The San Luca feud or Vendetta of San Luca is a long-running conflict between two clans 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 ...

crime organisation that began in 1991 in

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

's Calabria region in the village of

San Luca San Luca is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Reggio Calabria in the Italian region Calabria, located about southwest of Catanzaro and about east of Reggio Calabria. The town is situated on the eastern slopes of the Aspromonte mo ...

History

The two involved clans, the Strangio-Nirta and Pelle-Vottari-Romeo families, both belong to the

crime organization. During a fight at a

carnival Carnival is a Catholic Christian festive season that occurs before the liturgical season of Lent. The main events typically occur during February or early March, during the period historically known as Shrovetide (or Pre-Lent). Carnival ...

celebration in 1991 two young men from Strangio-Nirta were killed, leading to a series of

feud A feud , referred to in more extreme cases as a blood feud, vendetta, faida, clan war, gang war, or private war, is a long-running argument or fight, often between social groups of people, especially families or clans. Feuds begin because one pa ...

s.A mafia family feud spills over
BBC News, August 16, 2007 In May 1993, four people were killed in an hour.San Luca, strage in due atti
Corriere della Sera, May 3, 1993 Shortly thereafter, the old patriarch Antonio Nirta imposed a peace with the help of the De Stefano clan from

Reggio Calabria Reggio di Calabria ( scn, label= Southern Calabrian, Riggiu; el, label= Calabrian Greek, Ρήγι, Rìji), usually referred to as Reggio Calabria, or simply Reggio by its inhabitants, is the largest city in Calabria. It has an estimated pop ...

, which held for some time.E il boss rifiutò la tregua
La Repubblica, August 19, 2007Faida, la pax targata Di Stefano
Gazzetta del Sud, January 28, 2010 A truce was called in 2000. The feud resumed after an honour killing on 5 January 2005.Lea, Concetta, Giuseppina è l'8 marzo della Calabria
La Repubblica, February 29, 2012 Domenico Giorgi of the Nirta-Strangio clan killed Salvatore Favasuli a relative of the Pelle-Vottari clan, after having threatened Giorgi's girlfriend. Giorgi fled to Piedmont, but the family of Favasuli killed his brother Antonio Giorgi. The Nirta-Strangio clan reacted by shooting Francesco Pelle, "Ciccio Pakistan", while on the balcony with his newborn child. A bullet entered his back and he remained paralyzed. From his wheelchair he claimed revenge, and on Christmas Day, December 25, 2006, they attacked the house of a boss of the rival Nirta-Strangio clan, Giovanni Luca Nirta, killing his wife Maria Strangio. At the funeral of Maria Strangio, her cousin Giovanni Strangio appeared with gun, presumably to kill members of the Pelle-Romeo clan. He was arrested and released in July 2007. Until August 2007, five more murders and eight attempted murders in Calabria were attributed to the feud. During the reconstruction of Christmas at the trial in 2011 the prosecution said that there was a "state of war" between the two clans. Evidence collected by phone taps, interceptions and declarations of turncoats showed that the instigator of the attack was Francesco Pelle, also known as 'Ciccio Pakistan', while the order came from Franco Vottari. Among the perpetrators of the crime, was Sebastiano Vottari, a brother of Franco.

The Duisburg massacre

The conflict then received significant new public attention on 15 August 2007 when six men belonging to the Pelle-Romeo clan were shot dead in their cars in front of a

pizzeria A pizzeria is a restaurant focusing on pizza. As well as pizza, dishes at pizzerias can include kebab, salads and pasta. Many pizzerias offer take-away, where the customer orders their food either in advance or at the restaurant and then tak ...

near the train station of

Duisburg Duisburg () is a city in the Ruhr metropolitan area of the western German state of North Rhine-Westphalia. Lying on the confluence of the Rhine and the Ruhr rivers in the center of the Rhine-Ruhr Region, Duisburg is the 5th largest city in No ...

in western

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG),, is a country in Central Europe. It is the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany lies between the Baltic and North Sea to the north and the Alps to the sou ...

