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CRIME

’Ndrangheta Mafia seen firmly established in Germany

The dreaded ’Ndrangheta clan of the Italian Mafia has established a growing foothold in Germany, according to a report from the Federal Bureau of Criminal Investigation (BKA) obtained by weekly newspaper Die Zeit.

Published: 13 August 2009 07:33 CEST
’Ndrangheta Mafia seen firmly established in Germany
The murder scene in Duisburg. Photo: DPA

The officials believe there are 229 family clans of the Calabria-based ’Ndrangheta active in Germany. Many of the 900 members are found in North Rhine-Westphalia, Hesse, Bavaria and Baden-Württemberg.

The paper reported on Thursday that much of the criminal activity carried out by the German-based Mafia members includes arms trafficking, murder, money laundering, drug trafficking, toxic waste disposal and extortion. The 400-page report also lists hundreds of German restaurants under Mafia control.

The ’Ndrangheta Mafia clan is based in the Calabrian region of Italy, located right on the country’s “toe.” Despite its geographical proximity to Sicily, the ’Ndrangheta clan operates separately from the Sicilian Cosa Nostra clan.

The ’Ndrangheta first made its presence in Germany known almost two years ago when six Italians in Duisburg were shot dead in front of their restaurant. The apparent motive was a feud between the family that owned the restaurant and a family of the clan. Giovanni Strangio, who operated two pizzerias in the area, and his brother-in-law Giuseppe Nirta have both been arrested for the crime.

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CRIME

Teenager turns self in after attack on German politician

A 17-year-old has turned himself in to police in Germany after an attack on a lawmaker that the country's leaders decried as a threat to democracy.

Published: 5 May 2024 12:52 CEST
Teenager turns self in after attack on German politician

The teenager reported to police in the eastern city of Dresden early Sunday morning and said he was “the perpetrator who had knocked down the SPD politician”, police said in a statement.

Matthias Ecke, 41, European parliament lawmaker for Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s Social Democrats (SPD), was set upon by four attackers as he put up EU election posters in Dresden on Friday night, according to police.

Ecke was “seriously injured” and required an operation after the attack, his party said.

Scholz on Saturday condemned the attack as a threat to democracy.

“We must never accept such acts of violence,” he said.

Ecke, who is head of the SPD’s European election list in the Saxony region, was just the latest political target to be attacked in Germany.

Police said a 28-year-old man putting up posters for the Greens had been “punched” and “kicked” earlier in the evening on the same Dresden street.

Last week two Greens deputies were abused while campaigning in Essen in western Germany and another was surrounded by dozens of demonstrators in her car in the east of the country.

According to provisional police figures, 2,790 crimes were committed against politicians in Germany in 2023, up from 1,806 the previous year, but less than the 2,840 recorded in 2021, when legislative elections took place.

A group of activists against the far right has called for demonstrations against the attack on Ecke in Dresden and Berlin on Sunday, Der Spiegel magazine said.

According to the Tagesspiegel newspaper, Interior Minister Nancy Faeser is planning to call a special conference with Germany’s regional interior ministers next week to address violence against politicians.

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