Giovanni Strangio, the Calabrian mafia boss suspected of organising a massacre in Germany in 2007, has been extradited to Italy

Giovanni Strangio, the Calabrian mafia boss suspected of organising a massacre in Germany in 2007, has been extradited to Italy from The Netherlands. Escorted by Interpol agents, he arrived at Rome's Ciampino military airport and was transferred to the Italian capital's high-security Rebibbia prison.Strangio is believed to have masterminded and led the massacre of six members of a rival crime family in Duisburg in western Germany on 15 August 2007. A Dutch court last week approved Strangio's extradition to Italy. Strangio, 30, was arrested in the Netherlands in March, with another of Italy's 30 most wanted criminals, his brother-in-law Francesco Romeo.Investigators believe Strangio played a key role in the Duisburg massacre in revenge for the killing of his cousin, Maria Strangio, on Christmas Day 2006.A four-man hit squad from the southern Italian town of San Luca, home of the feuding clans linked to the Calabrian mafia or 'Ndrangheta, allegedly gunned down the six men outside a pizzeria.Another brother-in-law of Strangio's, Giuseppe Nirta, was arrested in Amsterdam last November and extradited to Italy earlier this year.Italian and German police both issued warrants for Strangio's arrest over the Duisburg killings. Prosecutors in the western German town of Bochum had also issued an international warrant for Strangio's arrest in relation to a robbery in Germany in July 1998.
The feud between the Nirta-Strangio clan and the rival Pelle-Vottari clan was reportedly provoked by an egg-throwing incident in 1991 in the Calabrian town of San Luca, home of the two families.The 2007 massacre generated worldwide concern about the Calabrian-based 'Ndrangheta's international reach.The 'Ndrangheta has become one of the most powerful criminal organisations in Italy and is reported to have extended its power base through the European drug trafficking market.It has links to South American drug cartels and criminal organisations in Canada, Australia and other parts of the world.

Posted in: Calabrian mafia boss