Precis

In Italy's south, prosecutors in the province of Vibo Valentia are taking on the Calabrian mafia. For decades, this ruthless mafia group, the 'Ndrangheta, has ruled this region through violence and intimidation.

What began as a local mafia group has grown into a powerful, multi-national criminal organisation, with an estimated turnover of 80 billion dollars a year. It also has a presence in Australia.

Now Italian prosecutors have launched criminal cases against members of a family they allege is one of the 'Ndrangehta's most powerful clans - the Mancusos. More than 300 members and associates of the Mancusos have been arrested. The charge sheet is sobering. It includes murder, extortion, drug trafficking and money laundering.

In this gripping crime saga, Fran Kelly travels to Vibo Valentia to tell the story of this historic attempt to curb the power of the 'Ndrangheta.

She gets rare access to the man leading the trial, Chief Prosecutor Nicola Gratteri. He's been investigating the Calabrian mafia for decades and has long been on the mafia's kill list.

"There's always tension. There's always fear and you must always be careful," he tells Kelly as he drives to court surrounded by his security motorcade. "You have to tame fear and talk to death."

Kelly speaks with community members who now feel emboldened to speak out against the mafia.

"The number of people turning on the mafia has increased," says anti-mafia activist Giuseppe Borrello. 'It's new for Vibo Valentia."

Gratteri's actions have given 'a lot of hope' to Sara Scarpulla, whose son was blown up in a car bomb organised by a member of the Mancuso family.

Kelly also visits Milan, Italy's financial heart, where the 'Ndrangheta have established a strong presence. The head of Milan's Anti-Mafia Department, Prosecutor Alessandra Dolci, calls for Australian law enforcement to connect more urgently with their counterparts in Italy.

"It would be appropriate for the Australian police to establish stronger relations with our authorities," she tells Kelly. "As we say, if you don't know, you don't see. They must become aware of the danger presented by the 'Ndrangheta."

In Calabria, not everyone in the community is rallying behind Nicola Gratteri's maxi-trial.

"There's vicious mudslinging aimed at the Prosecutor's Office," explains lawyer Giovanna Fronte. "That's how the 'Ndrangheta operates."

For the people of Vibo Valentia, the maxi-trial has raised hopes of a new chapter in which the State regains control of a land long thought lost to organised crime. But can these prosecutions uproot the powerful networks of the 'Ndrangheta?

Calabrian coastline GVs/Mountain villages

Music

00:10

FRAN KELLY, Reporter: Calabria is a land of fierce beauty, but for decades these mountains have been the home and the hideaway of a vicious mafia syndicate. From these small villages, the 'Ndrangheta has built a global criminal empire worth 80 billion dollars a year. It rules with violence and intimidation.

00:18

Giovanna Fronte

GIOVANNA FRONTE: The 'Ndrangheta kills in silence. They make people vanish. No one knows where you end up.

00:46

Carabinieri raid footage

FRAN KELLY, Reporter: Now the Italian state is fighting back. It's arrested and charged hundreds of people in a bid to crack open the mafia.

00:50

Gratteri flanked by security

One man is leading the charge, and he's risking his life to do it.

01:01

Gratteri interview

NICOLA GRATTERI: If I stopped today I'd feel like a coward, and there's no sense living like a coward.

01:06

Borrello addressing demonstration

FRAN KELLY, Reporter: It's given the locals the courage to speak out.

01:12

GIUSEPPE BORRELLO: "We need to tell them clearly. There's no room for you in this square."

01:17

Gratteri flanked by security
Title: The Magistrate vs The Mob

FRAN KELLY, Reporter: But can this major trial loosen the iron grip of the 'Ndrangheta?

01:25

Drone shot over town walls. Map showing Calabria, Vibo Valentia

Music

01:39

Sheep grazing. Super:
Fran Kelly
Reporting

FRAN KELLY, Reporter:  In the Calabrian province of Vibo Valentia, Sara

01:59

Sara and Francesco into cemetery

Scarpulla and her husband Francesco are visiting their son's grave.

