A report issued recently by the Italian Parliament indicates that the Calabrian 'Ndrangheta criminal society is blossoming "down under" in Australia. The Australian branch of the society, similar to the Sicilian Mafia but located in the southern region of the Italian mainland, is believed to be a key player in a global cocaine trafficking operation worth over $34 billion.
The report names several 'Ndrangheta families established in Australia, including the Sergi, Barbaro, Perre and Papalia clans. The groups reportedly arrived in the country in the 1930s. Their presence was a press sensation in the 1970s with the assassination of Donald Mackay, who was an anti-drug crusader.
Despite the Italian document, the Australian Crime Commission stands by a 1995 report by the Australian National Crime Authority, which stated that organized criminal activity was on the decline.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
About Me
- Thomas Hunt
- Writer, editor, researcher, web publisher, specializing in organized crime history. (Available to assist with historical/genealogical research, writing, editing. Email at tphunt@gmail.com.)
Editor/publisher of crime history journal, Informer; publisher of American Mafia history website Mafiahistory.us; moderator of online forums; author of Wrongly Executed?; coauthor of Deep Water: Joseph P. Macheca and the Birth of the American Mafia and DiCarlo: Buffalo's First Family of Crime; contributor of U.S. Mafia history to Australian-published Mafia: The Necessary Reference to Organized Crime; writer/co-writer of crime history articles for several publications.
Visit me on Mastodon
No comments:
Post a Comment