All Blog Posts Tagged 'Calabria' (51)

Intro written by Angelo Carmelo Gallitto



The Calabrian “Honoured Society”, well known as “’Ndrangheta”, is the equivalent of Sicilian Mafia in Calabria region, south Italy. However its origin is unknown, it emerged later than other Italian organizations, maybe because Calabria was more isolated than others even inside south eastern…

By David Amoruso for Gangsters Inc.

Italian police launched Operation Mala Civitas to investigate around 500 people with convictions for Mafia crimes and check whether or not they collected welfare cheques. On Wednesday, investigators of the Guardia…

By Angelo Carmelo Gallitto



Italian organized crime, divided in Cosa Nostra, ‘Ndrangheta, Camorra and Sacra Corona Unita, is a rich and powerful criminal enterprise with a lot of connections and branches around the world.…

By David Amoruso for Gangsters Inc.

Fugitive ‘Ndrangheta Mafia boss Cesare Antonio Cordì (photo above)…

By Gangsters Inc. Editors

Police in Italy today arrested 18 individuals with ties to the ‘Ndrangheta on charges of tax fraud. Around three…

By Andrew Machin

On June 2, 2015, with the arrest of 19 people, the two year-long code-named Project OPhoenix closed. The Project, conducted by the Combined Special Forces Enforcement Unit for the Great Toronto Area (GTA), significantly hit, resuming the words, during its presentation, of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police…

By David Amoruso

Two priests in Calabria, Italy, were charged today by anti-Mafia prosecutors with using the ‘Ndrangheta to threaten a man to pay back his debt. Graziano Maccarone and Nicola De Luca pledged their loyalty to God, but apparently feel he isn’t as all powerful as is claimed.

In order to get a debtor to…

By David Amoruso

As far as powerful Mafia bosses go, Giuseppe Ursino (photo above) is as low-key as they come. So much so that when he was convicted of trafficking cocaine for the ‘Ndrangheta and sentenced to over a decade in prison Thursday, it was the first criminal conviction of his life.

“Pino” Ursino was born…

By David Amoruso

Alleged ‘Ndrangheta boss Gabriele “El Italiano” Biondo made an initial appearance in federal court in Boston on Thursday in connection with a 1,500-kilo cocaine shipment. Biondo is an Italian national who was extradited to the United States from Spain. He is alleged to have been in close contact with…

By David Amoruso

The murdered brother of a Calabrian Mafia turncoat had asked to be released from the government’s witness protection program. 51-year-old Marcello Bruzzese was shot dead on Christmas Day last year, when he arrived at his home in the historical center of Pesaro.

The killing had all the indications of…

By David Amoruso

A domestic dispute? It’s not the first thing one thinks of when a reputed Mafia boss is shot dead in his home. Still, that’s what happened to 87-year-old Toronto mob leader Rocco Zito (photo above) on January 29, 2016. His son-in-law, Domenico Scopelliti, was sentenced last week to 10 years in prison for…

By David Amoruso

He had disappeared in 2016. Like so many of his colleagues, Calabrian Mafia boss Giuseppe “Peppe” Pelle chose to live the life of a fugitive rather than spend it behind bars. From his hideaway in the Calabrian mountains he oversaw a large network which controlled regional politics.

The mountainous…

By David Amoruso

Every underworld has its first major crime boss. That man – or woman – who ascends to the top of the heap and controls organized crime in the city. For Hamilton, Ontario, that man was Rocco Perri. During the years of Prohibition, he became known as the “King of the Bootleggers.”

Born in…

By David Amoruso

It’s an interesting debate: Do you grant a convicted murderer the right to say goodbye to a dying loved one, even though the convict…

By David Amoruso

The power of the ‘Ndrangheta, Calabria’s Mafia, seems to have no limits. Authorities in Italy have arrested around 170 people, including two mayors, in Italy and Germany in a largescale operation aimed at the Farao-Marincola ‘Ndrangheta clan. Assets worth over €50 million euros were also seized. “We have…

By David Amoruso

You can run, but not forever. After spending 23 years as a most wanted fugitive Rocco Morabito was arrested at a hotel in Montevideo, Uruguay, on Sunday. The 50-year-old Calabrian Mafia boss had been living in a luxurious…

By Gangsters Inc. Editors

Angelo Gigliotti (photo above) was sentenced to 20 years in prison today for his role in a Calabrian Mafia-connected cocaine trafficking ring. The 36-year-old had been found guilty following a …

By Gangsters Inc. Editors

Gregorio Gigliotti was sentenced to 18 years behind bars on Tuesday for narcotics trafficking and firearm offenses. The 61-year-old man used his family’s Queens-based Italian restaurant as a front for importing 55 kilos of cocaine from Costa Rica hidden among produce. Gigliotti’s operation was allegedly linked to…

By Gangsters Inc. Editors

The mayor of Bova Marina, a village in Reggio Calabria, was arrested today in a police operation against the Calabrian Mafia’s involvement in the area’s garbage hauling industry, Italian news agency ANSA reported. Mayor…

By David Amoruso

Marcello Pesce, one of the Calabrian ‘Ndrangheta’s most powerful bosses, was arrested in a dawn raid on Thursday. He had been on the run since 2010 and, in absentia, had been convicted of Mafia crimes. He can now begin serving his prison sentence of almost 17 years.

Like so many of his colleagues, …