DrugsNewsOrganised Crime

Reggio Calabria: severe blow to the ‘ndrina De Maio-Brandimarte – 17 arrests

17 people arrested in Gioia Tauro (Reggio Calabria) held for mafia-type criminal association, including international drug trafficking in large quantities , such as cocaine, hashish and cannabis sativa, and possession of weapons and ammunition, damage, extortion and other crimes.

Key character and starting point of the investigations turned out to be a 64-year-old boss considered a prominent element of the federated ‘ndrine.

The investigative activity demonstrated the existence of a mafia-type criminal association that had control of an interconnected criminal association specialized mainly in drug trafficking.

The monitoring by the policemen of the “Rione Marina” and the “Lungomare” of Gioia Tauro, locations chosen by the criminals as the headquarters for organizing criminal activities, made it possible to reconstruct the organization chart of the ‘ndrina De Maio-Brandimarte. The agents managed to document confidential meetings between bosses, wingmen and prominent personalities of other ‘Ndrangheta articulations, which also took place in broad daylight, taking advantage of the protection of the aforementioned places and the tacit connivance of the inhabitants. They also found the availability of a large amount of weapons and drug trafficking between cocaine, hashish and cannabis sativa.

During the investigation, the policemen of the Public Security Commissioner of Gioia Tauro arrested 16 people in the act of crime and seized large quantities of drugs and weapons.