Media reports from Italy
They are considered a Mafia delicacy: police find frozen dormice in a drug raid
Obviously not only sweet, but also tasty: the endangered dormouse
© Peter Byrne // Picture Alliance
Dormice are considered a delicacy in certain Mafia circles. Police officers have now seized hundreds of endangered animals in a raid – most of them already frozen.
According to a media report, Italian police arrested three suspects in Calabria after finding frozen dormice in hiding – a delicacy for the ‘Ndrangheta mafia. As the daily newspaper “Repubblica” reported on Saturday, investigators found more than 200 frozen dormice packed for sale and consumption during a drug raid in Delianuova. The investigators also found several of these rodents in cages .;
According to the animal welfare organization LIPU, the ‘Ndrangheta serves the protected animals at reconciliation banquets in order to create peace between warring families. According to this, poaching is widespread in the Aspromonte Mountains in Calabria. According to LIPU, hunters set thousands of traps in the forests and sell illegally caught dormice to mafiosi and restaurants.
‘Ndrangheta is active all over the world
The ‘Ndrangheta comes from the region at the top of the Italian boot. It has now outstripped the more infamous Sicilian Cosa Nostra and is now the most powerful mafia group in Italy. The ‘Ndrangheta is active all over the world.