Starting in 1999, Gotthard Lerch allegedly supplied Libyan dictator Moammar Gadhafi with centrifuges, manuals and control systems to construct a nuclear weapon. He has been charged with violating Germany’s War Weapons Control Act and Foreign Trade Act.

Lerch is accused of being a member of a global nuclear mafia led by discredited Pakistani scientist Abdul Qadeer Khan. Group members allegedly amassed wealth by illegally peddling nuclear technology to regimes in Iran, North Korea and Libya.

Under suspicion since 1980s
The group was uncovered in 2003, when a German ship was intercepted carrying a cargo of containers filled with South African-made nuclear weapons technology destined for Libya. The seizure prompted Gadhafi to disclose the names of all those who had supplied Tripoli with material and expertise for its nuclear program, which the country eventually abandoned.

Lerch allegedly earned 55 million German marks (approximately 28 million euros, $43 million) for his role in the deal. Investigations showed links between Lerch and the discredited Pakistani scientist Khan, who is known as the “father of the Pakistani nuclear bomb.”

The engineer had been under suspicion since the 1980s for “misappropriating” blueprints from a joint German-British-Dutch uranium enrichment facility in the Netherlands, but he was never convicted. Lerch was also brought to trial in the southwestern German city of Mannheim in 2006, but the case was eventually thrown out after the court found the government had withheld documents.

Other engineers convicted in South Africa
Swiss engineer Daniel Geiges was given a suspended 13-year prison sentence in a South African court in February, 2008 after being found guilty for his role in the smuggling ring. Geiges, 69, who is seriously ill with cancer, struck a plea bargain with prosecutors.

Geiges’ former boss, German engineer Gerhard Wisser, was also tried and convicted in South Africa in 2007. Wisser received an 18-year suspended jail term and three years’ correctional supervision for his role in the affair.

German on Trial for Role in Global Nuclear Mafia – DW staff (th) – 05.06.2008 – http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,2144,3390654,00.html

Among those arrested in coordinated actions in the Calabria region of southern Italy and in northern Italy were the wife and sister of mob boss Francesco Vottari.

None of the suspects arrested on Friday are accused of participating in the brutal shootings on August 15 of six men, aged 16 to 38, in front of an Italian restaurant in Duisburg, a city in the German region of North Rhine-Westphalia.

But those arrested are accused of belonging to the mafia and trafficking weapons and explosives in the southern Italian town of San Luca, a stronghold of the Italian organized crime confederation ‘Ndrangheta, and in Germany, according to a report in the Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera.

The group’s German dealings were said to have taken place mostly in Duisburg and the neighboring city of Kaarst.

Five of the men shot in Duisburg were from San Luca. The motive for the shooting is believed to have been revenge: the wife of a rival crime clan leader had been shot, and her son injured, around Christmas 2006 in San Luca.

Italy arrests eight connected to Duisburg mob massacre – Published: 9 May 08 12:44 CET – DPA/The Local – http://www.thelocal.de/11793/20080509/

Two suspects were arrested in Italy and two in Germany, Italian officials said. However, the man believed to be directly responsible for the slayings has eluded capture, police said.

Six men ranging in age from 16 to 38 were shot dead in August after a party at an Italian restaurant in Duisburg in western Germany.

The slayings were believed to be part of a long-running feud between two criminal family clans from Italy’s Calabria region, home to the ‘ndrangheta syndicate.

The four suspects were believed to be members of one of the feuding families, but not directly involved in the shooting, according to the ANSA news agency.

Two suspects were apprehended before dawn in San Luca, the small town where rival clans of the ‘ndrangheta, the local version of the Sicilian Mafia, are based. Charges against the suspect include Mafia association, murder and arms trafficking, police in the regional capital of Reggio Calabria said.

The other two were picked up in North-Rhine Westphalia, the German state where Duisburg is located, police spokesman Achim Blaettermann said. The suspects were picked up on a tip by Italian police, he said in Germany.

