AFP targets Mafia clans operating in Australia
AUSTRALIAN Federal Police will target Mafia clans Down Under with a dedicated unit after a complete restructuring of crime fighting methods under the new Home Affairs Department reforms.
The move to have dedicated resources to look at the Mafia, and specifically the faces behind its crimes, follows a review of law enforcement tactics in recent years and revelations in Italian courts that the Calabrian ‘Ndrangheta clan had sent migrating members to Australia specifically to operate criminal enterprises.
‘Ndrangheta lieutenantturned-informer Domenico Agresta detailed to authorities in October, 2016, two “locales” or criminal cells made up of three or four families – including members of his own – were in Australia specifically to carry on the family business.
However, police intelligence has identified six locales, each with their own mob boss, in Sydney, Melbourne and South Australia contributing to the ‘Ndrangheta global $80 billion annual revenues from drug trafficking, money laundering and counterfeit goods.
These migrating Calabrians have included members from the Barbaro and Sergi families, involved in gangland hits and drug trafficking in Melbourne, Sydney, Griffith and Brisbane dating back to the 1970s.
A senior AFP source said under the restructure, Italian Mafia would be its own focus, the first time the crime element has had its own dedicated resources in decades.
“We (are now) going after the organised crime groups. The Italian Mafia is one.”