02:02

SARA: I come here to see my son. It's over there.

02:08

I died with him.

02:21

Sara and Francesco at Matteo's grave

If my son isn't here anymore, I don't exist and neither does his father.

FRAN KELLY, Reporter: Four years ago, Matteo, their only son, was killed by a bomb planted in the family car.

02:27

Fran walks with Sara and Francesco down laneway

The bomb went off here in this laneway, close to the family farm. Both Francesco and Matteo were in the car.  Sara came rushing down but there was nothing she could do.

02:42

SARA: I saw tongues of fire rising very high in the sky and they were swirling.

02:59

FRAN KELLY, Reporter: Her husband Francesco escaped, but her son did not. 

03:07

SARA: And I could hear Francesco's voice, saying 'Go Sara, save him. Matteo is still there, burning'.

03:12

FRAN KELLY, Reporter: You must have been terrified when you saw.

SARA: To see his father burning there, with skin fat almost dripping and to know that my son was there…

03:19

Scene of car bomb

FRAN KELLY, Reporter: The bomb was the work of their neighbour, a member of a powerful Calabrian mafia family, the Mancusos. The violence was the culmination of a 30-year dispute over land.

03:34

Sara looks out over farm

SARA: We're surrounded by the Mancusos. Above here, that land is theirs, stolen from people too, they never paid. That's theirs too, that orange grove is theirs.

03:49

Francesco locks gates

FRAN KELLY, Reporter: Matteo's death was the ultimate punishment for Sara and Francesco's refusal to hand over their land.

04:08

Sara interview in laneway

"The Mancuso family want your land so badly, they have tried to kill your husband, they have murdered your son. Will you ever give up the land?

04:16

SARA:  I will never bow to them. They have no right to stand over people.

04:28

Drone shot over Calabrian town

Music

04:42

FRAN KELLY, Reporter: For decades, the Calabrian mafia has controlled this region with threats, violence and friends in high places.

04:46

Gratteri driving

Now, the Italian state is taking them on. We're about to meet the man leading the operation.

04:54

Fran waits at side of road

This is the spot we've been told to come to and wait.

05:05

Music

05:10

Gratteri: "Let's go there, to the carpark."

05:20

Fran greets Gratteri

FRAN KELLY, Reporter: Nicola Gratteri is one of Italy's top mafia prosecutors. He's been on the mafia kill list for decades, and lives under constant police protection. About 10 security guards follow his every move.

05:27

Gratteri driving

NICOLA GRATTERI: It's 24 hours a day. There's a security system like a fortress, with video surveillance and the army at home.

05:47

FRAN KELLY, Reporter: This is when he's most vulnerable. Every car trip could be his last.

"Judge, are you ever afraid, making this drive into work?"

NICOLA GRATTERI:  There's always tension.

05:58

There's always fear and you must always be careful.  You basically have to tame the fear and talk to death.

06:12

FRAN KELLY, Reporter:  Gratteri is now more at risk than ever.  After years of investigation, he's putting hundreds of people on trial for the crime of belonging to or aiding the Calabrian mafia. 

06:25

Arrival at bunker courthouse

The case is being heard here in this purpose-built courthouse, guarded by the Italian army.

06:40

"It doesn't look like a courthouse."

NICOLA GRATTERI:  This is the biggest bunker courthouse in the western world.

06:49

Courthouse interior

FRAN KELLY, Reporter: It's enormous. The public come here?

06:56

NICOLA GRATTERI: A thousand seats, a thousand people can be seated. There are places for 600 lawyers.

07:08

FRAN KELLY, Reporter: Gratteri has big ambitions for this trial.

07:19

NICOLA GRATTERI:  This is an important trial, not because of the numbers but because this trial is a chance to explain how the 'Ndrangheta has established relations with parts of institutions, with parts of the ruling elites.

07:26

FRAN KELLY, Reporter: The charge list is long – murder, extortion, drug trafficking and money laundering. Seventy people have been convicted, but about 300 still await trial. 