A fifth suspect, 28-year-old Giovanni Strangio, has been a fugitive for months, with warrants for his arrest in Italy and Germany.

Strangio is believed to have pulled the trigger in the August shooting. He has already served time in jail, and was last released in July, according to ANSA.

In the weeks after the killings, Italian police arrested more than 30 alleged members of the rival clans.

Italian investigators have long said the ‘ndrangheta had been gaining power among crime syndicates, gaining recognition as an international force with the German killings.

During the probe into the shooting, Germany emerged as a major destination of the ‘ndrangheta’s illicit activities and investment abroad, officials said Tuesday.

“The ‘ndrangheta is no longer a local reality or regional criminal reality, but it is a European problem,” said anti-Mafia Prosecutor Salvatore Boemi in Reggio Calabria.

4 arrested in connection with alleged Mafia-linked slayings in Germany – The Associated Press – Tuesday, December 18, 2007 – http://www.iht.com/bin/printfriendly.php?id=8797472

Following a special sitting of the internal affairs commission of the state of North Rhine-Westphalia in nearby Dusseldorf, officials predicted that a Catholic religious holiday might be chosen, as mafia families regularly gathered on such days.

The officials said that, while it was possible a revenge attack could take place in Germany, it was more likely that it would be carried out in Italy.

Six men were shot and killed execution-style in the early hours of August 15, the bodies being found in two cars outside a pizzeria near Duisburg’s main railway station.

Police believe the murders were in revenge for the killing of the wife of a leader of the ‘Ndrangheta, which is active in Calabria in southern Italy.

German police have applied for an international arrest warrant for pizzeria operator Giovanni Strangio, 28, suspected of being a member of the Strangio-Nirta clan within the ‘Ndrangheta.

The victims of the Duisburg shootings were all members of the rival Pelle-Romeo clan within the same organization.

German police expect revenge attack after Duisburg mafia killings – dpa – Deutsche Presse-Agentur – Sep 6, 2007, 13:02 GMT – http://news.monstersandcritics.com/europe/news/article_1352572.php/German_police_expect_revenge_attack_after_Duisburg_mafia_killings

Relatives react as the caskets of Marco and Francesco Pergola are carried outside the church after their funeral service in Siderno, on the eastern coast of Calabria, southern Italy, Thursday, Aug. 23, 2007. Marco and his brother Francesco were killed last week in Germany in a mafia slaying that left four other Italians dead. (Pier Paolo Cito/AP Photo)

In the end, the parents had their way. They were granted permission to mourn their sons in public funerals and burials in their hometowns set in the rugged hills of Calabria in southern Italy.

In a surprise nighttime attack Aug. 15, police say six men, all descendents of families from the area around the town of San Luca in Calabria, were fatally shot in the head as they were leaving a birthday dinner in an Italian pizzeria in downtown Duisburg, Germany, police said.

For days, while they waited for their sons’ bodies to return home from Germany, the families appealed to public officials to let them bury their loved ones in the traditional Catholic way. Their sons were innocent victims, they insisted; they did not want to to be forced to mourn them in private police-guarded funerals.

It would be “like killing them twice,” the mother of one of the victims told reporters.

German investigators, now working with Italian police, believe two men fired 70 shots from two small machine guns before probably driving off with an accomplice.

The victims did not shoot back.

The six victims were between the ages of 16 and 38: Tommaso Venturi, who was celebrating his 18th birthday that night; Francesco Giorgi; brothers Francesco and Marco Pergola; Sebastiano Strangio; and Marco Marmo, who investigators believe was the target of the attack.

Security has been stepped up in the towns of San Luca and the surrounding area since the attack. Uniformed police have been standing guard on the streets as the funerals took place.

Officials would not concede to one request from the families, so processions accompanying the coffins to the church and cemetery were banned out of fear of mob violence.

