ROME – Three people have been arrested in Calabria, the heartland of the ‘Ndrangheta mafia, after the discovery of a stash of frozen dormice, a favourite mob food, reported the Repubblica daily today.
The ‘Ndrangheta serves dormice, a protected species, during reconciliation banquets held to bring peace between warring families, according to wildlife protection organisation Lipu.
Police found several of the species in cages during a drug bust in Delianuova, a town in the hills of southern Italy, along with over 200 frozen dormice packaged for sale and consumption, said Repubblica.
Poaching is widespread in the Aspromonte mountains in Calabria, with hunters setting thousands of traps in the woods and selling captured dormice illegally to mobsters and restaurants, said Lipu.
The ‘Ndrangheta, based in the region that forms the tip of Italy’s boot, has surpassed Sicily’s more famous Cosa Nostra to become the country’s most powerful mafia group and operates across the world. – AFP, October 16, 2021
