The Godfather of Maasmechelen — How Italy’s ‘ndrangheta mafia went world – POLITICO

Talking Italian can get you a great distance on this sleepy postindustrial city on Belgium’s jap edge. The empty sidewalks of Maasmechelen are studded with shabby pizzerias, delis, espresso bars and sports activities retailers showcasing choices of Italy merch — the legacy of a wave of Italian immigration that began within the late Forties.

Lately nevertheless the Flemish city was additionally the location of one other, extra sinister Italian import. On an early spring morning earlier this yr, Belgian police carrying a global arrest warrant swooped in on a gated villa. Then got here a loud knock on the door, and Lucio Aquino — referred to as the “Godfather of Maasmechelen” — was handcuffed and led to a ready police automobile.

The arrest was a part of a pan-European bust, as police in 10 nations stormed the bolt-holes of Europe’s most feared mobsters in Might, seizing stacks of money, baggage of cocaine and instances of Rolex gold watches. Their goal: the worldwide branches of the scary ‘ndrangheta, a felony group with origins in rural Calabria, the toe of the Italian boot, that has unfold throughout Europe to regulate the profitable cocaine commerce.

“That is the biggest-ever crackdown on the ‘ndrangheta in Europe,” trumpeted the Belgian prosecutor Antoon Schotsaert. Police arrested 13 folks in Belgium and seized unlawful weapons, luxurious automobiles and €60,000 in money. In an operation that concerned 1000’s of cops, greater than 130 folks had been taken into custody in Belgium, Italy, Germany, France, Spain, Portugal, Romania and Slovenia — amongst them Lucio Aquino.

Aquino’s story — how he and his household got here to stay in Belgium and the way he joined a world community that stretches from the hilltops of Calabria to locations as far-flung as Colombia and Australia — gives a window into the fashionable mafia. The place organized crime, particularly in Italy, was as soon as linked to the soil, with tight-knit clans controlling household territories; immediately, the ‘ndrangheta operates internationally, increasing not solely by hit jobs and turf battles however by one thing akin to a franchise system, with native gamers like Aquino working as a part of a worldwide community of crime.

Establishing a international outpost for the ‘ndrangheta “is like opening a McDonald’s retailer,” mentioned Antonio Nicaso, an writer and knowledgeable on the Calabrian felony group. 

“The hyperlink to Calabria is what offers you credibility, and a recognizable model,” Nicaso mentioned. “With out that, you’re like a raft within the ocean.”

Belgian Sopranos

Lucio Aquino could have labored with the Italian mob, however he was born and raised in Maasmechelen. Paradoxically, his father left Calabria within the Seventies partly as a result of he was fed up with the ‘ndrangheta, relocating together with his spouse and two children to Limburg, a Belgian area abutting the Netherlands, the place the a now-defunct coal-mining trade had attracted waves of earlier Italian immigration.

“Since I used to be 9 I’ve been to Italy twice. On trip with my mother and father!” Lucio recalled in a uncommon interview with the native each day Het Laatste Nieuws in 2015. Quickly after the Aquinos arrived, the Limburg mines began to close down, plunging the area into financial decline. The household grew to incorporate eight siblings and it wasn’t lengthy earlier than some had been pulled into the burgeoning felony underworld. Of the six brothers and two sisters, Antonio, Lucio and Mario can be sentenced for drug trafficking and Pasquale can be sentenced in 2017 for headbutting a jailer whereas visiting his brothers. A fifth brother, Silvio, was murdered whereas awaiting trial on drug fees. 

“They had been poor and didn’t wish to ask their mother and father for cash. That’s why they began hanging out with the unsuitable folks,” recollects Loredana Capocciuti, a childhood pal of the Aquinos and the proprietor of Gianni’s, a Sixties-style Italian grocery store in Maasmechelen the place the clan nonetheless buys their edibles.

The Italians on the town bear in mind Lucio Aquino as a youngster like many others: He frolicked with associates within the miners’ group and had a watch for ladies and flashy sports activities automobiles. 

“However you might inform that he was essentially the most severe of all brothers; he’s somebody who would thoughts his personal enterprise,” recalled Franco, a 60-year-old man who grew up with Aquino within the Italian emigré circle however, he mentioned, distanced himself when his pal joined the underworld.

Franco — who most well-liked to not disclose his surname — stood on the sidewalk in an SSC Napoli soccer tracksuit and a flashy black watch. He mentioned that Lucio’s rise to energy began with small robberies within the Netherlands and cash-for-protection preparations with native companies when he was in his teenagers. Different members of his household joined him, establishing a sprawling drug trafficking community funneling tons of cocaine from South America to the ports of Antwerp and Rotterdam in fruit crates.

Inside a matter of years, the Aquino group grew to become among the many most worthwhile household companies within the Limburg area. 

For a few years the household operated undetected, mentioned Guido Vermeiren, the prosecutor basic in Limburg. “After they did seem on the radar, the police wanted time to collect ample proof towards this clan.”

