italian police and fbi in joint ndrangheta sweep

[scagghiuni]

italian police and fbi in joint ndrangheta sweep

http://www.ansa.it/english/news/2015/05 ... eba1e.html

[Angelo Santino]

I wonder how much the modern ndrangheta had in the US after 1950. There probably wasn't a cell per se, but there was most likely a presence.

Thanks for posting!

[furiofromnaples]

http://www.strill.it/citta/2015/05/oper ... i-fermati/

Here the list of the men arrested, for the police the group was a crew of the Alvaro ndrina of Sinopoli:

– Antonio Berlingeri, 23 y
– Cosimo Berlingeri, 57 y
– Domenico Berlingeri, 46 y
– Domenico Berlingeri, 35 y
– Alessandro Cacia, 32 y
– Basilio Caparrotta, 54 y
– Salvatore Caparrotta, 46 y
– Franco Fazio, 46 y
– Pino Fazio, 44 y
– Alfonso Santino Papaleo, 50 y
– Nicola Preiti, 47 y – Carmine Violi, 36 y
– Francesco Violi, 43 y

[Pogo The Clown]

A lot of relatives nabbed in this bust.


Pogo

[BeatiPaoli]

To Everyone: Which one of those arrested was the guy in New York, and were there any definitive connections between the Ndrangheta in Calabria and specific New York Cosa Nostra Families?

Regards,
Beati Paoli

[Wiseguy]

Four Defendants Charged In Brooklyn And Sixteen Charged In Italy For Their Participation In A Transnational Cocaine
Trafficking Operation

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Thursday, May 7, 2015

Three Queens, New York, Family Members and an Italian Citizen Charged with Conspiring to Import and Importing More Than 50 Kilograms of Cocaine into the U.S. from Costa Rica in Shipments of Produce

Queens Defendants Also Charged with Possessing Illegal Firearms

A six-count superseding indictment was unsealed yesterday in Brooklyn federal court charging husband and wife defendants Gregorio and Eleonora Gigliotti, their son Angelo Gigliotti, and a relative who is an Italian citizen, Franco Fazio, with conspiracy to import cocaine, conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute cocaine, importation of cocaine, and attempted possession of cocaine. In addition, the Gigliotti defendants were charged with unlawful use and possession of firearms. The charges arise from the defendants’ participation in an international narcotics-trafficking operation between July 1, 2014 and March 11, 2015.

The charges were announced by Kelly T. Currie, Acting United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York; Raymond R. Parmer, Special Agent-in-Charge, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), New York; and Diego Rodriguez, Assistant Director-in-Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation, New York Field Office (FBI).

The unsealing of the superseding indictment coincides with the arrest of thirteen defendants in Italy today on related drug-trafficking charges resulting from the collaboration between the United States and Italian law enforcement agencies. Among those arrested by the Italian authorities was Franco Fazio, who will face charges in Italy before the United States seeks his extradition to face the charges contained in the Brooklyn superseding indictment. The Gigliotti defendants, who remain in custody in the United States, were also charged with narcotics-trafficking offenses by the Italian authorities.

“This case is a powerful example of the impact of international cooperation in combatting criminal organizations whose activities transcend national borders,” stated Acting United States Attorney Currie. Mr. Currie extended his grateful appreciation to Homeland Security Investigations and the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and thanked our law enforcement partners in Italy, including the Prosecutor of the Republic of Reggio Calabria; the Italian National Police (INP), and in particular, the Squadra Mobile of Reggio Calabria and the Servizio Centrale Operativo; the Direzione Centrale per i Servizi Antidroga; and the Direzione Nazionale Antimafia. Mr. Currie also expressed his gratitude to the U.S. Department of Justice Attaché and the Offices of the HSI and FBI Legal Attaché at the U.S. Embassy in Rome, who coordinated extensive evidence-sharing and coordinated operations.

“The arrests in New York and Italy dismantle a global network of alleged drug smugglers believed responsible for importing more than 50 kilograms of cocaine into the U.S.,” said HSI New York Special Agent-in-Charge Parmer. “This investigation is another example of the collective efforts of our federal and international law enforcement partners to bring down those responsible for the proliferation of illegal drugs in our communities, no matter where in the world they hide.”

