Italy Seizes Assets Worth $2.95 Billion Belonging to the Mafia

Italian police have seized assets worth up to $2.95 billion said to belong to organized crime in the latest sting against The 'Ndrangheta.

Italy’s most powerful crime syndicate controls much of Europe’s cocaine trade, more than 1500 betting shops, 82 online gambling sites and some 60 other companies engaging in so-called “sin industries”.   Profits from the trade, which is worth billions, were laundered through the gambling empire.

The crew is believed to have been headed by mobster Mario Gennaro, who made his way up through the mob in the southern region of Calabria from local to regional chief because of the gambling ring's success.

Interior minister Angelino Alfano described the sting in Reggio Calabria as "a serious blow to the 'Ndrangheta".

The name 'Ndrangheta comes from the Greek for courage or loyalty and the organisation's tight clan-based structure has made it hard to penetrate.

A separate sting in January led to the seizure of a notebook written in a hieroglyphic-style code which detailed the initiation rites and the 'Ndrangheta's hierarchical structure from "piciotto" [foot soldier] up to Godfather.

- Jagajeet Chiba, Gambling911.com