Italy's judiciary will start the largest mafia trial in more than 30 years. Prosecutors plan to strike a blow to the 'Ndrangheta crime syndicate, whose tentacles reach worldwide.
More than 350 alleged members of the mafia (Mafiosi) and hordes of politicians, lawyers, businessmen, and others accused of enabling the mobs will appear in the court in a huge, specially converted courtroom in the southern Calabrian town of Lamezia Terme, in the heart of 'Ndrangheta territory.
Prosecutors are working to prove a web of crimes dating back to the 1990's, including murder, drug trafficking, extortion, money laundering, and abuse of office.
The trial "is a cornerstone in the building of a wall against the mafias in Italy", anti-mob prosecutor Nicola Gratteri said.
In Italy, so-called "maxi-trials," which include scores of suspects and countless charges, are seen as the best judicial resource against the country's various organized crime groups, of which the 'Ndrangheta is now considered the most powerful, controlling the bulk of cocaine flowing into Europe.
The most famous "maxi-trial" of 1986-7 dealt a major blow to Sicily's Cosa Nostra, resulting in 338 guilty verdicts, but prosecutors Giovanni Falcone and Paolo Borsellino were later assassinated by the mob.
The current trial, expected to last at least a year and likely longer, features 355 defendants, more than 900 prosecution witnesses, and an unprecedented number of collaborators, given the close family ties within the 'Ndrangheta that discourage turncoats.
The 'Ndrangheta has expanded well beyond its traditional domains of drug trafficking and loan sharking, now using shell companies and front men to reinvest illegal gains in the legitimate economy.
In many parts of Calabria, experts say it has infiltrated practically all areas of public life, from city hall and hospitals to cemeteries and even the courts.
Authorities believe there are some 150 'Ndrangheta families in Calabria and at least 6,000 members and affiliates in the region. That swells to thousands more when including those worldwide, although estimates are unreliable.
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