Mafia power play may be linked to murder of John Latorre
The murder of a Greenvale fruit and vegetable grocer could spark a new underworld war. See why.
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A Melbourne mafia murder is at risk of sparking a new underworld war amid a leadership shake up of the Ndrangheta organised crime clan.
The cold-blooded execution of John Peter Latorre in his Greenvale driveway was believed to be linked to a changeover at the top of the group.
A small committee, or commission, had overseen the mafia’s operations in Melbourne for decades.
But the retirement of the Godfather last year has created tensions in the group, which may be linked to the bloodshed this week.
Speaking from Italy, mafia expert Dr Anna Sergi said it was unlikely that Latorre was murdered over a debt or a mistake with a drug shipment.
“This might be a warning that he picked the wrong side. It’s a warning to others rather than a punishment to him,” she said.
“This doesn’t look like revenge or some kind of debt collection. There’s been a move on from a younger generation.”
Latorre, 64, was gunned down when he opened his garage door on Buchanan Place shortly before 4.30am on Tuesday.
Neighbours did not report hearing gunshots. Victoria Police collected CCTV from homes in the street.
Detective Senior Sergeant Danny Travaglini, of the Homicide Squad, said at the scene this week that Victoria Police was on alert for retaliation attacks.
Dr Sergi, a Professor of Criminology at Britain’s University of Essex, was interviewed while on a study placement in Italy this week.
The globally respected mafia expert has spent decades researching the organised crime network and has provided testimony to a parliamentary inquiry in Australia.
Dr Sergi said Victoria Police were right to be on alert for retaliation attacks.
“It can’t go on unresolved, there will be demands for retaliation but if there’s not a retaliation then it’s been ordered by someone very high up,” she said.
“A mafia murder is usually revenge or it’s demonstrative, it’s a demonstration of power.
“We will find out soon if it’s part of a bigger picture.”
The Ndrangheta, the name of the mafia group based out of Calabria in southern Italy, has operated in Australia for a century.
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The Australian Federal Police revealed in 2022 there were more than 5000 members of the mafia operating in Australia.
The mapping of the family-based crime group came out of text messages uncovered in the Operation Ironside sting, where police were covertly monitoring millions of communications.
Ironside resulted in dozens of arrests of bikie gang members, dismantling the Comanchero hierarchy.
Comanchero supreme leader Hakan Ayik was arrested in Istanbul, in November by Turkish Authorities.
AFP Assistant Commissioner Nigel Ryan has previously said that the Ndrangheta were “pulling the strings of Australian outlaw motorcycle gangs”.
However, there have been few headlines about successful arrests of mafia leaders.
“They have been able to stay under the radar by living modest lives, in modest homes,” Asst. Comm. Ryan said in 2022.
“They mix their illegitimate money with money from their legitimate construction, agricultural or catering businesses and all of this makes it more difficult to not only identify criminality but to prove it.”
The Ndrangheta has been linked to moving as much as 70 per cent of the world’s cocaine.
New figures from the Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission this week revealed Australians spent more than $1.3 billion on cocaine.
Latorre’s murder was the first mafia execution since Vincenzo Manella was shot five times in his Fitzroy North driveway in January 1999.
His brother Gerardo was killed in October 1999, also in Fitzroy North.
The murders have remained unsolved but were amid Melbourne’s bloody Underbelly wars linked to the late Carl Williams’ battle for control of the drug trade.
stephen.drill@news.com.au
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Originally published as Mafia power play may be linked to murder of John Latorre
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