. One of the killed men,

Marco Marmo Marco may refer to: People * Marco (given name), people with the given name Marco * Marco (actor) (born 1977), South Korean model and actor * Georg Marco (1863–1923), Romanian chess player of German origin * Tomás Marco (born 1942), Spanish c ...

, was seen as responsible for the murder of Maria Strangio. It is believed that the men had moved to Germany to escape the feud. Giovanni Strangio was identified as one of the two gunmen who fired more than 70 shots.Haftbefehl gegen Giovanni Strangio erlassen
Der Spiegel, August 31, 2007
La Repubblica, August 31, 2007 The second gunman is believed to be Strangio's brother-in-law Giuseppe Nirta (born in 1973), also wanted for international cocaine trafficking.Spur nach Belgien
Focus, March 3, 2008
Der Spiegel, March 3, 2008
La Repubblica, March 1, 2008 In Germany the massacre instigated the Mafia? Nein danke! movement, inspired by the example of the anti-Mafia movement Addiopizzo in Sicily.Die Mafia als Imageproblem der Restaurants
Die Welt, August 21, 2007The story of ''Mafia? Nein danke!''
Laura Garavini website

Chasing the suspects

A massacre of this size had been unprecedented in the history of the 'Ndrangheta. Italian police drastically heightened security measures in San Luca as a result, and arrested over 30 'Ndrangheta members, including Giovanni Luca Nirta.Strage Duisburg, San Luca sotto assedio: trentadue persone fermate per la faida
La Repubblica, August 30, 2007 Nirta's rival

Francesco Vottari Francesco Vottari (born 16 July 1971 in Locri, Calabria), also known as ''Cicciu u Frunzu'', is a boss of the 'Ndrangheta from San Luca in Calabria. He is the son of Giuseppe Vottari. He is married to Maria Pelle, the daughter of Antonio Pelle, the ...

was arrested on 12 October 2007.Strage di Duisburg, arrestato il boss Francesco Vottari
La Repubblica, October 12, 2007 German and Italian police cooperated, and four members of the Strangio-Nirta clan were arrested in December 2007; the main suspect of the shooting, Giovanni Strangio, was however able to escape.Razzia in San Luca
Sueddeutsche Zeitung, December 18, 2007 The head of the Strangio-Nirta clan, Giuseppe Nirta was arrested on 23 May 2008.San Luca clan chief caught
ANSA, May 23, 2008 His son and successor

Paolo Nirta Paolo is both a given name and a surname, the Italian form of the name Paul. Notable people with the name include: People with the given name Paolo Art * Paolo Alboni (1671–1734), Italian painter *Paolo Abbate (1884–1973), Italian-American ...

(a cousin of Giovanni Strangio) on August 7, 2008.Italy arrest over Mafia killing
BBC News, August 7, 2008
La Repubblica, August 7, 2008 Police concluded from telephone surveillance that the 'Ndrangheta clan bosses had negotiated a cease fire near the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Polsi in

Aspromonte The Aspromonte is a mountain massif in the Metropolitan City of Reggio Calabria ( Calabria, southern Italy). The literal translation of the name means "rough mountain". But for others the name more likely is related to the Greek word Aspros ( � ...

, a traditional meeting place of the 'Ndrangheta. According to prosecutor the elite bosses of the 'Ndrangheta imposed a peace directly after the Duisburg massacre.Strage di Duisburg, un anno dopo: analisi di Nicola Gratteri
, ANSA, August 9, 2008 On 12 March 2009, Dutch police arrested Giovanni Strangio and his brother-in-law, Francesco Romeo, in an apartment in

Diemen Diemen () is a town and municipality with a population of in the province of North Holland, Netherlands. It is located approximately 6 km (3.7 mi) southeast of Amsterdam's city centre, within the Amsterdam metropolitan area. Etymology The n ...

near

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the Capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population ...