About 100 people attended the funeral service for the Pergola brothers Thursday morning in Siderno’s parish church, according to local reports.

Many were seen throwing red roses and applauding as a sign of respect, as their coffins left the church; most of the town, however, stayed away, preferring not to be seen.

Organized-crime investigations believe the executions in Germany are linked to a series of vendetta-style killings in the area of San Luca, in the hills of the Aspromonte mountains in Calabria, southern Italy. Investigators say that up to 20 people have lost their lives in this local feud between two rival clans of the ‘ndrangheta (pronounced AN-dran-getta), the Calabrian homegrown version of the Sicilian mafia.

The heartland of ‘ndrangheta power lies in the Aspromonte mountain area in Calabria, but its reach is international and it virtually monopolizes cocaine trafficking in Europe.

It’s no small family business with annual returns estimated at more than $49 billion that include money accrued from illegal activities like extortion, corruption, prostitution and arms trafficking. As an organization, it invests very little in southern Italy, but has concentrated its attention on money-laundering activities in the more affluent northern and central regions of Italy and Eastern Europe.

Experts in organized crime say that as an organization, the ‘ndrangheta has adapted greatly to modern laundering methods and its clan members are highly skilled in the Internet. The ‘ndrangheta has more active members than the Sicilian mafia and prosecutors now believe it has eclipsed the Sicilian mafia in power.

Unlike the Sicilian mafia with its single hierarchical boss and pyramid structure, the ‘ndrangheta operates like a federation and has remained a strictly family affair. Its tight family connections make it very hard to infiltrate and it has had very few turncoats over the years.

An Italian secret service report recently presented in Parliament said, “‘ndrangheta groups tend to cluster where there is the clearest and most settled emigrant communities, in order to preserve their power to intimidate and their ability to penetrate the local economic and financial fabric.”

Its members are known to have emigrated as far as Canada, the United States, South America and Australia and still provide a vital support network. Traditionally ‘ndrangheta kept a low profile abroad, which allowed it to operate its business quietly. Prosecutors working on this case are concerned the Duisburg killings may mark a new direction for the clan.

They believe the killings in Germany were retaliation for the Christmas 2006 shooting of Maria Strangio, a clan boss’ wife, in San Luca; Marmo, who was killed in Duisburg, was believed to be involved in the 2006 attack. This San Luca rival clan war first turned bloody more than 16 years ago in 1991 when masked youths entered a rival clan’s bar in town and threw eggs as part of a Carnival tradition. They were gunned down later that day.

The funeral for the other three victims took place late Thursday in San Luca after their coffins were seen being driven with a police escort from Rome’s airport.

Relatives and friends gathered to wait quietly in front of the church. Many were seen wearing white to signal forgiveness and a desire to break with the past, ignoring the traditional black worn at Catholic funerals.

Giorgi’s mother was seen clutching a photo of the 16-year-old as she waited for the procession. The crowd that had gathered  about 1,000  according to reports, burst into applause as the coffins arrived at the church while the mothers who had lost their sons embraced.

During the ceremony, one of the mothers was heard to call out for “justice, not vendetta.” The Rev. Don Strangio reportedly told the congregation, “The life we are leading no longer seems like life, but like a living death. We must lift up our heads from this Via Crucis.”

For now, with the funerals over, these small towns hugging the harsh Aspromonte mountains are trying to resume some form of normality. The fear of vendetta hangs heavily in the air. Nobody is talking.

Interviewed on Italian TV news, the San Luca’s cemetery custodian shrugged his shoulders and said he didn’t know anything about a Mafia clan feud in the town or whether ‘ndrangheta exists.

He said he knows nothing.