Although Lucio is now in jail, his fast household has stayed behind in what neighbors name the “White Home,” a gated villa shielded by guard canines and photo voltaic panels. Twenty minutes away, his older brother Antonio — nicknamed “Rafke” — lives in a brick townhouse overlooking a forest.

“I’m not talking whereas my brother is in [prison], however I promise I’ll should you come one other time,” he mentioned politely when a reporter knocked. He leaned on a crutch, flanked by an intimidating guard canine. His brothers couldn’t be reached for remark.

The rise of the Aquinos

Being a household enterprise was one of many Aquinos’ early secrets and techniques to success. Not like different drug gangs, the clan was sure by blood ties, guaranteeing a level of loyalty to the agency. 

“They solely work with folks they’ll absolutely belief … They’re Italians, and household is a giant deal for Italians,” mentioned an individual with intimate data of the Aquino household who spoke on situation of anonymity.

There was no godfather-like determine presiding — decision-making was collegial. The household insider described Silvio because the early chief of the clan, together with his brother Mario answerable for the logistics.

Bald and beefy, with darkish sun shades seemingly perched completely on their heads, the Aquino brothers grew to become well-known figures among the many Belgian public.

“Everybody in Belgium was afraid of them merely for a way they appeared,” mentioned the Flemish lawyer Walter Van Steenbrugge, who got here throughout the Aquino household when he defended one among their associates.

Felony operations are by their nature weak to machinations by rival clans — and the Aquino household was no exception. Their rise to energy was punctuated by private vendettas and household drama. 

In February 2015, 4 males broke into the house of Lucia Aquino — one among Lucio’s sisters — and tortured her for hours hoping to discover a hidden household stash. “If there was any crime cash, do you suppose we might conceal it with our sister?” snapped Lucio within the interview with Het Laatste Nieuws.

Like many different Italians in Maasmechelen, the Aquinos favored to frequent a restaurant owned by Martino Trotta — a person they thought was a pal, wrongly because it turned out.

“Martino might need had a limoncello or an Averna an excessive amount of,” recalled Franco. “He determined to kidnap Silvio Aquino in trade for cash.” However the plan went terribly unsuitable.

On an August night in 2015, Silvio and his spouse Silvia Lišková had been instantly reduce off as they drove on a shady, wooded avenue close to the close by village of Opglabbeek. Issues apparently didn’t look proper to the seasoned drug seller. “Run, Silvia, run!” he shouted, pulling out his gun. Within the ensuing chaos, he was struck by seven bullets, two within the physique and 5 within the head.

Silvia had damaged free and escaped into the woods to name Lucio, who arrived earlier than the police. Silvio was lifeless on the street, his pockets full of €4,050 in €50 notes, in keeping with media experiences. His assailants, members of a Bosnian clan, fled in a Jaguar — one among them fatally shot within the chest — and had been rapidly arrested. Trotta, it seems, had lately served time with members of the Bosnian clan and was in common contact with them within the days earlier than the assault. In 2020, Trotta and the 4 Bosnian hitmen had been convicted over the killing of Silvio Aquino. 

For Maasmechelen, it was the tip of an period — and Lucio’s flip to helm the agency. It was throughout his tenure on the high that the household opened as much as highly effective outsiders. 

In 2020, Lucio joined forces with the ‘ndrangheta, working with highly effective clans just like the Nirta and Strangio households, in keeping with his arrest warrant, to funnel cocaine from South America to Europe and overseas, so far as Australia.

Lucio brokered offers with the native underworld throughout totally different continents; oversaw the supply of drug shipments to the port of Gioia Tauro in Calabria; and laundered the income from these operations to purchase bars and eating places in France and Germany, in keeping with the warrant. 

Prosecutors describe Aquino because the chief of the drug community, “the large man, the one who set every little thing up,” his Belgian lawyer Jan Keulen informed POLITICO. 

The Aquino household is “the most important gang we’ve ever caught in our nation,” a spokesperson from the Limburg prosecutor’s workplace informed journalists after Lucio’s arrest. “It’s a household on the head of a global group … Along with accountants, they actually have a courtroom interpreter on their payroll.”

The mafia strikes north

As soon as a clique of Calabrian mountain dwellers specialised in shootings and kidnappings, the ‘ndrangheta now operates in round 40 nations, in keeping with Jürgen Inventory, the secretary-general of Interpol. Current in Canada, South America and Australia, it has turn out to be one of many largest and most worldwide felony organizations on the earth. Estimates of its annual revenues run as excessive as €60 billion.

Whereas the ‘ndrangheta as soon as had a repute for brutal violence, it has usually tried to take care of a low profile since a 2007 bloodbath exterior a restaurant within the German metropolis of Duisburg left six lifeless and made headlines throughout Europe. “They aren’t conducting this sort of violent crime, however stay silent, doing their enterprise making an attempt to stay underneath the radar of regulation enforcement,” Inventory mentioned.

