Eurojust and Europol have supported the competent authorities in Italy, Germany and Austria in a new operation against the ‘Ndrangheta criminal organisation. Among other crimes, the suspects were allegedly involved in the manipulation of elections in Italy. During a joint action day on 27 June, 34 suspects were arrested and nine were subjected to non-custodial measures. Over 1 000 officers participated in the actions on the ground. The investigation determined that the suspects had engaged in a wide variety of crimes, including the corruption of local politicians and the manipulation of elections, installing associates in crucial administrative positions, colluding in the exploitation of public procurement tender procedures, murder, violence, extortion, fraud, money laundering, illicit waste trafficking and criminal conspiracy with other criminal organisations.
According to the evidence collected, this particular branch of the ‘Ndrangheta mafia structure was able to manipulate the local elections in Calabria, Italy, installing its members in crucial administrative and political positions in order to control and exploit the territory. The criminal network also committed a murder with the aim of further imposing its authority. The alleged instigator of this was the head of the ‘Ndrangheta clan in question. Extortion and violence were part of the clan’s modus operandi.
It is believed that the criminal network was also able to influence public procurement procedures in Italy, which resulted in the misappropriation of at least EUR 3 million in European Union funds.
The perpetrators allegedly reinvested the illicit assets in multiple businesses, across industries such as hospitality, security, transportation, construction, real estate, produce and gambling. They also operated transnational financial fraud schemes via dark-web trading platforms run by German hackers, acting as facilitators.
Eurojust has supported this complex investigation since 2018. The Agency facilitated the setting up of a joint investigation team between the Italian and German authorities. This enabled the prosecuting offices to fruitfully conduct joint investigations, exchange information swiftly and take prompt action when needed. Several coordination meetings were organised among the parties involved. The Agency assisted with the execution of a European Investigation Order to authorise searches and seizures in Austria.
Europol supported the investigators with multiple cross-match reports and facilitated communication between numerous Member States and third parties. Furthermore, Europol also promoted and supported operational meetings and took part in coordination meetings held at Eurojust.
The investigation was supported by the EU-funded Project ISF4@ON, an Italian-led initiative to tackle mafia-type organised crime groups active in Europe.
The following authorities took part in this investigation:
- Italy: Public Prosecutor’s Office, Antimafia and Counterterrorism Directorate Catanzaro; Carabinieri Special Operations Group
- Austria: Public Prosecutor’s Office, Steyr; Federal Criminal Police Office