Will Killings in Germany Spark Mafia-Style War? – By PHOEBE NATANSON – ROME, Aug. 24, 2007 – http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=T&ct=us/8-0&fd=R&url=http://www.abcnews.go.com/International/story%3Fid%3D3520118%26page%3D1&cid=0&ei=6znTRqOfCIzUqQPjrYzbDQ

Germany’s Italian community had been “shaken to the core” by the mafia murder last Wednesday of six Italians in Duisburg, western Germany, declared Pino Bianco, owner of one of the 17 Italian restaurants that convened the anti-mafia press conference in Bread and Roses, an upmarket Italian eatery in east Berlin.

“We cannot return to business as usual,” he said, before adding his support to the restaurateurs’ campaign to reject mafia pressure to pay protection money. It has also been set up to express solidarity with more humble pizza parlours, which have suffered income losses of up to 30 per cent since the killings, Mr Bianco said.

“Customers have been scared, fearing that all Italians are mafia – which is not true,” said Laura Garavini, Germany co-ordinator of UIM, a network of overseas Italians, and co-ordinator of the campaign, which issues stickers to restaurants and other Italian businesses declaring them “mafia-free zones”. “This action brings with it dangers,” Ms Garavini stressed, pointing to a similar campaign in Sicily, where some of the restaurants displaying such stickers had been burnt down by the mafia.

The restaurant owners acknowledged that the killings in Duisburg – traced by investigators to a feud within the Calabrian mafia – confirmed long-held fears among organised crime experts that the mafia had spread to Germany. “The mafia has become a globalised force,” said Angelo Bolaffi, director of Berlin’s Italian cultural institute.

Police in Duisburg said they were following 250 leads offered by the public in order to find the two alleged killers involved in the attacks. Günther Beckstein, Bavaria’s interior minister said Germany was “seriously threatened” by mafia-based crime gangs, which experts say are involved in drugs and money-laundering, especially in western Germany.

Germany has also become a base for mafia members who have fled Italy. Police point to a number of arrests of alleged mafia killers in the country in recent years, although legal experts argue that strict rules on evidence useable in court make it more difficult to achieve convictions in Germany.

On their part, the Berlin restaurateurs, several of whom have lived in Germany for decades, said they had never had contact with the mafia. They criticised media reports suggesting 30 per cent of pizza restaurants were mafia-controlled. “Maybe 3 per cent is a more accurate figure,” said a representative of an Italian business association in Berlin.

Mr Bolaffi concluded that in order to keep the mafia in check, Italian and German police needed to co-operate better. “At present the mafia simply reacts quicker than the state,” he said.

Restaurants unite to fight mafia – By Hugh Williamson in Berlin – Published: August 21 2007 20:05 – Financial Times Limited 2007 – http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/124a4694-5013-11dc-a6b0-0000779fd2ac.html

In July 2007, Italian police arrested notorious mafia boss Giuseppe Bellocco in Calabria, southern Italy

DW-WORLD:DE: An expert on organized crime warned that Germany has to be alert about an expansion of mob activity within its borders after officials linked the killing of six Italians in Duisburg to the Calabrian mafia, ‘Ndrangheta.

Federico Varese is a professor of criminology and Official Fellow of Linacre College, Oxford University. Previously, he taught at Williams College and Yale University. His main areas of research are organized crime, corruption, Soviet criminal history, and the dynamics of altruistic behaviour. His book, “The Russian Mafia” won the Ed Hewitt Prize of the American Association for the Advancement of Slavic Studies.

According to Italian interior minister Giuliano Amato, the six killings in Duisburg are linked to the ongoing San Luca clan feud. Italian anti-mafia prosecutor Pietro Grasso has said that such killings being carried out on non-Italian soil is unprecedented. What is the significance of the killings?

Federico Varese: Among the mafia in Italy — and we just did a study on the reporting on various Italian criminal groups in Italy in the media — the ‘Ndrangheta is the one that is usually under the radar. It has always been the one that has been able to avoid major scrutiny from the media so it kept a very low profile. So it’s a big step to do such a high profile murder in a different country especially.

