COORDINATED CRACKDOWN ON 'NDRANGHETA MAFIA IN EUROPE

05Dec2018
Press Release
Unique joint investigation by judiciary and police forces in the Netherlands, Italy, Germany and
Belgium culminates in the largest, coordinated joint action against an organised criminal group to
date in Europe.
During a joint action day starting in the early hours of 5 December 2018, judicial and law
enforcement authorities in the Netherlands, Italy, Germany, Belgium and Luxemburg have taken
coordinated and decisive action against the ‘Ndrangheta. This aggressive, mafia-style organised
criminal group is one of the most powerful criminal networks in the world, and controls much of
Europe's cocaine trade, combined with systematic money laundering, bribery and violent acts.
The operation, code-named ‘Pollino’, is the biggest of its kind to date in Europe. Several hundred
police, including special intervention units, were engaged in today’s action, together with prosecutors
and investigative officers. The judicial authorities and law enforcement agencies involved have been
working intensively together since 2016, including in a Joint Investigation Team (JIT) supported by
Eurojust - the EU’s Judicial Cooperation Unit and Europol in The Hague, to prepare the action.
As a result of close cooperation, almost than 4,000 kg of cocaine and hundreds of kilos of other
drugs have been detected across Europe during the course of the investigation. By 12.00 on the
action day, 84 suspects have been reported arrested, including high-ranking members of the mafia
network. An estimated EUR 2 million in criminal assets are expected to be seized and many witness
hearings and house searches will be conducted, securing important evidence to be used at trial.
Actions are also taking place in Suriname.
The case originated in 2014 when the Dutch Fiscal, Information and investigation Service (FIOD)
referred an investigation of possible money laundering to Eurojust. The investigation looked into
partners of Italian restaurants in Horst and Venray in the Netherlands and showed connections to
the Nordrhein-Westfalen region in Germany as well as to criminal activity in Reggio Calabria in
southern Italy. The Dutch desk at Eurojust therefore proactively encouraged the other countries
concerned to look into the case.
The ‘Ndrangheta mafia network, that has its base in Southern Italy, is known to operate by starting
legitimate businesses in other countries as a cover to expand overseas, smuggling drugs, laundering
illicit profits and claim new territories as areas under their control. By splitting the activities per
country, the mafia network aims to exploit legal differences between criminal jurisdictions and to
escape attention, since each crime, if only investigated separately, may appear as an isolated act
rather than part of an international operation.
The creation of a Joint Investigation Team by The Netherlands, Italy and Germany for Operation
Pollino in October 2016 had a catalytic effect on the scale and intensity of the investigation.
Essentially a legal framework, a JIT is a platform for judiciary and police from different countries to
work directly together in a specific case and systematically exchange operational information. Step
by step, the authorities involved in Operation Pollino, including investigative judges, worked very
intensively together to lay the puzzle, pool their knowledge and creativity in order to establish a joint
strategy and uncover the actual magnitude and complexity of the criminal activity of the
‘Ndrangheta. The exchange of evidence, which is essential to build solid prosecution cases, has
been an important element to prepare today’s action. It is the first JIT with the participation of Italy.
The practical support through EU Agencies like Eurojust and Europol has played a crucial role in
Operation Pollino. The JIT has been facilitated and financed by Eurojust, who also organised of a
series coordination meetings to regularly bring the actors together, support the development of a
joint strategy and facilitate the mutual understanding of the different judicial systems at critical
juncures of the investigation. Europol has contributed through extensive data analysis by in the
context of Analysis Project ITOC, which supports cases investigating the criminal activities of mafia-
structured OCGs originating in Italy and impacting other Member States.
During the joint action day, prosecutors from the judicial authorities followed the action in real-time
from the coordination centre at Eurojust, which allows for swift analysis of new data as it is being
collected during the action and makes it possible to adapt the strategy as required. Europol has also
assisted the Italian police with in the field with a mobile office.
Filippo Spiezia, Vice-President of Eurojust and National Member for Italy, said: ‘Today, we send a
clear message to organised crime groups across Europe. They are not the only ones able to operate
across borders: so are Europe’s judiciary and law enforcement communities. By working together and using the unique tools at our disposal in the EU, such as the possibility to form a Joint
Investigation Team and with the practical support through EU Agencies like Eurojust and Europol,
we are able to detect, investigate and prosecute this kind of serious, organised crime.”
As of 11:00 on the joint action day, the following actions and results have been reported:
The Netherlands:
5 arrests. Seizures of almost 4,000 kg cocaine and 140 kg of XTC pills. Dutch investigators from
FIOD and the Dutch Police have also helped to search in Italy and Germany.
Authorities involved:
The Fiscal, Information and investigation Service (FIOD),
the Special Affairs Team, Eindhoven,
Police National Unit, Dutch National Prosecution Service]
Italy:
The main focus has been in the regions Calabria and Catanzaro in Northern Italy. There have been
41 arrests.
Authorities involved:
Office of the public prosecutor Reggio Calabria
Central Operative Service of the State Police (SCO)
State Police Investigative Department of Reggio Calabria;
Central Service of Investigation of the Guardia di Finanza (SCICO)
Police Command for financial investigation of Guardia di Finanza (Valutaria GdF)
Operational antidrug department of the Guardia di Finanza of Reggio Calabria (GOA)
Germany:
The main focus has been in the western parts of North Rhine-Westphalia due to its proximity to the
ARA harbours. There have been 15 arrests and [+6 in a related operation]
Authorities involved:
Staatsanwaltschaft Duisburg
Bundeskriminalamt (BKA)
There has also been close cooperation with other German Italian Organised Crime investigations,
especially with the Organised Crime Units of the Landeskriminalamt NRW as well as the Office of
the Public Prosecutor and the Police in Cologne, where coordinated arrests and searches have been
executed today.
Belgium:
The main focus has been in Maasmechelen in Limburg. There have been 4 arrests and [+10 in a
related operation]
Authorities involved:
The Public Prosecutor’s Office Limburg,
The Federal Judicial Police, Limburg,
Local Police of Lanaken-Maasmechelen, Limburg
Luxembourg:
Two suspects have been arrested and the national investigation is ongoing.
Authorities involved:
Police Lëtzebuerg
Parquet de Luxembourg
Cabinet d'instruction Luxembourg



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