Italy began its largest mafia trial in more than 30 years on Wednesday
as prosecutors sought to strike a blow against the Ndrangheta crime syndicate,
whose tentacles reach worldwide, AFP reported.

Over 350 suspected members of the mafia, and the politicians, lawyers,
businessmen and others accused of enabling them will face a judge in a
specially converted courtroom in the southern Calabrian town of Lamezia Terme,
in the heart of ‘Ndrangheta territory.

The crime syndicate is accused of a web of crimes dating back to the
1990s, including white-collar crimes, murder, drug-trafficking, extortion,
money laundering and abuse of office. It is also controlling the bulk of
cocaine flowing into Europe.

The trial would “give the idea of what the Calabrian mafia is today
— no longer a mafia of shepherds dedicated to kidnapping, but a major criminal
corporation,” anti-mob prosecutor Nicola Gratteri said. He also called the
crime group the world’s richest organization, known to generate 50 billion
euros ($61 billion) per year.

Defendants include a high number of non-clan members, including an
ex-parliamentarian, a high-ranking police official, mayors and other public
servants and businessmen.

“The impressive thing is… the power the Mancuso gang has shown in
rubbing shoulders with state apparatuses, which were literally at their disposal,”
Gratteri said following a wave of arrests in December 2019 throughout Italy and
Europe that led to the trial.

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The ‘maxi-trial’ against the syndicate began as Judge Tiziana Macri
started reading out the names of the defendants.

The trial, expected to last at least a year and likely longer, features
355 defendants, more than 900 prosecution witnesses, and an unprecedented
number of collaborators, given the close family ties within the Ndrangheta that
discourage turncoats.

The ‘Ndrangheta has expanded well beyond its traditional domains of drug
trafficking and loan sharking, now using shell companies and frontmen to
reinvest illegal gains in the legitimate economy.

The current trial focuses on one family, the Mancuso group, and its
network of associates who control the Vibo Valentia area of Calabria.