Aug 23 2007
Police guard church during funeral for 2 Italian mafia victims killed in Germany
Carabinieri Italian paramilitary police officers patrol the area outside a church during the funeral service of Marco and his brother Francesco Pergola, in Siderno, on the eastern coast of Calabria, southern Italy, Thursday. The Pergola brothers were killed last week in Germany in a mafia slaying that left four other Italians dead. By Pier Paolo Cito, AP
SIDERNO, Italy - Paramilitary police stood guard outside a church Thursday during the funeral for two young brothers who were among six killed last week in an alleged ‘ndrangheta crime syndicate vendetta exported to Germany.
As a hot, scirocco breeze from Africa blew across the coastal town, wailing relatives threw themselves on the coffins of Francesco Pergola, 21, and Marco Pergola, 19. Leaving the church, mourners tossed red roses onto the square outside St. Mary of the Safe Port church.
The square was kept empty by authorities who feared more violence between the feuding Pelle-Romeo and Nirta-Strangio crime clans.
Prosecutors have described the feud as a reflection of ruthless determination by ‘ndrangheta clans to expand control of the European cocaine market as well as of long-simmering bad blood between the families.
Four other Italian young men also were gunned down in an alley early Aug. 15, shortly after they left an Italian restaurant run by Calabrians in Duisburg, Germany. The six had just celebrated an 18th birthday for one of the men.
Siderno is a town of about 15,000 on the Ionian Sea at the foot of the rugged Aspromonte mountains, a remote region in the «toe» of the Italian peninsula that authorities say is home to ‘ndrangheta crime clans.
The syndicate runs extortion and loan-sharking rackets, and arms and drug trafficking. Since the 1990s, the ‘ndrangheta has largely abandoned kidnappings for ransom for Europe’s multibillion-dollar cocaine market.
After the funeral, police blocked journalists from entering the cemetery. Fearing fresh mob violence, security officials decided Wednesday evening to ban the procession that traditionally accompanies the hearse to the cemetery.
The mother of the Pergola brothers, Maria Pergola, knelt on the steps and kissed her son’s photograph pasted to the coffin, which was blanketed with white roses. A priest hugged her as she left the church weeping, her husband at her side.
Carabinieri paramilitary police and national police officers stood guard at the church’ entrance, were deployed on the church steps and positioned themselves in the square.
Late Thursday, arrangements were still being made for funerals of three other victims for the area of San Luca, a mountain town some 30 kilometers southwest (20 miles) of Siderno.
Investigators say San Luca is home to some of the ‘ndrangheta’s most powerful clans and the heart of the deadly feud. They suspect that one of the Duisburg victims, Marco Marmo, was part of the hit team that killed Maria Strangio, wife of a suspected ‘ndrangheta boss, in San Luca on Christmas in 2006.
The bodies of Marmo, Francesco Giorgi and Sebastiano Strangio were being transported by truck Thursday with a police escort from Rome to San Luca.
The sixth victim, Tommaso Venturi, the birthday boy, was being buried in Germany, where he lived with his family.
While court trials, turncoats and the capture of longtime fugitive bosses have dealt stiff blows to the Sicilian Mafia in recent decades, the ‘ndrangheta has gained in global power and reach.
Italian authorities say the ‘ndrangheta, with its clans built on blood ties and reinforced through marriages, is now the most powerful Italian organized crime group, eclipsing the Neapolitan Camorra as well as Sicilian mobsters.
Police guard church during funeral for 2 Italian mafia victims killed in Germany - AP - 2007-08-23 18:15:54 - http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=T&ct=us/2-0&fd=R&url=http://www.pr-inside.com/police-guard-church-during-funeral-for-r206577.htm&cid=0&ei=v8LNRuP2D4H20QGhn9jVDQ