“Using their family’s businesses in New York as a front for a narcotics trafficking operation, the defendants, as alleged, sought to establish a global cocaine ring. We also used a global team to take on this case, working closely with our partners in Italy,” said FBI Assistant Director-in-Charge Rodriguez. “As today’s arrests show, we are committed to working together to disrupt and dismantle organized criminal enterprises.”

The charges detailed in the Brooklyn indictment are the product of a lengthy investigation by HSI and the FBI that involved the use of court-authorized wiretaps and physical surveillance, and revealed that between October and December 2014 alone, the defendants imported over 55 kilograms of cocaine into the United States from Costa Rica, which was recovered by law enforcement.

As alleged, Gregorio and Eleonora Gigliotti owned and operated several businesses in New York City that were used to facilitate their narcotics-trafficking operation, including Cucino Amodo Mio, an Italian restaurant and pizzeria in Corona, Queens, and Fresh Farms Export Corp., an import/export company. In October 2014, law enforcement intercepted a shipment of cassava (a starchy root) that was shipped to the United States from Costa Rica and bound for Farm Fresh Export Corp. in New York. The shipment was found to contain approximately 40 kilograms of cocaine secreted inside cardboard boxes of cassava. Earlier, Eleonora Gigliotti allegedly traveled to Costa Rica with approximately $400,000 in cash that she delivered to the sources of supply. In September 2014, Franco Fazio allegedly traveled from Italy to New York and then to Costa Rica to deliver another $170,000 in cash to the sources of supply.

In December 2014, law enforcement intercepted a second shipment of cassava bound for Fresh Farms Export Corp. in New York that had also been shipped from Costa Rica and seized approximately 15 kilograms of cocaine secreted within the cardboard boxes of produce. Prior to the arrival of this shipment of cocaine, defendant Franco Fazio allegedly made two additional trips to Costa Rica to meet with the sources of supply.

The Gigliotti defendants were arrested on March 11, 2015, in New York. That same day, law enforcement searched Cucino Amodo Mio and Gregorio and Eleonora Gigliotti’s residence. In the restaurant they seized one 12 gauge shotgun; one loaded .357 magnum Trooper revolver; one loaded .22 caliber Colt pistol; one loaded .38 caliber Charter Arms revolver; one 9 mm Keltec pistol; one .762 Czech pistol; one .38 caliber Derringer that had a defaced serial number; ammunition magazines; loose ammunition; two handgun holsters; brass knuckles; and more than $100,000 in cash. In the Gigliotti residence agents recovered a loaded .45 caliber Llama handgun and more than $18,000 in cash.

The charges in Italy relate to the defendants’ narcotics trafficking distribution ring in that country – as a quantity of the cocaine imported into the United States was destined for exportation to and distribution in Italy. Based in part upon the U.S. investigation, Italian law enforcement disabled a narcotics distribution ring allegedly operating in Calabria on behalf of the U.S.-based defendants.

The charges in the superseding indictment are merely allegations, and the defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty. If convicted, they face a potential mandatory minimum sentence of 15 years’ imprisonment. The Brooklyn defendants will be arraigned at a later date before United States District Judge Raymond J. Dearie.

The government’s case is being prosecuted jointly by the Office’s Organized Crime & Gangs Section and the Long Island Criminal Section. Assistant United States Attorneys James Miskiewicz, Nicole M. Argentieri and Margaret E. Gandy are in charge of the prosecution.

The Defendants:

GREGORIO GIGLIOTTI

Age: 59

Malba, New York

ELEONORA GIGLIOTTI

Age: 54

Malba, New York

ANGELO GIGLIOTTI

Age: 34

Woodside, New York

FRANCO FAZIO

Age: 56

Calabria, Italy

E.D.N.Y. Docket No. 15-CR-204 (RJD)

http://www.justice.gov/usao/nye/pr/May15/2015May07.php

[Wiseguy]

Looks like there may be something to the previous reports about Genovese captain Anthony Romanello financing this.


