Natale Iamonte (; 7 May 1927 – 2 February 2015), sometimes spelled as Jamonte, was an

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

criminal and a historical boss of the

'Ndrangheta The 'Ndrangheta (, , ) is a prominent Italian Mafia-type organized crime syndicate and secret society, criminal society based in the peninsular and mountainous region of Calabria and dating back to the late 18th century. It is considered one of ...

. The Iamonte 'Ndrina is based in

Melito di Porto Salvo Melito di Porto Salvo ( scn, label= Calabrian, Mèlitu; el, Μέλιτος or Μέλιτο (Mèlitos, label=Calabrian Greek, script=Latn or ) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Metropolitan City of Reggio Calabria in the Italian region Calabr ...

and Montebello Ionico on the Ionic coast of

Calabria , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = , demographics1_info1 = , demographics1_title2 ...

. Iamonte was a member of

La Santa ''La Santa'' is a secret society within the Ndrangheta'', a criminal organisation in Calabria ( Italy). The name probably derives from the shortening of '' mamma santissima''.Paoli, ''Mafia Brotherhoods'', pp. 114-16 In mafia slang, the express ...

, a secret society within the 'Ndrangheta, introduced in the early 1970s to maximize the power and invisibility of the most important bosses.L’atteggiarsi delle associazioni mafiose sulla base delle esperienze processuali acquisite: la ’ndrangheta
, by

Salvatore Boemi Salvatore may refer to: * Salvatore (name), a given name and surname, including a list of people with the name * "Salvatore" (song), by Lana Del Rey, 2015 * Salvatore (band), a Norwegian instrumental rock band * '' Salvatore: Shoemaker of Dreams' ...

, in ''I delitti di criminalità organizzata'', Quaderni del Consiglio Superiore della Magistratura N. 99 He also became a member of the ''

Camera di Controllo The ''Camera di Controllo'' (Board of Control), is a collegial body of the 'Ndrangheta, a Mafia-type organisation in Calabria. It is also known as ''La Provincia'' (the Province) or ''Camera di Compensazione'' (compensation board). It is composed ...

'', a provincial commission of the 'Ndrangheta formed at the end of the

Second 'Ndrangheta war The Second 'Ndrangheta war was an internal struggle in the 'Ndrangheta, a criminal organisation in Calabria (southern Italy). The conflict raged from 1985–1991 in Reggio Calabria. Practically all the 'ndrine in the city of Reggio Calabria grou ...

in September 1991, to avoid further internal conflicts.Sentenza procedimento penale Olimpia
Tribunale di Reggio Calabria, January 19, 1999

From butcher to millionaire

Iamonte rose to power by killing the local Ndrangheta boss Giuseppe Trimarchi in the 1960s.In mare il tritolo mafioso
La Repubblica, April 30, 1995 Originally a butcher, he made his fortune skimming off public contracts destined for the development of Calabria which was among the poorest regions of Italy. The construction of a refinery of Liquichimica in Saline Ioniche – a project that would amount to 300 billion lire – was one those projects that was completed in 1979. The plant never became operative because it was built on unstable terrain, subject to landslides, despite the warnings of the head of the local civil engineer office who died in a strange car accident.La pax della 'ndrangheta soffoca Reggio Calabria
La Repubblica, April 25, 2007 The port inside the plant was subsequently used to offload arms and drug shipments from the Middle East against the payment of a fee to the Iamonte clan which controlled the territory. The service included transports for the

Sicilian Mafia The Sicilian Mafia, also simply known as the Mafia and frequently referred to as Cosa nostra (, ; "our thing") by its members, is an Italian Mafia-terrorist-type organized crime syndicate and criminal society originating in the region of Sicily ...

boss,

Nitto Santapaola Benedetto Santapaola (; born 4 June 1938), better known as Nitto, is a prominent mafioso from Catania, the main city and industrial centre on Sicily's east coast. His nickname is ''il cacciatore'' (the hunter), because of his passion for shooting ...

, who headed the Mafia family of

Catania Catania (, , Sicilian and ) is the second largest municipality in Sicily, after Palermo. Despite its reputation as the second city of the island, Catania is the largest Sicilian conurbation, among the largest in Italy, as evidenced also b ...

on Sicily’s east coast. Iamonte and his ally

Paolo De Stefano Paolo De Stefano (; died October 13, 1985) was an Italian mobster and member of the 'Ndrangheta who became the undisputed boss of Reggio Calabria. Together with his brothers Giovanni, Giorgio and Orazio he headed the De Stefano 'ndrina. Earl ...

secured arms and drug transports when the harbour of Catania was controlled too strictly. In return Santapaola helped the Iamonte clan to get subcontracts for the construction of a railway repair yard in Saline with the construction company of Carmelo Costanzo from Catania.Mafia, ‘ndrangheta e "l'oro grigio"
, Calabria Notizie, April 11, 2008
in ''I Siciliani'', April 1993

Political connections

According to several

pentiti ''Pentito'' (; lit. "repentant"; plural: ''pentiti'') is used colloquially to designate collaborators of justice in Italian criminal procedure terminology who were formerly part of criminal organizations and decided to collaborate with a public ...