The group is “extra considering money than blood,” in keeping with Nicola Gratteri, the newly appointed prosecutor basic of Naples, who has turn out to be a family title within the battle towards the ‘ndrangheta in Calabria. “The mafia is there to purchase cocaine and reinvest the cash to purchase accommodations, eating places, and pizzerias. It’s not essential to shoot.”

The change in ways has facilitated the ‘ndrangheta’s worldwide enlargement. Relatively than making an attempt to regulate territory, the group has been content material to group up with different organizations worldwide. “It’s higher to speculate along with the competitors,” mentioned Koen Voskuil, a journalist for RTL Nieuws, a Dutch information program, who has written extensively about Italian crime within the Netherlands.

It has turn out to be commonplace follow for various felony teams to collectively spend money on drug shipments from South America and break up the income, mentioned Paul Vugts, a Dutch journalist who’s an knowledgeable in drug-related crime.

And the group has expanded quickly. With Italian authorities cracking down on organized crime at residence, dozens of ‘ndrangheta households have relocated overseas, to nations together with Belgium and the Netherlands, the place authorities are nonetheless unused to their actions. “Belgian counterstrategies haven’t been as particularly developed because the Italian ones,” mentioned Vermeiren, the Limburg prosecutor basic. Belgium, he added, has scaled up efforts lately.

Relatively than making an attempt to overcome territory, the ‘ndrangheta has expanded by a system akin to a restaurant franchise. Establishing store overseas requires the approval of the crimine di San Luca — a committee made up of seven elders in Calabria, in keeping with Gratteri. He added that franchisees pay annual dues of tens of 1000’s of euros — referred to as a fiore (flower). In trade, they get pleasure from full autonomy overseas.

The scattered construction has made it tougher to crack down on the group. “These decentralized working fashions are like terrorist cells,” mentioned Stephen Kavanagh, government director for police companies at Interpol. “It’s very horizontal and clans function virtually uniquely from one another on events, and this makes it far harder for us to help member nations in understanding the risk.”

The Dutch police estimate that as many as 100 recognized mobsters from Calabria function within the Netherlands. Voskuil, the Dutch journalist, described the ‘ndrangheta “as a multinational” that’s lively each in Colombia and in key European entry factors akin to Amsterdam and Rotterdam.

The Limburg area the place the Aquino household lived was the right place from which to base an operation. It’s near the ports of Antwerp and Rotterdam, the place cocaine enters Europe, and to the manufacturing websites of ecstasy and hashish plantations within the south of Holland, in keeping with Letizia Paoli, a professor of criminology on the College of Leuven.

Aquino’s position within the community wasn’t as a proper member of the ‘ndrangheta. Specialists described him as a “dealer” — somebody who gives his know-how to totally different felony organizations, with out belonging to any single one.

Felony nostalgia

In Maasmechelen, the Aquino household is usually remembered fondly. These days new gangs, from the Balkans or North Africa, have moved in, turfing out the native mobsters. “It’s worse than dwelling in Naples or Calabria,” mentioned Franco. “Most Italian mobsters went into retirement, and the brand new technology is nugatory.”

For the Italians on the town, the Aquinos are both a childhood reminiscence, an area success story, or mysterious next-door neighbors. “They’re all the time so well mannered,” mentioned Loredana, the proprietor of the native grocery store. “I don’t know what they do for a dwelling, and the way they’ll afford their life-style. I simply say that they’ve been very fortunate.”

“They’re fairly liked inside their group,” mentioned the person with data of the household. “The assumptions we’ve from motion pictures like ‘The Godfather’ or the story of [Colombian drug lord] Pablo Escobar are true of their case.”

Franco Roselli, a childhood acquaintance who runs a barber store, mentioned the Aquinos remind him of “the Daltons,” the felony brothers from the Fortunate Luke comedian books who look almost an identical — within the case of the Aquinos with spherical faces, chubby cheeks and shaven heads. “It have to be 20 years since I’ve final seen him [Lucio] in my hair salon,” mentioned Roselli. “I used to go to high school with one of many siblings; however since then, we’ve lived parallel lives.”

Lucio was already in hassle with the police earlier than he was arrested in Might, out and in of jail throughout a long-running trial, on fees of delivery 1000’s of kilos of cocaine from South America in cahoots with a retired policeman gone rogue.

The brand new fees are extra severe and will land him a life sentence. Prosecutors accuse him of helming the drug community from his jail cell close to the town of Leuven, with the assistance of jailers who would smuggle him kebabs and encrypted telephones.

For the second, he’s the item of a tug-of-war between Italian prosecutors, who insist he ought to face trial there due to his use of the port of Gioia Tauro, and his attorneys, who’ve been keeping off makes an attempt to extradite him.

“He ought to have stopped way back,” mused Franco, his childhood pal. “In the event you all the time wish to make an increasing number of cash, you’ll ultimately get caught.”

Elisa Braun contributed reporting for this text.