07:50

Fran to camera in courthouse

They're calling it the trial of the century, and they've transformed this old call centre into a huge courtroom. Giving evidence behind us right now is a member of the secret service, which just really underlines the significance of this trial. 

08:05

Fran in car  with Gratteri

Gratteri works out of an office half an hour away, in the city of Catanzaro. Born in Calabria, he knows his enemy well.

08:23

Gratteri into office

NICOLA GRATTERI:  We can say that 'Ndrangheta families control the breath, control the heartbeat of a region. Whatever happens in that territory, in that municipality, must pass the scrutiny of 'Ndrangheta families.

08:41

Gratteri interview in office

FRAN KELLY, Reporter: Why you? Why this mission for you? You grew up here with some of the mafia, you went to school with some of these people on trial; why do you think it is that some of them joined the mafia and you didn't?

09:00

NICOLA GRATTERI:  I was lucky because I was born into a family of honest people. Had I been born into another family, perhaps I'd be a mafia boss today.

09:14

FRAN KELLY, Reporter: What motivates you?

09:23

NICOLA GRATTERI:  The idea of administering justice, of doing my duty and also of doing something concrete for my land, something to make this area more liveable and its inhabitants less sad and more happy.

09:25

Mountain farms and villages

FRAN KELLY, Reporter: The Calabrian mafia is made up of hundreds of families who each control their own bit of territory. Their blood ties make them notoriously difficult to penetrate. Turning on one's own is a death sentence.

09:39

GFX Mancuso Clan

This trial focuses on one of its most powerful clans: the Mancusos and their associates. They're alleged to control the province of Vibo Valentia, and the man accused of leading the clan is Luigi Mancuso.

09:56

Gratteri interview in office

NICOLA GRATTERI:  He is a charismatic character who's rubbed shoulders with important people in so-called civil society, who's dealt with important people within institutions, as well as professionals and politicians.

10:15

So he's got authority. As well as drug trafficking, they're interested in the social, political and economic life of a territory. We're talking about a state within the formal State.

10:37

GFX Luigi Mancuso

FRAN KELLY, Reporter: Luigi Mancuso denies all charges.  

11:03

Calabrian town GVs

Music

11:08

Fran to camera on street

FRAN KELLY, Reporter: The 'Ndrangheta rules this region by force and intimidation, controlling the local economy by violent extortion. Shop owners that push back against the protection racket pay a high price.

11:24

Zappia in furniture store

Carmine Zappia found himself at the mercy of the Mancusos when he couldn't make repayments on this building, home to his furniture business. Antonio Mancuso, brother of alleged clan head Luigi, was sent in as a debt collector.

11:35

CARMINE ZAPPIA: The boss, Antonio Mancuso used to sit here.

11:52

FRAN KELLY, Reporter: Repayments started at five thousand euros a month.

11:59

CARMINE ZAPPIA: The boss complained it was too little and not even enough to cover the rent.  From what the boss said, I understood there'd be no end to the payments.

12:03

FRAN KELLY, Reporter: When he couldn't pay any more, Carmine reported Antonio Mancuso to the Carabinieri.  But that decision ruined his life.

12:14

CARMINE ZAPPIA: The town reacted badly. Since we all know each other, and most people are related, I think more people are on the side of the Mancusos rather than mine. They side with the Mancusos, with the boss.  

12:24

Before, I was a prisoner of the 'Ndrangheta. Now with protection, I have become a prisoner of the State. 

12:45

Carmine walks flaked by Carabinieri

But it is always better to have Carabinieri following me than Mafiosi.

12:59

Drone shot along coast

Music

13:10

FRAN KELLY, Reporter: The Mancusos' influence is be felt all along this coastline.

13:14

Fran and Vittoria on street below apartment

"So, Vittoria, which is your apartment? Can we see it from here?... The whole top floor?"

VITTORIA SICARI:  Yes.

13:26

FRAN KELLY, Reporter: Twenty-three years ago, Vittoria Sicari put her apartment on the market here in the town of Vibo Marina. An associate of the Mancusos came along to an open house inspection. What happened next was shocking.