Obviously it raises the alarm in Germany as well. So in that sense, it’s quite a departure from what we have seen before. But of course they (‘Ndrangheta) have killed prominent politicians before. They are ruthless and in a sense they see this just as a continuation of what they do at home. But I think from our point of view, from the point of view of the public at least, it really raises the bar.

Do these recent killings in Duisburg indicate that ‘Ndrangheta has expanded into Germany, or might it simply be the case that some of these people were in Germany to escape mafia feuds back home in Calabria?

What we know is that there is a lot of money laundering going on among the ‘Ndrangheta in various countries in Europe. Germany is one of those. So I don’t think these murders show anything really except that they are taking the violence outside of their home territory.

Earlier, they (‘Ndrangheta) might have done money laundering in different countries but now it seems they are sort of expanding to violence in their activities abroad. That’s quite significant.

What interests might ‘Ndrangheta have in Germany?

Former ‘Ndrangheta member Giorgio Basile testified in a German court in July

I think this is a general issue about so-called money laundering. In some ways you could think that money laundering is not such a terrible crime because it’s a way to inject money into the economy, although it is a crime under most laws, but it’s obviously different from hard core crime like murder.

But I think what it (the killings) highlight is that one might follow the other. So once we allow proceeds from crime to seep into another economy or part of Europe where they come from, say drug money or extortion money into Germany from Italy, it does not mean that is the end of it. It might mean that the next stage is actually somehow the rooting of the group into this territory. So I guess this is the lesson, the general point, that comes out of this instance.

Your research has focussed on why the ‘Ndrangheta was able to successfully expand into Bardonecchia in Piedmont but not Verona. What are the conditions that allow ‘Ndrangheta, to transplant itself to some places and not others?

Most observers would point to migration as the main element that allows this expansion to occur. Migration of people from the same territory might be a factor that helps transplantation. However, Italians and people from Calabria, from Southern Italy, from Sicily, have migrated to many, many parts of the world and there was no mafia. So it’s not as if everywhere Italians migrate there is mafia – that would be a really big misconception.

I think in addition to migration, there are some local conditions that allow these local groups to become entrenched. Some of the conditions we have observed in northern Italy, such as in Piedmont, was that they were able to corner certain markets through the use of violence.

What is most extraordinary about the town of Bardonecchia, just outside Turin, is that the town has a very, very different social and cultural makeup from southern Italy. It was a place where people would trust each other and feel safe, but there were social and economic conditions that allowed the ‘Ndrangheta to move there.

One of these was connected to the state business and the construction business. Some of the Calabrese that had been working in the construction business were connected to the mafia. These people helped to create cartels of firms that were connected to Calabria and cornered the market so they used violence to prevent other firms to enter this market.

It was a combination situation because there was a demand for their services — some people actually benefited from their presence. The firms that were allowed to enter this very lucrative market were very happy. And some of the workers, somewhat illegal workers, who were not legally registered with the trade unions in particular also were happy because they found employment — when they couldn’t find jobs in the big industries in Turin, like Fiat.

So there was a lethal combination of some people of the economic elite who found advantages in having the ‘Ndrangheta, and some workers and this is what explains why the ‘Ndrangheta was successful in becoming entrenched in this part of Italy. That’s what Germany has to look out for — make sure that these organizations don’t have the possibility to corner markets and eventually to generate some sort of support for their presence.

Is it possible for ‘Ndrangheta to recreate conditions like those in southern Italy in Germany?

In principle yes. It depends on the local markets and how careful the political elite, the police and the judiciary and various other institutions of authority are to make sure that there is no access to these markets. But there are some special markets which are more easily penetrated by organized crime — construction is typically one of those markets. Special attention must be paid to these markets.

In principle, it is possible that the ‘Ndrangheta does move up one step from simple money laundering to becoming entrenched in the German economy. And this is the most dangerous situation, ever, you can imagine. A German construction firm wanting to enter the market and prevent its competitors from entering it, might actually benefit from having their presence.

