- San Luca feud
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Duisburg massacre Location Outside the Da Bruno restaurant in Duisburg. Date August 15, 2007 Target Members of the Pelle-Vottari-Romeo 'Ndrangheta clans Attack type Massacre Death(s) Six killed Perpetrator(s) 'Ndrangheta hit squad of the Strangio-Nirta clan, composed of Giovanni Strangio and Giuseppe Nirta. The San Luca feud or Vendetta of San Luca is a long running conflict between two clans of the 'Ndrangheta—an Italian organized crime organisation—that began in 1991 in Italy's Calabria region in the village of San Luca.
Contents
Carnival fight started feud
The two involved clans, the Strangio-Nirta and Pelle-Vottari-Romeo families, both belong to the 'Ndrangheta crime organization. After a fight at a carnival celebration in 1991 turned ugly, two young men from Stangio-Nirta were killed, leading to a series of revenge killings.[1] In May 1993, four people were killed in an hour.[2] Shortly thereafter, the old patriarch Antonio Nirta imposed a peace with the help of the De Stefano clan from Reggio Calabria, which held for some time.[3][4]
A truce was called in 2000. The conflict flared up again on 25 December 2006 when Maria Strangio was shot to death in San Luca. She was the wife of Giovanni Luca Nirta, a supposed leader of the Strangio-Nirta family. At the funeral of Maria Strangio, her cousin Giovanni Strangio appeared with gun, presumably to kill members of the Pelle-Romeo clan. He was arrested and released in July 2007. Until August 2007, 5 more murders and 8 attempted murders in Calabria were attributed to the feud.
During the reconstruction of Christmas at the trial in 2011 the prosecution said that there was a "state of war" between the two clans. Evidence collected by phone taps, interceptions and declarations of turncoats showed that the instigator of the attack was Francesco Pelle, also known as 'Ciccio Pakistan', while the order came from Franco Vottari. Among the perpetrators of the crime, was Sebastiano Vottari, a brother of Franco.[5]
The Duisburg massacre
Mugshot of Marco Marmo, one of the victims of the Duisberg massacre.
The conflict then received significant new public attention on 15 August 2007 when six men belonging to the Pelle-Romeo clan were shot dead in their cars in front of a pizzeria near the train station of Duisburg in western Germany. One of the killed men, Marco Marmo, was seen as responsible for the murder of Maria Strangio. It is believed that the men had moved to Germany to escape the feud. Giovanni Strangio was identified as one of the two triggermen who fired more than 70 shots.[6][7] The second triggerman is believed to be Strangio’s brother-in-law Giuseppe Nirta (born in 1973), also wanted for international cocaine trafficking.[8][9][10]
In Germany the massacre instigated the Mafia? Nein danke! movement, inspired by the example of the anti-Mafia movement Addiopizzo in Sicily.[11][12]
Chasing the suspects
A massacre of this size had been unprecedented in the history of the 'Ndrangheta. Italian police drastically heightened security measures in San Luca as a result, and arrested over 30 'Ndrangheta members, including Giovanni Luca Nirta.[13] Nirta's rival Francesco Vottari was arrested on October 12, 2007.[14] German and Italian police cooperated, and four members of the Strangio-Nirta clan were arrested in December 2007; the main suspect of the shooting, Giovanni Strangio, was however able to escape.[15] The head of the Strangio-Nirta clan, Giuseppe Nirta was arrested on May 23, 2008.[16] His son and successor Paolo Nirta (a cousin of Giovanni Strangio) on August 7, 2008.[17][18]
Police concluded from telephone surveillance that the 'Ndrangheta clan bosses had negotiated a cease fire near the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Polsi in Aspromonte, a traditional meeting place of the 'Ndrangheta.[15] According to prosecutor Nicola Gratteri the elite bosses of the 'Ndrangheta imposed a peace directly after the Duisburg massacre.[19]
