Cordì 'ndrina
Encyclopedia
The Cordì 'ndrina is a clan of the 'Ndrangheta, a criminal and mafia-type organisation in Calabria
, Italy
. The 'ndrina is based in Locri
, a hotbed of 'Ndrangheta activity.
. The motive for the elimination of Domenico Cordì was the alleged fleecing of some 1,700 cases of cigarettes that were smuggled into Catanzaro by Sicilian mafiosi of the Tagliavia and Spadaro families in Palermo to Antonio Macrì
, the undisputed head of the 'Ndrangheta in Siderno
. Two years after the killing, the Cordì clan hit back, killing Giuseppe and Domenico Marafioti, respectively the brother and son of Bruno Marafioti, boss of the clan and allied with the Cataldos. A series of hostilities continued until 1975 after the murder of Macrì, when the adversaries, weakened by losses on both sides, agreed to a truce.
The truce fell apart due a bomb attack on July 4, 1993, against the boss of the Cataldo clan, Giuseppe Cataldo
. He was the target of a bomb thrown at the car driven by his wife. The car was completely destroyed but Cataldo and his wife miraculously survived. Hostilities resumed.
Another boss of the Cordì clan, Cosimo Cordì
, was killed in Locri on October 13, 1997. The Locri football club mourned the death of the boss with one minute of silence at the start of a game. His brother Antonio Cordì – known as ‘U Ragiuneri – took over as the head (capobastone) of the clan. Antonio Cordí was also a municipal counciler for the Italian Socialist Party
(Partito Socialista Italiano – PSI) and a powerful vote broker in national elections.
. The police accidentally witnessed the killing when one of the killers inadvertently set off his mobile phone – which was under surveillance – while he descended the motorcycle used in the attack. On December 18, 2008, police arrested Antonio Cataldo for ordering the killing, jointly with three of the material killers. The killing of Salvatore Cordì was a retribution for the killing of Giuseppe Cataldo, a nephew of Giuseppe Cataldo
the boss of the Cataldo clan, three months earlier.
In March 2006, police arrested several members of the Cordì family, including the suspected current boss, Vincenzo Cordì, and Salvatore Ritorto, believed to have pulled the trigger in killing of Francesco Fortugno
, the Vice President of the Regional Assembly of Calabria. Fortugno was killed in October 2005.
The military boss of the Cordì clan, Pietro Criaco
was captured on December 28, 2008.
In 2010, police investigations based on intercepted conversations and government witnesses revealed that the Cordì and Cataldo clans signed a peace after a bitter feud that lasted for 40 years causing dozens of deaths. They formed a strong alliance aimed at a joint management of the crime business in the area , in particular in obtaining public work contracts and the exortortion industry.
Calabria
Calabria , in antiquity known as Bruttium, is a region in southern Italy, south of Naples, located at the "toe" of the Italian Peninsula. The capital city of Calabria is Catanzaro....
, Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
. The 'ndrina is based in Locri
Locri
Locri is a town and comune in the province of Reggio Calabria, Calabria, southern Italy. The name derives from the ancient Greek town Locris.-History:...
, a hotbed of 'Ndrangheta activity.
Feud with Cataldo clan
The historical boss of the clan, Domenico Cordì, was killed in Locri on June 23, 1967, in the so called Piazza Mercato massacre, which signed the beginning of a long blood feud with the Cataldo 'ndrinaCataldo 'ndrina
The Cataldo 'ndrina is a clan of the 'Ndrangheta, a criminal and mafia-type organisation in Calabria, Italy. This particular 'ndrina is based in Locri, a hotbed of 'Ndrangheta activity...
. The motive for the elimination of Domenico Cordì was the alleged fleecing of some 1,700 cases of cigarettes that were smuggled into Catanzaro by Sicilian mafiosi of the Tagliavia and Spadaro families in Palermo to Antonio Macrì
Antonio Macrì
Antonio Macrì , popularly known as Zzi 'ntoni, was a historical and charismatic boss of the 'Ndrangheta, a criminal and mafia-type organisation in Calabria, Italy...
