Polycephalous ‘ndrangheta: Crimes, behaviours and organisation of the Calabrian mafia in Australia
| DOI | 10.1177/0004865818782573 |
| Date | 01 March 2019 |
| Published date | 01 March 2019 |
| Author | Anna Sergi |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
Article
Polycephalous ‘ndrangheta:
Crimes, behaviours and
organisation of the
Calabrian mafia in Australia
Anna Sergi
University of Essex, UK
Abstract
While attention to the ‘ndrangheta, the Calabrian mafia, in Australia, has significantly
increased in the past two decades, historical records referring to this peculiar manifestation
of organised crime in the country date back almost a century. This research is situated in
between studies on mafia mobility and studies on the nature of mafia-type organised crime in
Italy and in Australia. Relying on archival research, fieldwork and focus groups with law
enforcement agencies across most Australian jurisdictions, this paper will essentially argue
that there is in Australia an on-going criminal system that is made of ethnically hybrid criminal
networks – predominantly made of, but not limited to, Calabrian ethnicity. Ethnic solidarity
and traditional norms and values of the ‘ndrangheta, embedded in Calabrian migrant culture,
provide the roof to these networks’ behaviours and organisation. This paper will discuss how
the resilience of this mafia in Australia is linked to the capacity of ‘ndrangheta clans to
maintain different heads – to be polycephalous – all differently and equally important: their
organisational head is stable and culturally homogeneous, their (mafia-type) behaviours are
constant, flexible and rooted in ethnic solidarity, and their activities are very dynamic, but
hybrid in their ethnic composition.
Keywords
Australia, Calabrian mafia, criminal networks, Italian mafia, ‘ndrangheta, organised crime
Date received: 5 March 2018; accepted: 21 May 2018
Corresponding author:
Anna Sergi, University of Essex, Colchester CO43SQ, UK.
Email: asergi@essex.ac.uk
Australian & New Zealand Journal of
Criminology
2019, Vol. 52(1) 3–22
!The Author(s) 2018
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DOI: 10.1177/0004865818782573
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Introduction and methods
The ‘ndrangheta is today considered the ‘most powerful’ Italian mafia, with specific
reference to its penetration in Italian society as well as its international presence, espe-
cially in the drug trade (Sergi & Lavorgna, 2016). According to the Italian National
Antimafia Prosecutor Directorate (Direzione Nazionale Antimafia e Antiterrorismo
(DNA), 2017, p. 3), recent investigations ‘confirm the diffused presence of the ‘ndrangheta
in almost all Italian regions, as well as in different countries, not just in Europe, but also in
America - United States and Canada - and in Australia’. As any other mafia group (Sergi,
2017b), the ‘ndrangheta clans are characterised by the commission of criminal activities
for profits as well as the quest for power, political and financial.
Building on previous studies on the topic (Bennetts, 2016; Sergi, 2015; Spagnolo,
2010), this study will present the results of two months fieldwork in Australia between
July and August 2017 – and the accompanying desk research. Interviews and focus
groups have been conducted with specialist law enforcement agencies, thanks to the
support of the Australian Federal Police, as project partner. Meetings (interviews and
focus groups) have been arranged in Sydney, Brisbane, Melbourne, Griffith (NSW),
Perth, Adelaide and Mildura (VIC); agencies successfully contacted include: Australian
Federal Police (AFP), Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission (ACIC), New
South Wales Police, Griffith (NSW) Police, Mildura (Vic) Police, Victoria Police,
South Australia Police, Queensland Police, Western Australia Police, New South
Wales Crime Commission, Queensland Crime and Corruption Commission,
Independent Board of Anti Corruption for Victoria. While individual interviews (8)
have lasted approximately 45 minutes, focus groups (10) have lasted up to 2 hours
each. Fieldwork has included travels in different locations in what could be understood
as mini-ethnographies, including historical archives researches and participant observa-
tions of communities in places like bars, restaurants, churches, even graveyards.
Through content and discourse analyses, this paper will present the multi-dimensional
character of the ‘ndrangheta in Australia. This mafia ‘system’ is almost 100 years old in
Australia and never ceases to fascinate the public and concern law enforcement (Small &
Gilling, 2016). For reasons of confidentiality, direct quotes from interviews and focus
groups cannot be presented here, but statements made are products of knowledge
acquired during these meetings.
Research questions were:
1. What are the current institutional knowledge and perceptions of manifestations of
criminal groups, behaviours and activities linked to the ‘ndrangheta?
2. How diverse are the manifestations of the ‘ndrangheta (groups, behaviours and activ-
ities) across Australia?
The aims of this paper are strictly analytical and shall not be intended as evaluation or
judgement of civil or criminal responsibility. Anyone mentioned in this paper not con-
victed by a court of law, obviously, shall be considered innocent until otherwise proven.
All cases I refer to are examples to make analytical points. It is imperative also to remem-
ber that albeit the ‘ndrangheta represents a qualified minority of the Calabrian commu-
nity, the community as a whole shall not be misjudged or discriminated against for this.
4Australian & New Zealand Journal of Criminology 52(1)
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