Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
linked contract-rigging led to the further arrest of 38 people. Among them was the mayor
of the Calabrian town of Scalea, Pasquale Basile, who was accused of mediating between
rival mafia clans and awarding municipal contracts to 'ndrangheta-run firms. The opera-
tion also seized a bountiful booty of mafia assets, including bank accounts, luxury cars
and yachts. Three years earlier, an even larger crackdown led to the arrest of 300 alleged
'ndrangheta members across the country on charges ranging from extortion and drugs traf-
ficking to murder.
Despite the lengthening string of arrests, tackling the country's most ruthless mafia
body remains a long, arduous war. In a confidential cable dated from 2008 and released by
Wikileaks in 2013, a US diplomat claimed that if it weren't a part of Italy, Calabria would
be considered a 'failed state', due to the 'ndrangheta's stranglehold on the economy and
all aspects of life.