, the undisputed head of the 'Ndrangheta in Siderno
Siderno
Siderno is a town and comune located in Calabria, Italy about 3 kilometres from Locri.Siderno Marina is the newer town located on the Ionian coast. It is popular with both Italian and foreign tourists and has a bathing beach....
. Two years after the killing, the Cordì clan hit back, killing Giuseppe and Domenico Marafioti, respectively the brother and son of Bruno Marafioti, boss of the clan and allied with the Cataldos. A series of hostilities continued until 1975 after the murder of Macrì, when the adversaries, weakened by losses on both sides, agreed to a truce.
The truce fell apart due a bomb attack on July 4, 1993, against the boss of the Cataldo clan, Giuseppe Cataldo
Giuseppe Cataldo
Giuseppe Cataldo , also known as Peppe, was an Italian criminal and a member of the 'Ndrangheta, a Mafia-type organisation in Calabria...
. He was the target of a bomb thrown at the car driven by his wife. The car was completely destroyed but Cataldo and his wife miraculously survived. Hostilities resumed.
Another boss of the Cordì clan, Cosimo Cordì
Cosimo Cordì
Cosimo Cordì was a member of the 'Ndrangheta, a criminal and mafia-type organisation in Calabria, Italy. He was the head of the Cordì 'ndrina based in Locri, a hotbed of 'Ndrangheta activity...
, was killed in Locri on October 13, 1997. The Locri football club mourned the death of the boss with one minute of silence at the start of a game. His brother Antonio Cordì – known as ‘U Ragiuneri – took over as the head (capobastone) of the clan. Antonio Cordí was also a municipal counciler for the Italian Socialist Party
Italian Socialist Party
The Italian Socialist Party was a socialist and later social-democratic political party in Italy founded in Genoa in 1892.Once the dominant leftist party in Italy, it was eclipsed in status by the Italian Communist Party following World War II...
(Partito Socialista Italiano – PSI) and a powerful vote broker in national elections.
Recent developments
Salvatore Cordì, the son of the old boss Domenico, was killed on May 31, 2005, in SidernoSiderno
Siderno is a town and comune located in Calabria, Italy about 3 kilometres from Locri.Siderno Marina is the newer town located on the Ionian coast. It is popular with both Italian and foreign tourists and has a bathing beach....
. The police accidentally witnessed the killing when one of the killers inadvertently set off his mobile phone – which was under surveillance – while he descended the motorcycle used in the attack. On December 18, 2008, police arrested Antonio Cataldo for ordering the killing, jointly with three of the material killers. The killing of Salvatore Cordì was a retribution for the killing of Giuseppe Cataldo, a nephew of Giuseppe Cataldo
Giuseppe Cataldo
Giuseppe Cataldo , also known as Peppe, was an Italian criminal and a member of the 'Ndrangheta, a Mafia-type organisation in Calabria...
the boss of the Cataldo clan, three months earlier.
In March 2006, police arrested several members of the Cordì family, including the suspected current boss, Vincenzo Cordì, and Salvatore Ritorto, believed to have pulled the trigger in killing of Francesco Fortugno
Francesco Fortugno
Francesco Fortugno was an Italian politician and the Vice President of the Regional Assembly of Calabria...
, the Vice President of the Regional Assembly of Calabria. Fortugno was killed in October 2005.
The military boss of the Cordì clan, Pietro Criaco
Pietro Criaco
Pietro Criaco is an Italian criminal and a member of the 'Ndrangheta, the Calabrian mafia. He was a fugitive since 1997 and included in the list of most wanted fugitives in Italy until his capture on December 28, 2008, in Africo near the southern city of Reggio Calabria.He tried to enter the...
was captured on December 28, 2008.
In 2010, police investigations based on intercepted conversations and government witnesses revealed that the Cordì and Cataldo clans signed a peace after a bitter feud that lasted for 40 years causing dozens of deaths. They formed a strong alliance aimed at a joint management of the crime business in the area , in particular in obtaining public work contracts and the exortortion industry.