zecchinetta

Italian investigators have said they believe that the faida killings Duisburg were intended to eliminate one man, Marco Marmo, who is under police investigation for suspected involvement in the murder of the wife of the godfather of a rival clan last Christmas. The other five may have been killed to eliminate witnesses, they said.

The killings were the latest and bloodiest round of murders in a 16-year-old vendetta that began when the members of one 'ndrine threw eggs at members of a rival clan in San Luca. Later that day bullets replaced eggs, and the faida was born. This faida is performed mostly on religious holidays, and the Duisburg Assumption Day incident, of course, coincided with the morning of Ferr'agosto, Italy's most important summer holiday. The tension is palpable, increasing daily, as we approach September 2nd… the day that ‘Ndranghetisti from around the world will join civilians, politicians, and ‘holy’ men at the annual pilgrimage to San Luca, in celebration of the festival of Madonna della Montagne.

Although less widely known outside of Mafia-observer-circles than is Cosa Nostra (Sicily), the Calabrian syndicate is deeply rooted and very wealthy: "With the 'Ndrangheta, the motives aren't only about honor but above all about economic interests - money laundering and drug trafficking," assistant police chief Nicola Cavaliere said. About 80 percent of Europe's cocaine supply is believed to come in to the continent via Calabria.

The Duisburg killings are exceptional and unusual because Mafia groups – ‘Ndrangheta, Cosa Nostra, whomever – have a huge interest in investing abroad, in property, hotels and restaurants. It's a bad idea to attract attention in this way. '’Ndrangheta has the strength of greater structural flexibility than does Cosa Nostra – but the weakness of making mistakes like the Duisburg affair. The ‘Ndrangheta clearly demonstrates the strengths and weaknesses that come from blood ties: there have been practically no turncoats because it would mean turning against your own flesh and blood; but the ‘ndrine are much more vulnerable to blood feud deterioration such as that which has thrown them onto the world stage in the last week.

What anti-Mafia investigators and some Mafia scholars are discounting, however, is that these ‘ndrine are well aware of their strengths and vulnerabilities, alike. The final solution will undoubtedly be the out and out annihilation of one 'ndrine. Much like in the 1980’s when Cosa Nostra’s Corleonese boss, Totò Riina, ordered the death of every Inzerillo in the world. In Riina’s words: "Not even a seed of theirs must remain on the face of the Earth." And Riina’s sentiment appears to epitomize the emergent strategy of engagement within the San Luca ‘ndrine.

Immediately following the Duisburg incident Italian police and anti-mafia investigators swarmed through the village of San Luca in Calabria. Police searched dozens of houses and mounted roadblocks in and around San Luca, but made no arrests. Many of the houses where they conducted searches had, they said, been hastily abandoned.

Well, what the fuck did they expect? In fact, rumor has it, ‘hot’ residences were abandoned well before the police arrived in San Luca, after a late night phone call from Duisburg, before cops arrived at the scene of the killings, whilst two were still breathing, whilst all six bodies were still slightly warm to the touch…

Yeah, you can bet your ass their holding their fucking breath in San Luca. I, for one, will be saying a prayer on the morning of September 2nd that, if anything pops off, it remains within the confines of those who are in the life, leaving untouched those who are not.