exclusive
Since the early hours of the morning, investigators around the world have been taking action against the Calabrian mafia organization ‘Ndrangheta – including in Germany. As part of the operation “Eureka” should be noisy MDR and FAZ more than 100 arrest warrants for drug trafficking and money laundering are executed.
The small Calabrian village of San Luca has been under a state of siege since early morning. Heavily armed special units of the Carabinieri are deployed there. The stronghold of the Calabrian mafia organization ‘Ndrangheta, which has 3,400 inhabitants, is currently one of the strategic focal points of the worldwide anti-mafia operation “Eureka”. Investigators from different countries have been working on this trial for almost four years, which is said to be the largest international action against the ‘Ndrangheta that has ever taken place.
In Germany, the main areas of investigation are apparently North Rhine-Westphalia, Bavaria and Thuringia. The central and contact point for the prosecution of organized crime (ZeOS NRW) at the public prosecutor’s office in Düsseldorf is coordinating the raids in Germany, while in Italy the public prosecutor’s office in Reggio Calabria is in charge. The threads of the entire “Eureka” operation come together at the European law enforcement agencies EUROJUST and EUROPOL.
cocaine smuggling in the centre
After research by MDR and “Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung” (FAZ) are said to be the focus of the investigations of the ‘Ndrangheta clan from the village of San Luca. They are said to have smuggled large quantities of cocaine into Europe from countries such as Colombia, Brazil and Ecuador. The drugs are said to have been brought in container ships to ports such as Antwerp, Rotterdam or Gioia Tauro in Calabria.
Some of the cocaine is said to have been shipped further to Australia. In order to launder the illegal drug money, the suspects are said to have invested in restaurants, pizzerias, cafes and ice cream parlors. It is said to be about a suspected money laundering network in Germany, Belgium, Portugal and Argentina.
Belgian pizzeria as a starting point
According to information from MDR and FAZ is said to have started operation “Eureka”, a combination of several procedures, in July 2019 in Genk, Belgium. There, the Calabrian operators of a pizzeria were targeted by the investigators. These are said to have maintained contacts with various cocaine dealers in the ‘Ndrangheta. As a result, Belgian and Italian investigators cooperated. The investigators also became aware of the cousin of two suspects who lives in Munich and a number of other relatives and acquaintances there. They should all be the focus of the investigation.
Traces in crypto phones
Furthermore, the investigators are said to have discovered a widespread money laundering system in restaurants, pizzerias, cafes and ice cream parlors, especially in North Rhine-Westphalia. During the investigation, investigators are said to have had access to suspects’ internal chats from crypto cell phones. It is apparently about devices from the now closed providers EncroChat and SkyECC. After mdR and FAZ information, it would be the first time that such crypto cell phones could play an important role in international anti-mafia proceedings.
In the course of the investigation, the number of suspects is said to have increased. It is said that suspected ‘Ndrangheta members from Thuringia were also investigated. Some of you are active as restaurateurs in Erfurt. Other suspects went to Portugal from Erfurt years ago, but are still in contact with Thuringia. Apparently there is a suspicion that some of the group could be involved in money laundering and that they were therefore targeted by the investigators as part of Operation “Eureka”.
decades Investigations in Thuringia
For more than 20 years there have been indications that members and people associated with the ‘Ndrangheta should be active in Erfurt and other Thuringian cities. At the beginning of 2000, the Federal Criminal Police Office, the Thuringian State Criminal Police Office and the Gera public prosecutor’s office had already investigated a group of men suspected of belonging to the ‘Ndrangheta and its entourage in Thuringia.
As part of the operation with the code name “Fido”, the investigators then investigated the suspicion of drug trafficking and money laundering. Some of the suspects at the time are said to play an important role in the current investigations by “Eureka”.
Investigations become political
After MDR and FAZ reported in February 2021 on the “Fido” procedure, which had been kept secret until then, an investigative committee of the Thuringian state parliament is dealing with the case. He is examining why, despite intensive investigations, all operational measures were discontinued at the time for reasons that were previously unknown. There is also the question of whether members or people associated with the ‘Ndrangheta in Erfurt had contacts in politics, the judiciary or administration.
Due to the surveillance measures as part of Operation “Eureka”, investigators have been able to apprehend several wanted criminals in recent years. That confirmed investigators MDR and FAZ. Among them: Francesco Pelle, who was on the list of Italy’s most dangerous criminals. He had been sentenced to life imprisonment for ordering the so-called “Christmas massacre” in 2006.
Lead to “Mafia Murders in Duisburg”
At that time, the wife of a clan boss was shot dead in an attack in San Luca. This act was the trigger for the “Duisburg mafia murders” in August 2007. Investigators were able to arrest Pelle in March 2019 in a hospital in Lisbon, where he had been admitted because of a severe corona infection. The clinic is just a few blocks from an Italian restaurant that investigators are said to have been interested in as part of Operation Eureka.