13:36

Vittoria interview

VITTORIA SICARI:  He went in on the pretext of taking measurements to put in some furniture in the future.

13:52

FRAN KELLY, Reporter:  He obviously liked what he saw, because he and his family moved right in, without ever actually paying for the property. And 23 years on, she still can't get them out.

14:02

VITTORIA SICARI:  He never returned the keys, so he misappropriated the apartment. 

14:13

FRAN KELLY, Reporter: When she tried to get her property back, Vittoria says, the man occupying her flat threatened her.

14:22

VITTORIA SICARI:  This guy told me 'Stop persecuting me, because this flat is mine not yours, or I'll kill you'.

14:28

Fran and Vittoria meet with Giovanna Fronte

FRAN KELLY, Reporter: Such is the power of the Mancusos that it took Vittoria 15 years to find a lawyer. Finally, an outsider took on the case – Sicilian born Giovanna Fronte.

14:43

Vittoria:  "I wanted to know how the case was going."

Giovanna: "The case is coming along. It's slow, but we're making headway."

Vittoria: "23, 24 years... it doesn't matter."

15:01

FRAN KELLY, Reporter: With Giovanna's support, Vittoria has decided to give evidence at the Maxi Trial.

15:20

Giovanna interview

GIOVANNA FRONTE: We hope that this region will wake up from this torpor it's been living with for many years now.

15:27

FRAN KELLY, Reporter: She says it's hard to take on the Mancusos.

15:41

GIOVANNA FRONTE:  They don't appear to be bloody, impetuous or overbearing people. This is the 'charm' of the 'Ndrangheta because it hides behind this facade of respectability that makes you think, "That's such a good person. Why should I accuse them if they're so kind, good, educated and respectful?"

15:45

Town GVs night

FRAN KELLY, Reporter: For four years, the prosecutors and the Carabinieri gathered evidence against the Mancuso clan. As they got close to arresting them, it nearly all fell apart. The 'Ndrangheta had people on the inside. 

16:27

Capece on phone in office

Nicola Gratteri summoned Colonel Bruno Capece and others to his office.

16:48

Capece interview

BRUNO CAPECE: He told us that this delicate operation would have to be brought forward as there may have been leaks and there was a risk that people might escape.

16:54

Carabinieri footage. Night arrests

17:04

FRAN KELLY, Reporter: The Carabinieri moved fast, arresting more than 300 people on that night.

17:10

Music

17:14

BRUNO CAPECE:  It was one of the most important police operations in recent years,

17:22

Capece interview / Carabinieri footage

not only for Vibo Valentia and Calabria, but for the whole of Italy. We committed more than 3,000 Carabinieri from other parts of Italy as reinforcements, to carry out an incredible number of simultaneous arrests.

17:28

Capece press conference

"Your presence here on the 24^th of December is a sign of affection and acknowledgment."

17:46

FRAN KELLY, Reporter: After years of living in fear and silence, the locals came out to show their gratitude.

17:53

Capece interview

BRUNO CAPECE:  It was a unique event which broke a series of taboos.  The most beautiful thing is the population experienced a sense of liberation, a sense of celebration.

18:04

Pittelli walking. GFX charges

FRAN KELLY, Reporter: One of the most high-profile of those charged was a former senator in the Berlusconi government, Giancarlo Pittelli. For many years, Pittelli was Luigi Mancuso's lawyer.  But prosecutors allege he was much more than that – charging him with indirect mafia involvement – meaning he helped the 'Ndrangheta.

18:12

Fran visits Staiano

I've come to meet Salvatore Staiano. He's defending former senator Pittelli in the Maxi Trial. At his villa by the sea, the walls are covered – floor to ceiling – in artworks painted by his wife, Rosanna.

18:37

Rosanna shows paintings

"This is beautiful…Rosanna, you must paint all the time."

19:04

Salvatore Staiano is an experienced defence lawyer. Over the years, he's represented people charged with mafia charges. Pittelli is his latest client.

