7/25/2019 SUBBING Mafia A

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The stor y of the I tal ian mafia that b ec ame b ig g er than M c Donald s after r aking in 40b n in a y ear . . .

THE RISE OF

FRANCESCOMAISANOARRESTED IN 2011

I N S I D E T H E W O R L D S B I G G E S T C R I M E S Y N D I C AT E

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The early daysThe gangs name only reacheda wider audience whenmentioned by an Italian writerin 1955, and until 1975 thesecretive mobsters kept theirbusiness operations to theCalabria region of Italy.

From 1973 until 1991 it wasinvolved in bloody wars, as wellas the kidnapping of John PaulGetty III, whose grandfatherwas one of Europes richestmen. Oilman Getty at firstrefused to pay for his safe

return, but ended up forkingout $2.9m after the gang cutoff one of his grandsons ears.

To end the war, the familiesinvolved became members ofa superordinate division calledLa Provincia, as suggested byCosa Nostra. Eventually thegroup began to invest in theinternational drugs trade.

Building an empireAfter a crackdown from the

authorities, the Cosa Nostrasactivities were restricted toinfiltrating local businesses toextort money, which gave theNdrangheta its chance toemerge from the underworldand flourish as an illegalorganisation globally.

Only known for its activitiesin Calabria, the group soonsuccessfully infiltrated Milan.Owing its power to its cocainetrafficking and close ties with

South American cartels, it wassoon able to build a presenceacross the whole of Italy.

This was largely due toit taking advantage of Italysever-growing cocaineconsumption. Between 2007and 2008, the usage in Milanalone had grown by 27 percent. In 2010 it had increasedby 40 per cent. Its nowestimated that one in six peoplein Milan snorts cocaine on a

W

hen you think

of Italys mafiapowerhouses, you

usually look no further thanthe Cosa Nostra, whose crimesinspiredTheGodfathertrilogy.

But this once untouchableoutfits influence has waned inrecent years, allowing a newgroup the Ndrangheta totake its place at the top. Nowthe Italian authorities are aftera gang bigger than the CosaNostra and richer thanMcDonalds. Meet the most

secretive mafia on the planet