The verdicts mark the end of a three-year “maxi trial” held in a high-security courtroom in the southern Calabria region built specifically to hold up to 350 defendants, accommodate 400 lawyers and hear from the 900 witnesses providing testimony against an extensive network of members belonging to the notorious ’Ndrangheta.
Investigators provided extensive evidence of the ruthless and oppressive tactics employed by the ’Ndrangheta in its control over the local community, including violent attacks, extortion, corruption in public contracts, weapon stockpiling, manipulation of elections and bribery.
The mobsters were members or affiliates of the leading ’Ndrangheta group operating in Vibo Valentia, an economically disadvantaged rural area where the mafia has exerted its influence for many years, stifling the local economy, infiltrating public institutions and terrorising the populace.Notably, the trial marked a significant departure from previous cases, as it included non-mafia individuals among the defendants.
The criminal group struck fear into the hearts of business owners and farmers, while enjoying protection from white-collar professionals and politicians.Informants revealed harrowing details, such as weapons being concealed in cemetery chapels and drugs being transported in ambulances.
They also disclosed instances of diverting municipal water supplies for marijuana cultivation.Those who dared to oppose the ’Ndrangheta were met with violent acts, including the dumping of dead puppies, dolphins, or goats’ heads on their doorsteps, sledgehammer attacks on storefronts, or the arson of their vehicles.
In the course of the investigation, police discovered a pizzino, a small slip of paper used by the mafia for top-level communications, containing a quote from three 17th-century knights who, according to legend, founded the Cosa Nostra in Sicily, the Camorra in Campania and the ’Ndrangheta in Calabria.
The original article contains 901 words, the summary contains 276 words. Saved 69%. I’m a bot and I’m open source!
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The verdicts mark the end of a three-year “maxi trial” held in a high-security courtroom in the southern Calabria region built specifically to hold up to 350 defendants, accommodate 400 lawyers and hear from the 900 witnesses providing testimony against an extensive network of members belonging to the notorious ’Ndrangheta.
Investigators provided extensive evidence of the ruthless and oppressive tactics employed by the ’Ndrangheta in its control over the local community, including violent attacks, extortion, corruption in public contracts, weapon stockpiling, manipulation of elections and bribery.
The mobsters were members or affiliates of the leading ’Ndrangheta group operating in Vibo Valentia, an economically disadvantaged rural area where the mafia has exerted its influence for many years, stifling the local economy, infiltrating public institutions and terrorising the populace.Notably, the trial marked a significant departure from previous cases, as it included non-mafia individuals among the defendants.
The criminal group struck fear into the hearts of business owners and farmers, while enjoying protection from white-collar professionals and politicians.Informants revealed harrowing details, such as weapons being concealed in cemetery chapels and drugs being transported in ambulances.
They also disclosed instances of diverting municipal water supplies for marijuana cultivation.Those who dared to oppose the ’Ndrangheta were met with violent acts, including the dumping of dead puppies, dolphins, or goats’ heads on their doorsteps, sledgehammer attacks on storefronts, or the arson of their vehicles.
In the course of the investigation, police discovered a pizzino, a small slip of paper used by the mafia for top-level communications, containing a quote from three 17th-century knights who, according to legend, founded the Cosa Nostra in Sicily, the Camorra in Campania and the ’Ndrangheta in Calabria.
The original article contains 901 words, the summary contains 276 words. Saved 69%. I’m a bot and I’m open source!