338 defendants were convicted in Italy’s largest mafia trial in decades. Nicola Gratteri accompanied the negotiations as public prosecutor.
It was a mammoth trial that took place yesterday in Lamezia Terme against members of the Ndrangheta ended on Monday: 338 defendants 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. At a rapid pace since the trial began on January 13, 2021 of Italy The largest mafia trial in 30 years came to an end 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 southern Italy Calabria 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 had 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.