We use cookies to improve our service for you. You can find more information in our data protection declaration. German and Italian authorities say that the eastern German city of Erfurt has become an operational hub for the 'Ndrangheta mafia.
Investigators say Germany's lax laws have created fertile ground for organized crime. The German Federal Police and Italy's anti-mafia authority DIA have confirmed to a regional German broadcaster that the mafia organization 'Ndrangheta has turned the Thuringian city of Erfurt from a subsidiary hideout into a major business hub. The new findings are centered on recent major investments in seven exclusive restaurants in Rome and Lisbon - all emanating from Italian businessmen based in Erfurt.
These acquisitions attracted the attention of the Italian authorities because they came on top of the 1. The three latest restaurant investments, coming on top of other activities in Germany, have convinced authorities in both Italy and Germany that Erfurt has become much more than a minor outlying base. This amounts to a money-laundering operation worth up to million euros for the 'Ndrangheta, a worldwide organized crime network based in the Calabria region of southern Italy and allegedly involved in forced prostitution, loan-sharking, insurance fraud, racketeering, extortion, and the trafficking of drugs, weapons, and children.
But despite the increased activity, the 'Ndrangheta has rarely come to the attention of the German police, or the German media. One exception was the murder of six people who were shot dead outside a pizzeria in the western city of Duisburg in , apparently as a result of a feud between two families. In response, the BKA set up a special unit to fight Italian organized crime. But some investigators have argued that the authorities are also hampered by Germany's laws. For one thing, mafia membership itself is not a crime.
Moreover, in a blog entry written for the investigative journalist network "Correctiv," Margherita Bettoni pointed out that the burden of proof for mafia-related crimes lies with prosecutors in Germany - unlike in Italy. In other words, if a mafiosi suspect is caught in Germany, it is up to the state to prove that his income is illegitimate, and show which crimes it comes from - in Italy, the suspect has to prove that their income is legal.
