Aug 30 2007
More than 30 mafia suspects arrested over Germany killings
Achille Marmo, brother of Marco Marmo, who was killed in Germany on Aug. 15, leaves the Police headquarters escorted by two officers in Reggio Calabria, Southern Italy
Italian police on Thursday rounded up dozens of members of a notorious crime family, whose internal feuding was blamed for the slaying of six Italian men in Germany two weeks ago.
More than 30 people have been arrested, including three suspects who were found hiding in a bunker, said the head of the operation, Colonel Antonio Fiano of the paramilitary Carabinieri.
The police sweep followed the issue of 40 arrest warrants by prosecutors in the southern region of Calabria, home of the ‘Ndrangheta crime family.
Italian authorities say a bloody vendetta between two rival ‘Ndrangheta clans was at the root of the murder on August 14 of the six Italians in the western German industrial city of Duisburg.
The warrants served on Thursday were for offences ranging from murder, to gun trafficking and criminal association.
Some 350 carabinieri were involed in the operation which began at dawn in the small town of San Luca, and five women were among those arrested, Fiano said.
Two helicopters were brought in to help with surveillance during the sweep, he added.
Among those targetted by the arrest warrants were two brothers of two of the victims of the Duisburg killings and the boss of one of the feuding clans.
The police action came the day after Germany’s federal police chief Joerg Ziercke met in Rome with Italian police officials to discuss the investigation.
The victims of the Duisburg murders were aged 16 to 38 and had been celebrating the 18th birthday of a man at an Italian restaurant on the evening of the killings. Five of them were related.
Their bullet-riddled bodies were found in two vehicles in a car park near the restaurant.
German police have released grainy closed-circuit TV pictures of what they believe were the two gunmen responsible for the shootings as they crossed the forecourt of a petrol station near the scene.
The ‘Ndrangheta, once seen as a relatively minor outfit, has an annual turnover estimated at 40 billion euros (54 billion US dollars), property on five continents and occasional investments in the Frankfurt stock market.
Following the killings in Duisburg, Italian Justice Minister Clemente Mastella said his country’s anti-mafia laws needed to be modernised, particularly with a view to internationalising operations.
The bloody quarrel between the rival Nirta-Strangio and Vottari-Pelle clans is believed to have its origins in a 1991 Valentine’s Day brawl.
Investigators say Italian mobsters put down roots in the Duisburg region two decades ago, with many running pizzerias as front operations for gun running, drug dealing, money forging and extortion.
While the Italian authorities have cracked down hard on organised crime in recent years, Germany has served as a relatively safe haven, experts say.
More than 30 mafia suspects arrested over Germany killings - August 30, 2007 - 8:09PM - AFP - http://news.brisbanetimes.com.au/forty-arrests-ordered-over-mafia-slaying/20070430-wb4.html
