has charged Lorenzo Cesa.
A historical politician who negotiated with Conte these days the passage of some parliamentarians ...
Reply.
Look, I think that Cesa and his party had declared that they would be in the opposition.
I don't know why now they say they were among those who could support the government.
P.
Yes, but there is a very high level of infiltration in politics that reaches interlocutors of the prime minister himself.
A.
That is true, because the 'Ndrangheta controls a large package of votes that are then offered to political parties.
P.
The operation shows the horizontality of the organization.
R.
Yes, what amazes us is that more and more politicians, businessmen and public servants are found.
This means that the ethical and moral level is being lowered a lot.
The embrace between the 'Ndrangheta, business and politics is growing.
Q.
You have instructed and started a maxi process a week ago against the 'Ndrangheta in Calabria with 355 defendants, also some politicians.
What does it mean for the organization?
R.
It is the cornerstone of our fight against the mafias.
We have attacked an entire 'Ndrangheta structure that had its headquarters in the province of Vibo Valentia, with branches in 12 regions of Italy, South America and Europe.
P.
But this mafia far transcends Calabria.
What is the 'Ndrangheta today?
R.
A mafia that shoots less every day, but that does enormous business.
It is deeply infiltrated in the world of business, commerce and public administration.
With money from drug trafficking, he manages to corrupt, penetrate the public administration and have direct relations with the world of law and money.
"These groups are today a European problem, not just Italian"
Q.
How is it organized?
R.
It is structured in "premises", the unit of measurement of the territory over which it exercises its power.
At the apex is the boss, who has the power of life and death.
Then there is the accountant, who collects and distributes as if they were salaries, pays lawyers, or sends money to inmates.
Then there is the crimine, the minister of war.
He is the one who organizes the military actions, has the weapons and is in charge of the death missions.
Q.
And the base?
R.
Starting from the bottom, we find the Onorate Contrast, who aspires to be 'ndranghetist, and makes a kind of scholarship to put him to the test.
The rites of affiliation are done with a lit candle, then two drops of blood fall on an image of the Archangel Saint Michael and it is said: “You will burn like this image if you betray the organization, and if necessary you must kill your father, brother or sister".
Higher up is the brawler, who swears with the image of Santa Nuncia: he can organize scams, extortion ... Then, the upper figure, the sgarrista, whose protector is Santa Liberata.
Q.
But that's not the 'Ndrangheta of big business, is it?
R.
In the seventies young people rebelled and said that they no longer wanted to belong to an organization that dealt with transportation, scams ... They wanted to enter politics and public administration.
And they created the Santa.
There the protectors were characters from the Risorgimento, like Mazzini, Garibaldi, Cavour ... who were Freemasons.
To enter the Holy is to have a double affiliation, also with deviant Freemasonry.
And so they had direct contact with the bourgeoisie and the ruling class.
Q.
Has there never been a single man in charge?
A.
No, it's not like Cosa Nostra.
There used to be an annual meeting in the Sanctuary of the Virgin of Polsi, in the middle of the mountain, where the appointments were ratified.
Now it is done remotely because the area is very controlled.
Q.
Is the origin of the money that is then laundered in other businesses still cocaine?
A.
The main activity is cocaine trafficking.
They import tons from Colombia.
In Italy it happens through the ports of Gioia Tauro, Livorno or Genoa.
But also in Europe through Rotterdam or Antwerp.
Q.
What impact has the pandemic had on your business?
R.
In the medium and long term they will reinforce them.
They are always present in the territory and are not hampered by the state bureaucratic system.
Hundreds of thousands of people who worked in black now have nothing.
If the State delays in providing the subsidies or Caritas does not arrive, the boss on duty takes charge.
And they will be very welcome when you need to hide a fugitive or you have to vote for the 'Ndrangheta candidate.
“The pandemic will strengthen them.
The longer the aid takes, the worse ”
Q.
How many affiliates do you have?
A.
In Calabria more than 30,000.
But then thousands of accomplices and cover-ups.
P.
This last operation and some others are born of repentance.
It is something new in the 'Ndrangheta, which was always impervious to that kind of betrayal.
R.
It is somewhat rare so far, yes.
But we are hitting very hard and that generates collaborators.
But still the number of repentants is less than the Cosa Nostra or Camorra.
The structure of the organization is patriarchal.
A place is made up of two or three families, always very hermetic, the bond is always blood.
Q.
Has politics taken the problem seriously?
R.
I have a great relationship with the leaders of the forces of order.
But to fight the mafia a revolution is needed on the judicial, cultural and educational levels.
The Italian judicial system is very tough.
But that is not enough.
We have to modify the code as much as necessary until it is convenient to commit a crime.
Q.
Does international coordination work?
R.
The problem is that the other systems are softer than the Italian and often the 'ndranghetistas move to Spain, Switzerland, Belgium ... We need an equal judicial system in this sense to face it in a united way.
The mafias are a European problem, not an Italian one.
Q.
Is it widespread in Spain?
A.
Yes. And many Colombian families with tons of cocaine deposits ready to be sold in Europe.
Spain is a transit country for cocaine and South Americans are happy to stay there, because they have a facility for language, culture and because it does not have a hard system.
P.
It looks very crude.
Can the 'Ndrangheta be defeated?
A.
No, with the current judicial system, no.
We can resize it, but we cannot defeat it.
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