On March 12, 2009, Dutch police arrested Giovanni Strangio and his brother-in-law, Francesco Romeo, in an apartment in Diemen near Amsterdam, after German police learned that they were hiding there by following clues found in Nirta's flat after his arrest.[20][21] On February 11, 2010, police arrested Sebastiano Nirta in San Luca suspected of being Strangio's accomplices in the Duisburg killings. The jailed Giuseppe Nirta received an additional arrest warrant. Both were charged on the basis of DNA evidence recovered from the crime scene.[22][23][24]
Trial
The trial against the killers started on April 14, 2010, in Locri. Strangio followed the hearing via video link to his prison cell in Rome.[22][23][25] On July 12, 2011, the Criminal Court in Locri sentenced eight people to life imprisonment for their roles in a violent feud, including Giovanni Strangio, Gianluca Nirta, Francesco Nirta (37), Giuseppe Nirta, detto 'Peppe u versu' (71), Francesco Pelle, known as 'Ciccio Pakistan' (34), Sebastiano Romeo (34), Francesco Vottari known as 'Ciccio u Frunzu' (40) and Sebastiano Vottari, known as 'il Professore' (28). Three other people were convicted and sentenced to terms ranging from nine to 12 years, while three more were acquitted.[26][27][28]
Related links
- Category:'Ndranghetisti
- List of 'ndrine
References
- ^ A mafia family feud spills over, BBC News, August 16, 2007
- ^ (Italian) San Luca, strage in due atti, Corriere della Sera, May 3, 1993
- ^ (Italian) E il boss rifiutò la tregua, La Repubblica, August 19, 2007
- ^ (Italian) Faida, la pax targata Di Stefano, Gazzetta del Sud, January 28, 2010
- ^ (Italian) Processo Duisburg: Pm; A San Luca c'era uno stato di guerra fredda, Antimafia duemila, June 3, 2011
- ^ (German) Haftbefehl gegen Giovanni Strangio erlassen, Der Spiegel, August 31, 2007
- ^ (Italian) Strage Duisburg, la polizia tedesca accusa "Giovanni Strangio tra i responsabili", La Repubblica, August 31, 2007
- ^ Spur nach Belgien, Focus, March 3, 2008
- ^ (German) Ermittler haben zweiten Killer im Visier, Der Spiegel, March 3, 2008
- ^ (Italian) Duisburg, individuato l'altro killer, La Repubblica, March 1, 2008
- ^ (German) Die Mafia als Imageproblem der Restaurants, Die Welt, August 21, 2007
- ^ The story of Mafia? Nein danke!, Laura Garavini website
- ^ (Italian) Strage Duisburg, San Luca sotto assedio: trentadue persone fermate per la faida, La Repubblica, August 30, 2007
- ^ (Italian) Strage di Duisburg, arrestato il boss Francesco Vottari, La Repubblica, October 12, 2007
- ^ a b (German) Razzia in San Luca, Sueddeutsche Zeitung, December 18, 2007
- ^ San Luca clan chief caught, ANSA, May 23, 2008
- ^ Italy arrest over Mafia killing, BBC News, August 7, 2008
- ^ (Italian) 'Ndrangheta, arrestato a San Luca cognato del killer di Duisburg, La Repubblica, August 7, 2008
- ^ (Italian) Strage di Duisburg, un anno dopo: analisi di Nicola Gratteri, ANSA, August 9, 2008
- ^ (German) "Feinstaubplakette verriet mutmaßlichen Mafia-Killer", Spiegel Online, March 13, 2009
- ^ Alleged mafia kingpin arrested in Amsterdam over gangland massacre, The Guardian, March 13, 2009
- ^ a b Italy: Alleged mafia killer goes on trial for German massacre, AdnKronos, April 14, 2010
- ^ a b (Italian) Strage Duisburg, oggi via al processo, ANSA, April 14, 2010
- ^ (German) Polizei nimmt dritten Täter fest, Der Spiegel, February 11, 2010
- ^ (German) Mutmaßlicher Drahtzieher steht vor Gericht, Der Spiegel, April 14, 2010
- ^ (Italian) Strage di Duisburg, verdetto di primo grado ergastolo a Giovanni Strangio e altri sette, La Repubblica, July 12, 2011
- ^ Italians convicted in Duisburg mob massacre, The Associated press, July 12, 2011
- ^ (German) Mafiamorde von Duisburg: Gericht verurteilt Haupttäter zu lebenslanger Haft, Der Spiegel, July 12, 2011
Sources
- Rache am Weihnachtsmörder, Spiegel Online, 16 August 2007. (German)
- A Deadly Mafia Export from Italy, Spiegel Online, 15 August 2007
- Mafia six killed over an egg, The Scotsman, 16 August 2007
- Mafia feud blamed for 'executions' in Germany, Financial Times, 16 August 2007
Categories:- History of the 'Ndrangheta
- Organized crime conflicts in Italy
- Conflicts in 2007
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