Pasquale Condello

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Pasquale Condello (born September 24, 1950 in Reggio Calabria ) is an Italian mafioso and member of the Calabrian 'Ndrangheta . For his role as the top boss of the organization, he was called U Supremo (Italian for "the supreme").

Condello had been on the run since the late 1980s and was on the list of the 30 most wanted criminals in Italy until his arrest in February 2008. The investigators called him "Provenzano of Calabria" - a reference to Bernardo Provenzano , the former " boss of the bosses " of the Sicilian Cosa Nostra , who was arrested in 2006 after about 40 years on the run.

biography

Early criminal career

Early in his criminal career, Condello was a close ally of Paolo De Stefano - leader of the De Stefano clan that established itself during the 1970s. Condello is said to have been one of the murderers who murdered the influential boss Antonio Macrì on January 20, 1975 , because he spoke out against kidnappings and drug trafficking. This murder sparked the first 'Ndrangheta war in which hundreds of people died. From this conflict, the De Stefano clan emerged as the most influential clan in the province of Reggio Calabria .

Second 'Ndrangheta War

In 1984 a bloody conflict arose between the De Stefano clan and the Condello Imerti alliance, as Antonino Imerti , former right-hand man of De Stefano, married Condello's sister Giuseppina and the De Stefano clan saw this as an endangerment of his power supremacy. Paolo De Stefano was shot dead by Imerti's killers on October 13, 1985 and his younger brother, Orazio De Stefano, took over the leadership of the clan. In December of the same year, he married the daughter of the influential boss Giovanni Tegano to strengthen his power . The original feud between De Stefano and Imerti soon affected the entire organization and each clan had to submit to a party in a war over the division of multi-billion dollar public works contracts and the domination of drug trafficking. In the early 1990s, when the war was already causing hundreds of deaths, the Sicilian Cosa Nostra and the transatlantic 'Ndrangheta served as superordinate mediators for the desired settlement of the conflict. The result of the peace negotiations were a strict division of territories and business areas as well as an established commission called “Camera di controllo” or “La Provincia”, in which Condello became a member. Since Giuseppe Morabito's arrest in 2004, Condello has been the undisputed leader of the 'Ndrangheta.

Criminal empire

According to the authorities, Condello ran an extensive network in which he procured public works contracts by bribing officials. This involved a volume of several hundred million euros for the construction of waterworks in Calabrian cities. He was also considered a key figure in the cocaine trade between Colombia and Europe .

Escape and arrest

In absentia, Condello was sentenced to four life imprisonment plus an additional 22 years in prison in 1990 for murder, drug trafficking and illicit gun possession. Condello is also said to have been the commissioner of the murder of the former president of the Italian state railways , Lodovico Ligato , who was killed in an assassination attempt in the summer of 1989. Since 1993, Condello has been sought internationally.

After fleeing for 18 years, Condello was arrested on February 18, 2008 at the age of 57 in his hometown of Reggio Calabria .

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c Police take down Mafia boss number 1 . In: tagesspiegel.de . February 19, 2008. Retrieved June 11, 2019.
  2. ↑ Marisa Merico - Mafia Princess: I was unscrupulous. I broke the law. I was part of the family . In: Google Books . 2010. Retrieved June 11, 2019.
  3. ↑ Gudrun Dietz - The 'Ndrangheta . In: Google Books . 2011. Retrieved June 11, 2019.
  4. ↑ a b 'Ndrangheta: Pasquale Condello detto “U Supremu” è stato uno dei più potenti boss reggini . In: strettoweb.com . June 10, 2015. Accessed June 11, 2019.
  5. ↑ Mafia boss caught after 20 years . In: focus.de . February 19, 2008. Retrieved June 11, 2019.
  6. ↑ Calabrian mafia boss caught after 20 years on run . In: theguardian.com . February 19, 2008. Retrieved June 11, 2019.
personal data
SURNAME Condello, Pasquale
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Italian mafioso
DATE OF BIRTH September 24, 1950
PLACE OF BIRTH Reggio Calabria