19:17

Staiano interview

SALVATORE STAIANO: Giancarlo Pittelli is a very good colleague, with a national reputation, who has found himself at the centre of a devastating investigation. As a professional, I believe Giancarlo Pittelli is an innocent man.

19:30

FRAN KELLY, Reporter: The main charge against Pittelli is that he sought access to confidential statements made by a mafia informer – a man named Andrea Mantella – who'd blown the whistle on the Mancusos .

19:46

SALVATORE STAIANO:  If Giancarlo Pittelli tried to access statements given by Mantella to give them to anyone in the world, Giancarlo Pittelli deserves to be beheaded. Pittelli should die in jail and suffer atrociously because he'd be betraying not only himself but our profession, too. It wouldn't just be a serious fact, it would be unforgivable, irredeemable, with no remedy. But Giancarlo Pittelli did not ask anyone for the transcripts. There is no proof. So why is Giancarlo Pittelli in prison?

19:59

Photo. Pittelli

FRAN KELLY, Reporter: Giancarlo Pittelli is also accused of being a mafia fixer, who used his high level connections to help the clan.

20:45

Staiano interview

SALVATORE STAIANO:  Has Giancarlo Pittelli, as a lawyer, sold his conscience to an alleged 'Ndrangheta clan? This is the theme. From what we are getting from the trial, it seems that Giancarlo Pittelli, unfortunately, is a stowaway on board this trial. Whether or not Pittelli's behaviour is unethical, I can't judge because I do not have the tools and I am not his father. I am not Jesus. I am not God.

20:53

Milan GVs

Music

21:24

Fran to camera on street

FRAN KELLY, Reporter: The 'Ndrangheta's decision makers are down south in Calabria, but the money makers have moved north. Milan is Italy's financial capital; the perfect place to launder money, colonise the legal economy and accumulate power.  Around here they say, questions aren't asked when there's money to be made.

21:39

Milan GVs

Public prosecutors in Milan are investigating the 'Ndrangheta's international drug business. It controls about 80 percent of Europe's cocaine trade. Drug trafficking is the main source of revenue for this global syndicate, which turns over 80 billion dollars a year.

21:58

Dolci interview

ALESSANDRA DOLCI: The 'Ndrangheta is among the world's most important, if not the most important, criminal organisation involved in cocaine trafficking. They're extremely reliable partners to the South American cartels.

22:20

Dolci walks office corridor

FRAN KELLY, Reporter: Prosecutor Alessandra Dolci is the head of Milan's Anti-Mafia department.  She says that every powerful 'Ndrangheta family also operates in the north. The Mancusos are in her sights.

22:35

Dolci interview

ALESSANDRA DOLCI: They're considered a powerful family here because they're powerful in Calabria. We investigated suspects close to the Mancuso family and active in Milan. They were involved in drug trafficking.

22:51

Dolci at event at Lake Como

Music

23:10

FRAN KELLY, Reporter: In her 20 years in the job, prosecutor Dolci has watched on with alarm as the Calabrian mafia has infiltrated the North's business and political networks. Tonight, at this gathering of Lake Como's rich and powerful, Dolci has come to warn about the dangers posed by the 'Ndrangheta.

23:16

Dolci addresses event

ALESSANDRA DOLCI:  "It's a matter of prevention and ethics. We must make our entrepreneurs and professionals understand that it's not a good idea to do business with the 'Ndrangheta."

23:36

FRAN KELLY, Reporter: Alexandra Dolci knows how tough it is to break the 'Ndrangheta. She ran her own Maxi Trial and fears that, like her, Nicola Gratteri won't be able to beat them.

23:50

Dolci interview

ALESSANDRA DOLCI: I hope so, but unfortunately I fear it won't be the case because we thought we had inflicted a mortal blow but it wasn't the case. They are resilient.

24:04

Student protest against 'Ndrangheta

Music

24:19

FRAN KELLY, Reporter: In Calabria, the people of Vibo Valentia are desperate for change. Today, students are occupying the town's main square to say NO to the 'Ndrangheta.

