Italian police want Melbourne mafia boss Frank Madaferri deported to face more charges
Italy’s top anti-mafia prosecutor has unfinished business with Melbourne mafia figure Frank Madafferi and he has revealed why he wants him deported from Australia.
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Exclusive: Italy’s top anti-mafia prosecutor wants Melbourne mafia figure Frank Madafferi returned to face justice there when he is released from jail over the world’s biggest ecstasy bust.
It comes as we reveal today there are cracks in the mafia’s code of silence in Italy with a new generation of crooks unable to handle long jail sentences.
And the threat of corruption attempts of Australian politicians and government officials by Calabrian mafia, dubbed Ndrangheta, remains extreme as the group moves to a less violent, more business like, operation.
Anti-mafia prosecutor Nicola Gratteri told the Sunday Herald Sun this week that Madafferi, from Oppido Mamertina, Calabria, should be deported.
Mr Gratteri, who has been subject to decades of death threats, was under heavy police guard when he spoke to News Corp Australia in Milan.
“It’s important that he should be extradited, Australia should do all it can send him back to Italy so he can face trial,” Mr Gratteri said.
“The Australian Government should send him back, absolutely yes. That would set an important precedent and important for the relationship between Italy and Australia.
“He’s not in prison for political reasons then he should be extradited.”
Madafferi, 58, has been considering an appeal to his conviction because of the involvement of Lawyer X, Nicola Gobbo in his case.
He is eligible for parole in mid-2021 but he has a string of charges for extortion, guns and violence charges in Italy when he also spent two years in jail in the 1980s.
Madafferi’s United Nations Human Rights case in 2004 claimed the Italians had dropped their charges, which carried a four year and eight month sentence in absentia.
But documents seen by the Sunday Herald Sun show Italian authorities continued to monitor his activities, including his 2014 conviction in the 4.4 tonne ecstasy importation hidden in tomato tins discovered at Melbourne’s docks.
Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton’s office did not respond to questions this week on whether Madafferi would be deported on his release.
Attorney General Christian Porter said he did not comment on parole matters before a decision was made and was unable to comment on specific corruption attempts.
“The Australian Government also does not disclose whether it has made or received a request for a person’s extradition, unless and until that person is arrested or brought before a court pursuant to an extradition request,” he said.
“The Government has a robust, multi-faceted approach to combating corruption. The Government is also progressing plans to establish a Commonwealth Integrity Commission (CIC) which will enhance national integrity arrangements across the federal public sector.”
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“The CIC will.... provide expert capability to investigate allegations of serious criminal corruption within the public sector. Through the CIC, the Government is targeting serious criminal corruption that presents a threat to good public administration.”
Madafferi has desperately tried to avoid being sent back to Italy after only entering Australia on a six-month tourist visa in 1989.
Former immigration minister Amanda Vanstone granted him a visa in 2005 on humanitarian grounds, which had been refused by her predecessor Philip Ruddock.
Mr Gratteri warned that the new business model of the Ndrangheta meant there would be attempts in the future to infiltrate and corrupt Australian politicians.
“In this western, modern world there is less morals so it’s much easier to corrupt people, since that’s easier you just pay people, there’s less noise than burning a car or killing someone,” he said.
“This is how they are working now and since they have the capability of doing this it’s nearly certain that one day or the other they will try to do this in Australia.”
And he said despite the Ndrangheta’s strength, with some estimations of their wealth at 150 billion euros ($242 billion AUD), there was a chance to break open the clan.
“The difference is the old generation was very resilient, they could stand really long trials and 20 or 30 years in jail and just be very firm and not have any problems,” he said in a translated interview.
“We saw the bosses from the past who were very hard, their sons are much more fragile, they are paranoid.”
The Australian Federal Police said in a statement there was constant work on organised crime threats, with officers posted around the globe.
“Australia remains an attractive destination for transnational organised crime groups to import border controlled drugs due to the high prices they can obtain for their product on Australian streets,” the statement said.
Originally published as Italian police want Melbourne mafia boss Frank Madaferri deported to face more charges