Obviously these guys (the ‘Ndrangheta) have a reputation for violence, an ability to use violence and have shown how much they can use violence in this instance. That’s how they build up their reputation. So next time around, if I am a German entrepreneur and someone with a Calabrian accent comes around and says, ‘get out of this market or I’ll punish you,’ I’ll be more inclined to believe him and move out.

Given the worldwide presence of ‘Ndrangheta can we expect more of these clan wars or feuds to be carried out internationally?

That’s hard to tell. I think the feud in particular will certainly continue in San Luca if this is the reason behind (the killings). They must have felt really confident about carrying out this operation in Germany.

They must have been able to have intelligence on the ground. I don’t think the ‘Ndrangheta has this level of intelligence everywhere. But obviously they must have had it in this town (Duisburg) because how would you know that these people were going to that restaurant? How would you know they were the right ones coming out at that time? How would you know where the one you are looking for is?

Expert Says Mafia Murders Pose New Risks in Germany – Stephanie Raison interviewed Federico Varese – Deutsche Welle – http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,2144,2741538,00.html

The head of Italy’s anti-Mafia task force has said that the criminal gang behind the deaths of six men in Germany is now the most powerful crime syndicate in Europe.

Video: New Mafia murder theory

The ‘Ndrangheta, or Calabrian Mafia, is blamed for Wednesday’s murder of six Italians in Duisburg.

Pietro Grasso, Italy’s anti-Mafia commissioner, said the killings demonstrated that it was now operating globally. Other experts warned that the ‘Ndrangheta was also active in Britain, where it controlled the flow of Colombian cocaine.

Mr Grasso said it was clear that the ‘Ndrangheta, which for years has been relatively unknown compared with the much more famous Sicilian Mafia, Cosa Nostra, “has now assumed major economic power, especially in international drug dealing”.

The ‘Ndrangheta is thought to control almost all of Colombia’s cocaine exports to Europe, which flow through the port town of Gioia di Tauro in Calabria, southern Italy.

“This organisation is now all over Europe and even has a hand in politics,” said Mr Grasso. He added that “no country in the world” would stop it, until the international banking system became less opaque. “We can find the drugs and the people, but we cannot track the money. There is no doubt that money is moving to Colombia, so why can we not see it?” he asked.

“We have increased the number of our raids and checks enormously, but the strategy is absolutely useless. The people who traffic drugs make sure they do not violate the banking norms over the transfer of capital, and they act openly and with the help of major financial experts.”

There are thought to be 73 clans within the ‘Ndrangheta, which is pronounced “en-drang-ay-ta”.

The latest report from Italy’s secret services show that it has become the country’s largest criminal organisation, with an estimated 10,000 men compared with the three to four thousand in Cosa Nostra. The report also said the syndicate has “uncontested” control over the drug market.

Antonio Nicaso, the author of Blood Brothers, a book on the ‘Ndrangheta, said it was the only truly global Italian crime syndicate.

“The ‘Ndrangheta has been very adept at modernising itself. It uses the internet to recycle the money from its activities and holds a monopoly on Colombian cocaine into Europe. They have direct links with the Colombians and with terrorist organisations. It is almost certainly involved in the UK as well,” he said.

Unlike the Sicilian Mafia, which is organised into families, the ‘Ndrangheta uses a system of arranged marriages to enmesh its members into a tight set of relationships.

The second ‘Ndrangheta war from 1985-91 claimed 700 lives and several blood feuds are still running today.

Calabrian Mafia is ‘Europe’s top crime gang’ – By Malcolm Moore in Rome – Last Updated: 4:00am BST 20/08/2007 – http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/08/17/wmafia117.xml

German police have issued a computer sketch of a man thought to be linked to the gangland-style killing of six Italian men in Duisburg this week, attributed to a mafia clan feud.

