New generation of Calabrian mafia ‘Gucci Gangsters’ come unstuck
Their forefathers lived in working-class areas but this generation are known for their sports cars, designer clothes and fancy meals on social media.
Their fathers and grandfathers lived in working-class suburbs, drank coffee in traditional cafes and kept their wealth hidden far from the prying eyes of law enforcement and nosy neighbours.
But the new generation of Calabrian mafia is more likely to copy the “Gucci Gangsters” from the outlaw motorcycle gangs they sell drugs with, and flash their sports cars, designer clothes and fancy restaurant meals on social media.
The Australian Federal Police, which has spent more than a year mapping 14 clans that make up the ’Ndrangheta crime group in Australia, said there had been a “shift in behaviour’’ by the younger generation of members.
“Senior members traditionally display a low profile within their community,’’ the AFP said in a statement.
“The younger generation of the Australian ’Ndrangheta are becoming more overt in displaying their status and wealth on social media platforms, including Facebook and Instagram.
“This is not necessarily attributed to a shift in ’Ndrangheta behaviour, rather an increase in social media activity due to the current trend in younger generations to have a social media footprint.’’
AFP Commander Raegan Stewart said as well as displaying their wealth and status, younger members of Italian organised crime gangs were also posting status updates and making comments that “indicate their knowledge of their heritage’’.
“The AFP has identified the emergence of a conflict between traditional Italian organised crime values of secrecy and discreet wealth accumulation with the younger generation displaying more overt involvement in crime and an ostentatious lifestyle,’’ she said.
Social media has increasingly become a rich information vein for law enforcement to mine, with the AFP launching court action to restrain the assets of suspected criminals who flashed ill-gotten wealth on social media.
And the digital footprint left by social media users has also proved helpful in locating criminals including, most famously, ’Ndrangheta boss Pasquale “Scarface’’ Manfredi, who was tracked down by Italian police monitoring his Facebook account in 2010.
Manfredi, who had adopted the nickname Scarface from the 1983 Al Pacino gangster movie but went by the more benign “Georgie” on Facebook, was hunted down in Calabria and charged with the murder of a rival gang leader after police traced him through his internet usage as he logged into Facebook.
Italian National Police Colonel Antonio Montanaro contrasted the ’Ndrangheta with another mafia brand, the Camorra in Naples.
Unlike the ’Ndrangheta, some of the Camorra had no qualms about showcasing their wealth or power, owning big cars and expensive watches, and asserting their power through routine violence and murders.
“The Camorra family houses, you would recognise from kilometres because it is gold,” Colonel Montanaro said.
By contrast, a ’Ndrangheta home in Calabria would be unlikely to be recognised as that of a wealthy or powerful family.
“They are undercover. They don’t want to be recognised, even the younger generation,” he said.
In Australia, the young ’Ndrangheta members were tech-savvy and happy to use social media platforms.
“Back when we didn’t have the internet, they didn’t have a choice,’’ Commander Stewart said of the Australian ’Ndrangheta. “That newer generation is getting used to being tech-savvy, not being as silent. Some are actually … over the top on social media.’’
AFP Assistant Commissioner crime command Nigel Ryan said the ’Ndrangheta crime syndicate was making, and laundering, billions of dollars through apparently legitimate day jobs running construction, catering and farming businesses.
“Historically, whilst the older ’Ndrangheta aren’t as flashy, they’re making billions of dollars from investing illegitimate money into legitimate business,’’ he said.
“We’d describe it as a legitimate facade. It’s all smoke and mirrors.
“They invest back into the building industry, restaurants and cafes, transport and logistics.
“There’s a lot of cash flow in there. It’s much more difficult from a policing point of view to put your finger on what’s legitimate and illegitimate in a cash society.’’
Operation Ironside, the police sting built around encrypted app AN0M, which was a law enforcement trap, captured more than 28 million messages exchanged by the criminal underworld – the majority by Italian organised crime groups and their business partners such as the Comanchero outlaw motorcycle gang.
“The interesting thing about AN0M was that they had some key principle distributors who vouched for the actual platform, and some of them were Italians themselves,’’ Mr Ryan said.
“So we weren’t surprised in the fact that the Italians were actually using it because something the ’Ndrangheta does particularly is they’re very dynamic, very evolving. They do invest, and they do look at new technologies and the way they can defeat law enforcement.
“I guess the point of difference we see now is that the older-school ’Ndrangheta members, senior members, they had much more discipline than the younger members, who are a bit more flashy, and they’re on social media, and they’re flashing their wealth, whereas historically the old ’Ndrangheta, it was all under the radar.”