, after German police learned that they were hiding there by following clues found in Nirta's flat after his arrest."Feinstaubplakette verriet mutmaßlichen Mafia-Killer"
Spiegel Online, March 13, 2009Alleged mafia kingpin arrested in Amsterdam over gangland massacre
The Guardian, March 13, 2009 On 11 February 2010, police arrested Sebastiano Nirta in San Luca suspected of being Strangio's accomplices in the Duisburg killings. The jailed Giuseppe Nirta received an additional arrest warrant. Both were charged on the basis of DNA evidence recovered from the crime scene.Italy: Alleged mafia killer goes on trial for German massacre
AdnKronos, April 14, 2010Strage Duisburg, oggi via al processo
, ANSA, April 14, 2010
Der Spiegel, February 11, 2010

Trial

The trial against the killers started on 14 April 2010, in

Locri Locri is a town and ''comune'' (municipality) in the province of Reggio Calabria, Calabria, southern Italy. Its name derives from that of the ancient Greek region of Locris. Today it is an important administrative and cultural centre on the Ion ...

. Strangio followed the hearing via video link to his prison cell in Rome.Mutmaßlicher Drahtzieher steht vor Gericht
Der Spiegel, April 14, 2010 On 12 July 2011, the Criminal Court in Locri sentenced eight people to life imprisonment for their roles in a violent feud, including Giovanni Strangio, Gianluca Nirta, Francesco Nirta (37), Giuseppe Nirta, known as 'Peppe u versu' (71), Francesco Pelle, known as 'Ciccio Pakistan' (34), Sebastiano Romeo (34), Francesco Vottari known as 'Ciccio u Frunzu' (40) and Sebastiano Vottari, known as 'il Professore' (28). Three other people were convicted and sentenced to terms ranging from nine to 12 years, while three more were acquitted.
Der Spiegel, July 12, 2011

Non-involvement of main Pelle clan

Antonio Pelle, also known as ''Ntoni Gambazza'', the patriarch of the San Luca locale and the 'Ndrangheta capo crimine, the titular head of the organisation, tried in every way to end the feud and make peace. However, he was only able to secure that the section of the clan he headed ("Pelle-Gambazza") was not involved in the feud that affected another element of the clan ("Pelle-Vanchelli").Morto Antonio Pelle, "patriarca" di San Luca
Gazzetta del Sud, November 5, 2009 Notwithstanding his non-involvement in the facts, Antonio Pelle was indirectly involved through his son-in-law,

, one the protagonists among disputing clans, who is married to his daughter Maria Pelle.Ancient feuds and new crimes
Gnosis Nr. 3, 2007 In order to underline his non-involvement in the feud, he asked family members to send a letter to the ''

Gazzetta del Sud ''Gazzetta del Sud'' is an Italian language national daily newspaper for the south of Italy. The paper is published in Messina. Since 2017, it owns also the Giornale di Sicilia. History and profile ''Gazzetta del Sud'' was founded in 1952 in Mes ...

'' newspaper. The message was clear: the feud was a clash between minor elements of the clan and Gambazza was trying to reach a peace without victors, as he had done in the past, in 1991, when the conflict started.

References

Sources

Rache am Weihnachtsmörder
''Spiegel Online'', 16 August 2007.

''

Spiegel Online ''Der Spiegel (online)'' is a German news website. Before the renaming in January 2020, the website's name was ''Spiegel Online'' (short ''SPON''). It was founded in 1994 as the online offshoot of the German news magazine, ''Der Spiegel'', wi ...

'', 15 August 2007
Mafia six killed over an egg
''

The Scotsman ''The Scotsman'' is a Scottish compact newspaper and daily news website headquartered in Edinburgh. First established as a radical political paper in 1817, it began daily publication in 1855 and remained a broadsheet until August 2004. Its pa ...

'', 16 August 2007
Mafia feud blamed for 'executions' in Germany
''

Financial Times The ''Financial Times'' (''FT'') is a British daily newspaper printed in broadsheet and published digitally that focuses on business and economic current affairs. Based in London, England, the paper is owned by a Japanese holding company, Nikke ...

'', 16 August 2007 {{coord missing, Germany Massacres in Germany Mass murder in 2007 History of the 'Ndrangheta Organized crime conflicts in Italy Conflicts in 2007