The San Luca feud or Vendetta of San Luca is a long-running conflict between two clans of the
'Ndrangheta
The 'Ndrangheta (, , ) is a mafia-type organized crime, criminal syndicate originating from the Calabria region of Italy. Gratteri & Nicaso, ''Fratelli di Sangue'', pp. 65–68 This body, also referred to as the Commission in reference to the ...
Italy
Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...
San Luca
San Luca is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Reggio Calabria in Italy, located about southwest of Catanzaro and about east of Reggio Calabria. The town is situated on the eastern slopes of the Aspromonte mountains and in the val ...
.
History
The two involved clans, the Strangio-Nirta and
Pelle
Pelle may refer to:
* ''Pelle'' (album), a 2000 studio album of the Italian band Punkreas
* Pelle (given name)
* Pelle (surname)
* Pelle Pelle, a fashion brand
** " Pelle Coat", a 2023 song by Lil Durk named after the brand
* An enzyme, also kn ...
-Vottari-Romeo families, both belong to the
'Ndrangheta
The 'Ndrangheta (, , ) is a mafia-type organized crime, criminal syndicate originating from the Calabria region of Italy. Gratteri & Nicaso, ''Fratelli di Sangue'', pp. 65–68 This body, also referred to as the Commission in reference to the ...
crime organization. During a fight at a
carnival
Carnival (known as Shrovetide in certain localities) is a festive season that occurs at the close of the Christian pre-Lenten period, consisting of Quinquagesima or Shrove Sunday, Shrove Monday, and Shrove Tuesday or Mardi Gras.
Carnival typi ...
celebration in 1991 two young men from Strangio-Nirta were killed, leading to a series of
feud
A feud , also known in more extreme cases as a blood feud, vendetta, faida, clan war, gang war, private war, or mob war, is a long-running argument or fight, often between social groups of people, especially family, families or clans. Feuds begin ...
Reggio Calabria
Reggio di Calabria (; ), commonly and officially referred to as Reggio Calabria, or simply Reggio by its inhabitants, is the List of cities in Italy, largest city in Calabria as well as the seat of the Metropolitan City of Reggio Calabria. As ...
, 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 Strangio-Nirta clan killed Salvatore Favasuli, a relative of the Pelle-Vottari clan, for having threatened Giorgi's girlfriend. Giorgi fled to Piedmont, but the family of Favasuli killed his brother Antonio Giorgi. The Strangio-Nirta 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 Strangio-Nirta clan, Giovanni Luca Nirta, killing his wife Maria Strangio. At the funeral of Maria Strangio, her cousin
Giovanni Strangio
Giovanni Strangio (; born January 3, 1979) is a member of the 'Ndrangheta born in Siderno, Calabria. In 2007, his name appeared on the list of most wanted fugitives in Italy as well as in Germany, Strangio was arrested in Amsterdam on March 12, 2 ...
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 attack 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 (''
pentito
''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 ...
'') 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 Italian 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.
A pizzeria may offer take-away, where the customer orders their food either in advance or at the restaurant and then takes the prepared food with them in a pizza box. A pizzeria may deliver food to ...
near the train station of
Duisburg
Duisburg (; , ) is a city in the Ruhr metropolitan area of the western States of Germany, German state of North Rhine-Westphalia. Lying on the confluence of the Rhine (Lower Rhine) and the Ruhr (river), Ruhr rivers in the center of the Rhine-Ruh ...
in western
Germany
Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...
. One of the killed men, Marco Marmo, 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
Giovanni Strangio (; born January 3, 1979) is a member of the 'Ndrangheta born in Siderno, Calabria. In 2007, his name appeared on the list of most wanted fugitives in Italy as well as in Germany, Strangio was arrested in Amsterdam on March 12, 2 ...
was identified as one of the two gunmen who fired more than 70 shots. 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
In Germany, the massacre instigated the '' mafianeindanke'' movement, inspired by the example of the anti-Mafia movement
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 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 2008San Luca clan chief caught ANSA, May 23, 2008 and his son and successor Paolo Nirta (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
The Sanctuary of Our Lady of Polsi, also known as the Sanctuary of Santa Maria di Polsi or Our Lady of the Mountain, is a Christian sanctuary in the heart of the Aspromonte mountains, near San Luca in Calabria, southern Italy. It was founded by Rog ...
in
Aspromonte
The Aspromonte is a mountain massif in the Metropolitan City of Reggio Calabria (Calabria, southern Italy). In Italian aspro means "rough" whereas in Greek it means "white" (wikt:άσπρος, Άσπρος), therefore the name literally translat ...
Dutch police
The National Police Corps (), colloquially in English as Dutch National Police or National Police Force, is the centralised, national law enforcement agency of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, and its sole police force. Constituted under the prov ...
arrested Giovanni Strangio and his brother-in-law, Francesco Romeo, in an apartment in
Diemen
Diemen () is a town and Municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality with a population of in the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of North Holland, Netherlands. It is located approximately 6 km (3.7 mi) southeast of Amsterdam's Amsterdam ...
near
Amsterdam
Amsterdam ( , ; ; ) is the capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, largest city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It has a population of 933,680 in June 2024 within the city proper, 1,457,018 in the City Re ...
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 center 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
Antonio Pelle (; March 1, 1932 – November 4, 2009), also known as Ntoni Gambazza ("Tony Bad Leg"), was a historically significant and charismatic 'Ndrangheta boss from San Luca in Calabria. He was the patriarch of the San Luca ''Locale ('Ndrangh ...
, also known as ''Ntoni Gambazza'', the patriarch of the San Luca locale and the 'Ndrangheta
capo crimine
A capocrimine is the elected boss of the ''crimine'', an annual meeting of the 'Ndrangheta ''Locale ('Ndrangheta), locali'' near the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Polsi in the municipality of San Luca during the September Feast.Paoli, ''Mafia Brotherhoo ...
, 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, Francesco Vottari, 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 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 Messina, ...
'' 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.
Spiegel Online
' () is a German news website. It was established in 1994 as ''Spiegel Online'' as a content mirror of the magazine ''Der Spiegel''. In 1995, the site began producing original stories and it introduced ''Spiegel Online International'' for artic ...
The Scotsman
''The Scotsman'' is a Scottish compact (newspaper), 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 ...
Financial Times
The ''Financial Times'' (''FT'') is a British daily newspaper printed in broadsheet and also published digitally that focuses on business and economic Current affairs (news format), current affairs. Based in London, the paper is owned by a Jap ...