Police found the victims with gunshot wounds to the head outside an Italian restaurant near the northwestern city’s central train station in the early hours of Wednesday morning.

The man in the sketch was one of two men spotted near the restaurant. Witnesses reported the two fled the area at high speed in a large, dark-coloured car, Duisburg police said.

A mechanic told Friday’s edition of Bild newspaper he had stopped on his way home to drop off a colleague and saw two men next to the restaurant shortly before the shootings.

“They were dressed in dark clothing and one was looking through the window into the pizzeria,” the mechanic, named as Michael M., told the newspaper.

“When we stopped, they moved away a touch into the shadow of the building. I only learned what had happened there the next morning and an icy shiver went down my spine.”

The facial composite, or photofit, of the car’s driver shows a dark-haired man, clean-shaven apart from long sideburns and with a dark mole beneath his right eye.

The man has a thin frame and stands at 180-185 centimetres or just over six feet tall.

Duisburg police said later the release of the sketch had prompted several people to come forward, although there was no evidence that pointed to any specific suspect.

Experts are still examining video surveillance footage of the crime scene. But the process has been hampered by the poor quality of the film and results are not expected until after the weekend, they said.

“The members of the murder commission are still working at full speed almost around the clock,” a spokesman said.

Investigators believe the killings were the latest chapter in a long-running feud between two clans in Italy’s region of Calabria, home to the ‘Ndrangheta crime syndicate.

On Thursday, Italian police searched houses and set up roadblocks around San Luca, a Calabrian town of 4,000 at the centre of the feud.

Italian secret services said in a report this month that the ‘Ndrangheta was the most dangerous crime syndicate in Italy and one of the world’s top drug trafficking cartels.

The German authorities have said the group established a presence in Germany some years ago. Duisburg police said on Thursday a ‘Ndrangheta member from San Luca was arrested in an Italian restaurant in the German city in 1991.

Local police were acting after a tip-off from the Italian authorities who were looking for the man in connection with a suspected murder. He had gone to ground in the Ruhr valley area around Duisburg.

Germany issues sketch of suspect in mafia slayings – IAIN ROGER – Reuters – August 17, 2007 at 8:26 AM EDT – http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20070817.wmafia0817/BNStory/International/?page=rss&id=RTGAM.20070817.wmafia0817

German police have issued a sketch of a man they say could be linked to Wednesday’s execution-style killing of six Italian men in the northwestern city of Duisburg, blamed on a mafia clan feud.

The man was one of two spotted near the scene of the shootings in the early hours of the morning, Duisburg police said in a statement. Witnesses said the men fled the area at high speed in a large, dark-colored car, in the direction of the city zoo.

The sketch, which police said is of the car’s driver, shows a dark-haired man, clean-shaven apart from long sideburns and with a dark mole beneath his right eye.

The man has a thin frame and stands at 180-185 centimeters or just over six feet tall, police said.

Investigators believe the Duisburg killings, which took place outside an Italian restaurant, were the latest chapter in a long-running feud between two clans in the region of Calabria, home to the ‘Ndrangheta crime syndicate.

On Thursday, Italian police searched houses and set up roadblocks around San Luca, the Calabrian town of 4,000 at the centre of the feud.

Italian secret services said in a report this month that the ‘Ndrangheta was the most dangerous crime syndicate in Italy and one of world’s top drug trafficking cartels.

The German authorities have said the group established a presence in Germany some years ago. Duisburg police said late on Thursday a ‘Ndrangheta member from San Luca they named as Antonio G. had been arrested in an Italian restaurant in the German city in 1991.

Local police were acting after a tip-off from the Italian authorities who were looking for the man in connection with a suspected murder. He had gone to ground in the Ruhr valley area around Duisburg and been working at various jobs.

German police issue sketch of mafia slayings suspect – Fri Aug 17, 2007 3:19AM EDT – (Reuters) – http://www.reuters.com/articlePrint?articleId=USL1730792520070817