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| German police action |
The German government has responded to a request by the Greens party on the influence of the Italian mafia in Germany. Among other things, in the response of the German government it is said: "It is also thought that some members of the Italian Organized Crime cooperate with couriers of narcotics and groups of Albanian origin, affecting, on the one hand the trafficking sector of cannabis products, mainly in Albania. In addition, there is a breakdown of trafficking in narcotic drugs from South America to Europe and further transport within Europe. Albanians and their structures assume logistical tasks by transporting illegal goods from Europe's seaports and distributing it further to Europe," the report said.
In addition to Albanians, the Italian mafia cooperates in Germany with rock bands or similar groups as well as with Russian-Eurasian organized crime gangs. According to a police report from the German Ministry of Internal Affairs, Albanians occupy the fourth place among the foreigners caught by the police for criminal offenses related to organized crime.
'Ndrangheta, the most dangerous in Germany
According to the German government, the Mafia organization 'Ndrangheta, which is considered among the most dangerous, has 800-1000 members in Germany. According to the report, there are at least 18 to 20 so-called fixed bases (Bars) of the Calabrian mafia. Since each base has up to 50 members, it is thought that the number of members may be far greater than 344 - this is the number of members of the Ndranghetas that has so far registered the German government. Irene Mihalic, spokeswoman for the Greens parliamentary group, told the FAZ newspaper that the German government has admitted that the local bases in Germany have at least three times more members than has been known so far: "This is a figure of at least three times higher and a dark field to be discolored."
The impact on politics
According to German government data, the Italian mafia numbered 585 permanent residents in Germany. After Ndrangeta, which is the largest group, comes Cosa Nostra with 123 members, Camorra branches from Campania with 94 members and mafia clans from Puglia, with 18 members.
According to the report in question, the Italian mafia has a "high degree of organization and professionalism". Its characteristic is that it does not act with violence and tries to exert influence on political and economic actors. In 2017, three such attempts were made by Italian mafia groups, the ministry report said, without specifying the cases in question.
The latest police action against Ndragheta was called Pollino and was undertaken in December 2018. It aimed to hit its main business: the cocaine traffic that the Italian mafiosi led from their bases of North Rhine-Vestafali and from where they cooperated with other organized crime groups, both Albanians and Turks. The latter are held as specialists for special constructons inside the cars. 90 people were seized throughout Europe, 14 among them in Germany.