German police officer among people organized against the “Ndrangheta on sales of expensive food and equipment.
The German and Italian authorities have arrested dozens of suspects, including a police officer, in raids against the criminal organization of Ndrangheta on fraud involving the sale of expensive food and pizza manufacturing equipment.
The “Ndrangheta is considered the richest and powerful mafia in Italy and is also strongly involved in drug trafficking, controlling most of the cocaine flowing in Europe.
Hundreds of law enforcement officials have carried out around forty searches in four German states and several regions of Italy as part of a five -year investigation which involved the cooperation of the International Police Organization Interpol.
Fourteen suspects, including a 46 -year -old policeman accused of supporting the gang, were arrested in western Germany and 20 were arrested in Italy, German police said on Tuesday.
They are accused of “fraud developed with high -value food products, such as expensive cheeses and olive oil, as well as cooking equipment for the production of pizzas,” said Eurojust, the European Union judicial agency, which coordinated the raids.
Suspects are also accused of other crimes, including criminal fire, drug trafficking and tax evasion.
The alleged food fraud took place in Stuttgart, Germany, and involved suspects pretending to be representatives of German food companies who then targeted Italian companies, according to German prosecutor Joachim Ditrich.
They ordered large quantities of food and equipment in the name of a false business but did not pay, resulting in losses of hundreds of thousands of euros to suppliers, he said.
The suspects would then have put pressure on Italian restaurants in and around the German city to buy supplies, and companies agreed to avoid possible reprisals.
Italian prosecutors said the victims were Calabria Italians, the southern region of the country where the ‘Ndrangheta is based.
The arrested police officer is accused of having disclosed confidential information to help the suspects.
