Italy mobster 'leading Colombian terror group'

ROME - One of Italy's most notorious mob outfits is leading a terrorist group in Colombia to secure passage of cocaine to Europe, Interior Minister Giuseppe Pisanu said today.

Pisanu said the unidentified group was led by a "representative" of the 'Ndrangheta, an organised crime family based out of Calabria, which he said had likely become the most dangerous in southern Italy.

"Our police have identified a terrorist group in Colombia led by a representative of the 'Ndrangheta," he told reporters.

Pisanu said it worked with another group "that protected passage of the drug from the collection centres to market".

The ultra-right wing United Self Defence Forces of Colombia is involved in cocaine trafficking and once counted Salvatore Mancuso, who is of Italian descent, as its military commander.

The country's left-wing guerrillas use cocaine proceeds to fund their decades-old war against the state. Both sides are considered "terrorist" by the US State Department.

When asked by Reuters whether the 'Ndrangheta was tied to the paramilitaries or the guerrillas, Pisanu declined comment.

"I don't want to say too much, because it is about sensitive information," he said.

Italian authorities have drawn ties between Mancuso and the 'Ndrangheta. Mancuso, who has denied the ties, is wanted in the United States for cocaine trafficking.
The Italian parliament's anti-Mafia commission last year said the 'Ndrangheta had surpassed the Sicily's Cosa Nostra as the most dangerous and "pervasive" criminal organisation in Italy, running a booming international cocaine trade.

Pisanu said the 'Ndrangheta had also appeared to have a dominant role in European cocaine trafficking.

"The 'Ndrangheta is a family organisation, very solid," he said. "At the same time, it has achieved a sophisticated system of international relations, that today makes the 'Ndrangheta ... perhaps the dominant organisation in Europe in cocaine trafficking." He said the 'Ndrangheta was even supplying cocaine to other Italian mafia families.

"When it comes to drug trafficking, organised crime and terrorism meet," he said.

- REUTERS