German ice cream parlour at centre of Italian organised crime bust
Police in Germany and across Europe arrested more than 100 people on Wednesday in a massive crackdown that targeted the Italian 'Ndrangheta mafia, with suspects accused of drugs and weapons trafficking with counterparts in Latin America.
The swoop was part of an investigation spanning Italy, Germany, Belgium, Portugal, Spain, Slovenia, Romania, Brazil and Panama, according to the European Union law enforcement agency Europol.
The network was devoted primarily to international drug trafficking from South America to both Europe and Australia, Europol said in a statement.
Some of the 'Ndrangheta families targeted have been involved in clan feuds culminating in mass shootings, including the killing of six people in the German city of Duisburg in 2007, according to Europol.
Profits were recycled through real estate, restaurants, hotels, car wash companies, supermarkets, and other commercial activities.
In Germany, investigators targeted an ice cream parlour in the northwestern town of Siegen, which they suspected was being used to launder money and as a strategic hub for the 'Ndrangheta.
“We were able to determine that restaurants and ice cream parlours operated by Ndrangheta have a different objective apart from money laundering, namely to be a strategic base,” investigator Oliver Huth told reporters in Duesseldorf.
“An employee of the ice cream parlour was sought with a European arrest warrant issued by Italian authorities because he was a member of a criminal organisation from Italy which specialised in drug trafficking. He used the ice cream parlour in Siegen and his apartment there as a hideout,” said Huth. The cafe has been shut down.
The 'Ndrangheta, which has its roots in the southern Italian region of Calabria, has surpassed Cosa Nostra as the most powerful mafia group in the country, and one of the largest criminal networks in the world.
Reuters
