Thousands of Italian mafia figures are washing billions of dollars a year through the Australian economy in secrecy while “pulling the strings” of other criminal clans.
The Australian Federal Police (AFP) on Tuesday launched a probe into 51 Italian organised crime gangs operating in Australia, 14 of which are the Calabrian mafia—also called ‘Ndrangheta—one of the most powerful organised crime groups in the world.
AFP Assistant Commissioner Nigel Ryan alleged the ‘Ndrangheta of being responsible for 70 to 80 percent of the world’s cocaine and “flooding Australia with illicit drugs”  such as cannabis and methamphetamine.
“They mix their illegitimate money with money from their legitimate construction, agricultural or catering businesses, and all of this makes it more difficult to not only identify criminality but to prove it,” Ryan said….