24:25

Female Student: "We must take pride. We must start all over again.  We need to make a big effort. We need a healthy rage. A rage that transforms into commitment and responsibility."

24:41

Male Student: "I come from a village, Sant'Onofrio, where the mafia is a symbol of our society. If you're not mafioso in Sant'Onofrio, you are a nobody.  I'm here to say that even one person can make a difference.

24:58

Borrello addresses student protest

FRAN KELLY, Reporter: Anti-mafia activist, Giuseppe Borrello, organised the rally. He believes educating the younger generation is the only way to rid the region of the 'Ndrangheta.

25:14

Borrello: "Among us are infiltrators who want to disrupt. We need to tell them clearly: there's no room for you in this square."

25:26

FRAN KELLY, Reporter: Borrello says that Gratteri's Maxi Trial has increased people's belief in the State.

25:40

Borrello interview

GIUSEPPE BORRELLO: The number of people turning on the mafia has increased. This isn't totally new within the 'Ndrangheta phenomenon, but it's new for Vibo Valentia. 'Ndrangheta people themselves see the time is right to cooperate because they trust the State.

25:51

Sara and Francesco's farm

Music

26:15

Lunch with Sara, Francesco and Anna

FRAN KELLY, Reporter: Family friend Anna has joined Sara and Francesco for lunch. The couple, whose son Matteo was murdered, say their community felt abandoned by the State.

26:35

SARA:  Police reports weren't even followed up.

ANNA: The reports Sara used to lodge never amounted to anything. Now we know why. Professionals, lawyers, even judges, were corrupt.

SARA: We knew we'd die that way.

26:50

FRAN KELLY, Reporter: Sara feels that things are changing under Nicola Gratteri. 

27:08

Arrest of Rosaria Mancuso

Last December, their neighbour Rosaria Mancuso was sentenced to life in prison for ordering the car bomb.

Rosaria: "Dickhead."

27:12

Sara and Francesco

SARA: A lot of hope. From the beginning, when Matteo was murdered about four years ago, I only trusted Gratteri.

27:26

Giovanna Fronte in office

FRAN KELLY, Reporter: But not everyone in the region is rallying behind Nicola Gratteri.  Lawyer Giovanna Fronte says some are deliberately undermining the prosecutor's work.

27:43

Giovanna interview

GIOVANNA FRONTE: There's vicious mudslinging aimed at the Prosecutor's Office in Catanzaro. That's how the 'Ndrangheta operates.  'That poor Luigi Mancuso is behind bars, even though he was working for the good of the region, he gave people jobs and opened up opportunities! On the other hand, what do we have? An evil and malicious Prosecutor who's thrown people in jail.'

27:57

Gratteri in office, security cameras

Music

28:22

FRAN KELLY, Reporter: The key question is whether going after one 'Ndrangheta family is enough to make lasting change.

28:37

Gratteri interview

Judge, perhaps the ultimate criticism of your Maxi Trial is that it's focussing one family. So if you bring down the Mancuso, there'll be another family to come up and take their place. Isn't that true?

28:47

NICOLA GRATTERI: It's obvious there's a risk that another family or young people could take their place. This risk exists and is real and it's up to civil society to occupy those empty spaces straightaway.

28:59

FRAN KELLY, Reporter: What does life looks like for you, and for your family, day to day?

29:13

NICOLA GRATTERI:  No life at all. When you start, you don't think you'll get to this level of exposure and security. Thirty years ago it was unimaginable that I would be in this cage today.  But there's no alternative, you have to go on, you have to do your job well, whatever it costs. There is no alternative. If I were to stop today I'd feel like a coward, and there's no sense living like a coward.

29:17

FRAN KELLY, Reporter: Do you think you'll ever be free of the 'Ndrangheta? Do you think you'll ever be free to live a normal life again?

29:52

NICOLA GRATTERI: No. I don't think so.

29:58

Student protest

Music

30:04

Credits [see below]

30:12

Out point

30:34