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Experts: Bavaria is a 'hotbed' of Mafia activity
Published: 11 Aug 12 10:38 CET | Print version
Online: http://www.thelocal.de/national/20120811-44293.html
Bavaria is a hotbed of Mafia activity, the local group of the opposition Social Democrats said on Friday. Experts said Germany is a 'promised land' for Italian organised crime and called for tougher coordinated police action against gangs.
- Germans arrested, wind farm seized in mafia raid - National (16 Jul 12)
“From the perspective of colleagues (in the police) Germany is a promised land for the Mafia” said Schneider, who is the former head of the Bavarian police union, at a meeting of the local SPD fraction in Munich on Friday.
Speaking at the same meeting, Italian politician and Mafia expert Laura Garavini said Germany was one of the “top countries” for Italian gangsters.
Bavaria, Baden-Württemberg and North Rhine-Westphalia are especially popular among the Calabria-based ‘Ndrangheta gang, responsible for seven Mafia murders in Duisburg in 2007, along with the Sicilian Cosa Nostra, the Naples-based Camorra and the Sacra Corona Unita, said Garavani.
Since 2007 there have been 25 prosecution cases against Italian organised crime syndicates operating in Germany, 15 of which with proven links to the Mafia. Bavarian authorities estimate there are around 65 active Mafia gang members in the state alone.
Garavani said the gangs' operations focused mainly on the drug trade and money laundering, and used increasingly inventive methods such as investing money in wind energy.
The Bavarian SPD demanded tougher police coordinated action against Mafia gangs and proposed a hearing of experts to investigate the situation.
Schneider said Europe-wide rules were needed to ensure police are able to cooperate across borders, and that more police resources should be concentrated on the fight against the Mafia in Germany.
DPA/The Local/jlb
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Your comments about this article:
Maybe someone in the German government ought to identify this as an issue, and actually do something about it.