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NARCOTICS

Italy’s record cocaine haul

By Duncan Mil

April 18, 2023 - Italian police have seized two tonnes of cocaine, with a street value of $483 million, floating off the coast of Sicily. The ‘Ndrangheta crime group, based in Calabria, controls Italy’s drug trade.

The Guardia di Finanza (Financial Police) found the drugs wrapped in 70 waterproof packages held together by nets and kept afloat by life preservers. They said they’d also found a tracking device attached to the packages in Sicily’s Golfo di Catania on Monday (April 17).

An aerial patrol spotted the packages. Police suspect the cocaine was left at sea by a cargo ship for subsequent retrieval and transportation to the mainland by a criminal organization.

The Cosa Nostra syndicate has long dominated organized crime on the island of Sicily.

In January, Italian authorities arrested the group’s “last godfather,” 60-year-old Matteo Messina Denaro, after a three-decade search.

Today, the drug trade in Italy, and much of Europe, is dominated by the ‘Ndrangheta crime group. The syndicate’s hold on the Italian port of Gioia Tauro lets it feed off some of the most profitable drug routes between Europe and the Americas.

The European law enforcement agency Europol has identified ‘Ndrangheta as one of the “most threatening” organized crime groups on the planet due to its “enormous financial might” and “immense corruptive power.”

Made up of a sprawling network of ‘ndrina, or clans, rooted in Calabria on the Italian mainland near Sicily, the syndicate earns an estimated $60 billion annually -- roughly equivalent to the GDP of Croatia.

Sources
PUBLISHED: 18/04/2023; STORY: Graphic News; PICTURES: Guardia di Finanz
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