Police said those arrested belonged to the Commissio and Aquino families, considered some of the bloodiest and more dangerous clans of the Calabria-based Mafia. All are accused of Mafia-type association, extortion, influencing public tenders, illicit competition with violence or menace and weapons offenses.
This operation is the continuation of an ongoing police crackdown on the ’Ndrangheta between Calabria and the northern region of Lombardia, which in 2010 brought 300 mobsters to jail.
The investigation, as reported by the online paper of Reggio Calabria, Il Dispaccio, claims the Commissio clan has permeated Canada’s economy, controlling contracts for infrastructure and road works, aqueducts and school construction.
Police also say the families were strong in their own region, controlling contracts for waste management in Siderno and Gioiosa Ionica. The companies that would win the tenders had to pay a 3 percent commission, while friends would be granted a discount.