The Calabrian family that ran the pizzeria in New York allegedly turned to the U.S. Mafia’s Genovese crime clan for financing so they could invest in the cocaine trade, Calabria-based anti-Mafia prosecutors said.
http://www.wsj.com/articles/pizzeria-dr ... 1431018379

[Five Felonies]

you know, for a while i've been wondering why the calabrians don't seem to be involved with heroin at all. i suppose that they are already swimming in money as a result of their worldwide cocaine empire, but both the nation's largest heroin market and their main base of operations in america are on in the same, the nyc metro area. you'd have to think that some of the old pipelines are intact, and the remoteness as well as the corruption seem to make calabria a nice spot for a few high quality, clandestine heroin processing labs!

[tmarotta]

Hey Five Felonies. I agree it seems strange that there seems to be little involvement in heroin anymore. I think one factor is the production chain has changed. Now places that produce poppies also process them into heroin (Mexico and Afghanistan), so the Italians no longer are involved in production. Not only that cocaine is way more profitable in Europe and the market is growing, while heroin is shrinking especially with countries such as the Netherlands and Switzerland giving out medicinal smack. Of course the US heroin market is growing but again drug trafficking is directly impacted by geography. Since Mexico is so close to the US and they are cranking up opium production especially as the cartels are losing there market for marijuana, it seems as though the Mexicans will continue to increase their market in the US. Not to mention the Mexican dope is cheaper, although probably not better.

[Five Felonies]

Hey Five Felonies. I agree it seems strange that there seems to be little involvement in heroin anymore. I think one factor is the production chain has changed. Now places that produce poppies also process them into heroin (Mexico and Afghanistan), so the Italians no longer are involved in production.

the italians were never involved in heroin production, just refining, as the corsicans were before them. they refined the morphine base(heroin #2) produced in afghanistan/pakistan/lebanon into #4 heroin, often referred to as "china white", water soluble, able to be snorted or injected without the need to "cook" it up. now, the traffickers in afghanistan just process it there directly into heroin #3, not water soluble. this is the stuff that dominates the european market that you see people smoking on foil. this is the stuff that needs citric acid added to it to make it water soluble, lemon juice is most often used. i'm always skeptical when numbers like 90% of the world's heroin being produced in afghanistan simply because unless it it being refined further somewhere else, only a small amount at best ends up in the us.

Since Mexico is so close to the US and they are cranking up opium production especially as the cartels are losing there market for marijuana, it seems as though the Mexicans will continue to increase their market in the US. Not to mention the Mexican dope is cheaper, although probably not better.

the mexicans have been recruiting columbian chemists for a while now to produce their own high quality powdered heroin to break into the northeast market where their more traditional black tar is pretty much unheard of. alot of poppy production in mexico itself as well as guatemala, a country with a very heavy sinaloa and zeta presence.

[tmarotta]

Thanks for the clarification. Do you have any idea if the Dominicans in NY are still getting heroin from Colombia or are they getting their product from Mexico? I have heard that poppy production in Colombia is down.

[Five Felonies]

Thanks for the clarification. Do you have any idea if the Dominicans in NY are still getting heroin from Colombia or are they getting their product from Mexico? I have heard that poppy production in Colombia is down.

i'd say both, but probably more from the columbians just based off geography. the dominican rebublic has been a huge jumping off point for drugs destined for the northeast, both heroin and coke. the dominican organizations have constantly been mentioned in recent dea threat assessment reports as the dominant wholesale group in the region. however, the mexicans, particularly sinaloa, have really upped their presence in the region over the last decade or so.

[Wiseguy]

According to the latest reports I've seen, the Mexicans are the dominant traffickers in virtually every area of the country except the Northeast. But even there they are the main importers and wholesalers as far up as Philadelphia. It's the New York/New Jersey and New England area where Colombian traffickers are still at the top, often wholesaling to Dominican traffickers. But the Mexicans have been continually expanding throughout those regions. Unlike many other areas of the country, there they just face a more ethnically diversified competition.

[Five Felonies]

According to the latest reports I've seen, the Mexicans are the dominant traffickers in virtually every area of the country except the Northeast.

probably a safe bet to throw south florida in there as maybe one of the only other major regions where thew mexicans aren't at the top.

[Wiseguy]

According to the latest reports I've seen, the Mexicans are the dominant traffickers in virtually every area of the country except the Northeast.

probably a safe bet to throw south florida in there as maybe one of the only other major regions where thew mexicans aren't at the top.

That used to be the case but now they rival the Colombians in South Florida and are the top traffickers in North Florida.