In a major crackdown, police across Europe arrested over 100 people, including “high-value” figures, in an investigation into the Italian organised crime group ‘Ndrangheta. The group is suspected of drug and weapon trafficking.

Antoon Schotsaert, Belgian federal prosecutor said: “We believe that several high-value individuals were arrested who played an important role in the organization not only in Belgium, but also in other European countries.”

According to Europol, the investigation included Italy, Germany Belgium, Portugal Spain Slovenia Romania, Brazil and Panama.

Europol stated that the network’s primary focus was on international drug trafficking, from South America into Europe and Australia.

Europol said that the ‘Ndrangheta were involved in smuggling weapons from Pakistan into South America. They supplied PCC (Primeiro Comando da Capital), a Brazilian criminal organization, in exchange for cocaine.

The ‘Ndrangheta has its origins in southern Italy’s region of Calabria and has surpassed Cosa Nostra to become the most powerful criminal group in the nation.

Europol stated that “the mafia style organisation is responsible for a large part of Europe’s cocaine traffic, as well as systematic money laundering, violence, and bribery.”

It said that some of the families targeted by the ‘Ndrangheta were involved in feuds between clans which culminated in mass shootings including the death of six people in Duisburg, Germany in 2007.

Money Laundering

Profits were invested into real estate, restaurants and hotels, carwash companies, supermarkets and other commercial activities.

Massimiliano D’Angelantonio, the Italian police commander Massimiliano D’Angelantonio, said that the network used Chinese money broker in Italy and Colombia for the funds to move to pay for drug.

He told a press conference that “they made transactions worth more than 22 millions euros in just one year.”

According to Italian police, assets worth 25 million euro ($27.58m) were confiscated in Italy, Germany Portugal and France as part of “Operation Eureka” which was launched by the Italian Police in 2019. The operation initially aimed to investigate drug smuggling in Calabria between Genk and Calabria, Belgium.

The Italian police reported that 108 arrests were made in Italy and in other EU countries, on the orders of the police stationed in Reggio Calabria in the south of the country.

According to them, related investigations led 15 people in Belgium, 24 in Germany and 53 in northern Italy to be arrested.