(Mafia turncoats)

Giacomo Mancini Giacomo Mancini (21 April 1916 – 8 April 2002) was an Italian politician and lawyer. He was the grandfather of the namesake politician Giacomo Mancini Jr. Biography He was son of Pietro Mancini, one of the founders of the Italian Socialist P ...

– a one time secretary of the

Italian Socialist Party The Italian Socialist Party (, PSI) was a socialist and later social-democratic political party in Italy, whose history stretched for longer than a century, making it one of the longest-living parties of the country. Founded in Genoa in 189 ...

(PSI) and two times government minister – was supported by Iamonte who delivered the necessary votes to get him elected in Parliament. Mancini allegedly tried to adjust the sentence of Natale’s son Vincenzo Iamonte, and helped to acquire contracts for the construction of the Liquichimica plant. Mancini denied any links with the 'Ndrangheta boss,Mancini, il giudice nega l' arresto
Corriere della Sera, October 7, 1993 and was acquitted of the charges.' Ndrangheta, assolto Mancini
Corriere della Sera, November 20, 1999

Explosives

The Iamonte clan held a large deposit of explosives. The stock originated from the vessel Laura C. which was sunk by a British submarine in 1941 near Saline Ioniche while carrying some 700 metric tonnes of explosives from Naples to North Africa. Apparently part of it was recuperated by the clan and might have been used for the bomb that killed Antimafia judge

Giovanni Falcone Giovanni Falcone (; 18 May 1939 – 23 May 1992) was an Italian judge and prosecuting magistrate. From his office in the Palace of Justice in Palermo, Sicily, he spent most of his professional life trying to overthrow the power of the Sicilian ...

in May 1992 and the bombing campaign by the Sicilian Mafia in 1993 in the Via dei Georgofili in

Florence Florence ( ; it, Firenze ) is a city in Central Italy and the capital city of the Tuscany region. It is the most populated city in Tuscany, with 383,083 inhabitants in 2016, and over 1,520,000 in its metropolitan area.Bilancio demografico ...

, in Via Palestro in

Milan Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city ...

and in the Piazza San Giovanni in Laterano and Via San Teodoro in

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus ( legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

, which left 10 people dead and 93 injured as well as damage to centres of cultural heritage such as the

Uffizi The Uffizi Gallery (; it, Galleria degli Uffizi, italic=no, ) is a prominent art museum located adjacent to the Piazza della Signoria in the Historic Centre of Florence in the region of Tuscany, Italy. One of the most important Italian museums ...

Gallery. Iamonte was also involved in radioactive waste dumping by the 'Ndrangheta, sinking ships near

.Complotto sotto il mare
L'Espresso, September 17, 2009

Arrest

Natale Iamonte was sent in internal banishment in 1988 to the north of Italy. The measure was meant to remove him from the criminal environment in Calabria. He stayed in

Desio Desio ( lmo, label= Brianzoeu, Des) is a town and in the Province of Monza and Brianza, Italy. History In 1277 it was the location of the battle between the Visconti and della Torre families for the rule of Milan. On 24 February 1924, Desio rece ...

with his relative Natale Moscato, a local town councillor for urban planning with the

(PSI).Scacco ai boss della Brianza
Corriere della Sera, October 7, 1993 The Iamonte clan started to invest their illicit profits in the area. In December 1995, the police seized assets worth 50 billion lire in the

Brianza Brianza (, , lmo, label= Brianzöö dialect, Briànsa) is a geographical, historical and cultural area of Italy, at the foot of the Alps, in the northwest of Lombardy, between Milan and Lake Como. Geography Brianza extends from the ...

region, near

.Caccia al tesoro del boss
Corriere della Sera, December 23, 1995 Iamonte was arrested in November 1993.Maxisequestro di esplosivo
Corriere della Sera, June 6, 2004 He was succeeded by his sons,

Vincenzo Vincenzo is an Italian male given name, derived from the Latin name Vincentius (the verb ''vincere'' means to win or to conquer). Notable people with the name include: Art * Vincenzo Amato (born 1966), Italian actor and sculptor * Vincenzo Bel ...

and Giuseppe Iamonte, who were arrested in May and July 2005.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Iamonte, Natale 'Ndranghetisti People from the Province of Reggio Calabria 1927 births 2015 deaths