It was a mammoth trial that ended yesterday in Lamezia Terme against members of the Ndrangheta on Monday: 338 defendants who were sentenced to prison sentences totaling 2,200 years. This is a serious blow to the strongest criminal organization in Italy and, with an estimated turnover of 53 billion euros, also one of the richest in the world. Italy’s largest mafia trial in 30 years has been brought to an end at a rapid pace since the trial began on January 13, 2021, in the warehouse in Lamezia Terme that was converted into a high-security courtroom specifically for the trial.
Four heavyweights of the powerful Mancuso clan from Vibo Valentia in Calabria in southern Italy received the harshest sentences of up to 30 years in prison. The boss Luigi Mancuso is still awaiting a separate trial. A former deputy from Berlusconi’s “Forza Italia” party and a regional deputy from the left-liberal “Partito Democratico” as well as a high-ranking officer from the Karabinieri were also convicted of mafia support.
Mafia hunter Nicola Gratteri coordinated the investigations that led to the trial between 2016 and 2019 beyond Calabria in eleven regions of Italy. Strands led to Germany, Switzerland and Bulgaria. The process also shows that the Ndrangheta is becoming increasingly networked and global, said Gratteri. As lead prosecutor, he accompanied the trial right up to the pleadings.
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