Mapped: Where the mafia has been in Victoria

The mafia infiltrated Australia decades ago, bringing its organised crime network to places all over Victoria. See where its members have spread.

The mafia infiltrated Australia decades ago, bringing its organised crime network to places all over Victoria. See where it has spread.

BRUNSWICK

Mafia lawyer Joe Acquaro was murdered at Gelobar, an iconic Brunswick eatery, in 2016. He had fallen out with the mob and was suspected of being a police informer. Victoria Police has refused to reveal if he was a registered snitch.

Joe Acquaro who was murdered.

MILDURA

A key marijuana crop area for the mafia in the 1970s and 1980s.

MOONEE PONDS

Rosario Gangemi was a “hero” to his family. To the mafia he was a trusted lieutenant of Liborio Benvenuto, the Godfather who dominated Melbourne’s fruit markets for decades. He was in the top 10 mafia figures in Melbourne, and was accused of being part of the plot to kill Vincenzo Angilletta in 1983. He died aged 86 at Coburg’s John Fawkner Hospital in 2008 and was buried at St Monica’s Catholic Church in Moonee Ponds.

Rosario Gangemi, a leading member of the Melbourne mafia.

Pall bearers carry the coffin of Rosario ‘Ross’ Gangemi to a waiting hearse after his funeral at St Monica's Church in Moonee Ponds. Picture: AAP

WEST MELBOURNE

Liborio Benvenuto was the undisputed leader of the Victorian mafia after taking control of Calabrian cell in Melbourne following a turf war in the 1960s. He kept the peace and the extortion rackets going for almost 30 years. He died of natural causes in 1988.

Liborio Benvenuto wanted a new ‘godfather’ for Melbourne. Picture: File

Liborio Benvenuto who died June 10, 1988, is buried in Springvale Botanical Cemetery. Picture: Ian Currie

MELBOURNE

Frank Madafferi could be sent back to Italy within weeks unless his appeal against his conviction in Melbourne’s Tomato Tins ecstasy bust was overturned. He came from the village Oppido Mamertina in Calabria but forged a life in Australia. Phillip Ruddock kicked him out of Australia in 2000 when he was minister for immigration but Amanda Vanstone overturned that decision in 2006. His lawyer in the visa case was Joe Acquaro, who was murdered in 2016. He has been linked to the Calabrian mafia.

Frank Madafferi was also involved in the Tomato Tins ecstasy bust.

CROWN CASINO

Convicted drug importer Rob Karam could often be found on the tables at Crown casino before he was jailed for his part in the world’s biggest ecstasy bust in 2007 on Melbourne’s docks. He had previously worked on the docks and was well connected in the industry. He is now challenging his conviction because he employed Nicola Gobbo as a lawyer, who was also working as a police informer.

Rob Karam who is fighting his conviction.

BARWON PRISON

Rocco Arico was a friend of murdered underworld figure Carl Williams. He’s in jail in Victoria over drug trafficking and extortion offences but is suspected of being a key mafia figure. He was questioned in jail in 2020 over the execution of Richard Mladenich in 2000.

Rocco Arico arrives at County Court. Picture: Hamish Blair

Carl Williams outside The County Court in 2004.

BRIGHTON

Mario Condello was murdered outside his home in Brighton, an exclusive suburb in Melbourne’s Bayside area in 2006 when he was aged 53. He was born in the Ndrangheta stronghold of Calabria in southern Italy. His murder was linked to Griffith mafia and he was suspected of being a money launderer for the mob.

Mario Condello’s grave at Melbourne General Cemetery. Picture: Ed Gardiner

Enzo Condello brother of slain gangland figure Mario Condello holding bullets found in the house. Picture: Eugene Hyland

MELBOURNE

Gianfranco Tizzoni was a mafia supergrass who was convicted of conspiring to murder Donald Mackay in Griffith. He was suspected of being at the scene of the murder. He fled to Italy on his own passport following his prison sentence and died in 1987.

Gianfranco Tizzoni being escorted by police.

HAMPTON

Vincenzo Muratore was shot dead outside his home in Melbourne in 1964. His son Alfonzo was killed in the same way, in the same suburb in 1992. They were both Calabrian mafia-linked figures who worked at Melbourne’s wholesale fruit market.

Vincent Muratore was gunned down outside his Hampton, Victoria home in 1962. His son Alfonso suffered a similar fate in 1992.

Alfonso Muratore was killed in 1992.

CARLTON NORTH

Domenico “The Pope” Italiano’s death in 1962 put the mafia on the map in Australia. He died of natural causes but the power vacuum he left led to a string of bloody reprisals, which became known as the Market Wars.

NORTHCOTE

Vincenzo Angilletta was blasted with two shots from a double-barrelled shotgun as he parked his car at his home in Northcote in 1963. He moved to Australia from Gioia Tauro, in Calabria Italy – that same town now has a port that has strong links to the modern-day mafia. He was a member of the mafia in Italy and transferred his trade to Melbourne.

Vincenzo Angilletta was shot dead in the back of his head. Picture: File

BAYSWATER

Giuseppe “Joe” Arena was a senior Calabrian mafia figure who laundered money for marijuana growers based in Mildura, in Victoria’s north west. He was shot dead outside his home in Bayswater in 1988 shortly after the death of Melbourne godfather Lioborio Benvenuto. He had been expected to take over the top job in the mafia, but was cut down. No-one was ever charged.

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Originally published as Mapped: Where the mafia has been in Victoria