The city of Regio is located at the southernmost tip of the Apennine Peninsula in Italy.
As the capital of the Calabria region in southern Italy, this city, separated from Sicily by a narrow strait, is also the main activity area of the Italian mafia organization 'Ndrangheta.
In a mansion surrounded by high walls and iron fences in the San Dao district in the south of the city.
Taking advantage of the slack police force over the weekend, the head of the Stefano family, Horace Stefano, who had been working all night to receive goods for two consecutive nights, slept the entire day on Monday and did not get up until about five o'clock in the afternoon.
After leaving the bedroom and going downstairs, just as he was about to order the servants to prepare some food, Horace Stefano's wife reminded him that the eldest brother of the family, Giorgio Stefano, had called and asked him to have dinner with him after he woke up. , there are still things to talk about.
Saying goodbye to his wife, Horace Stefano walked out of the villa, played with the two pit bulls at home for a while in the courtyard, fed a bowl of raw beef amidst the low growls of the two fierce dogs guarding their food, and patted him with satisfaction. Clapping hands, the bodyguards had already prepared the car, and Antonio Danieli, Horace's deputy who had relied heavily on him in the past two years, also rushed over from his nearby residence.
Horace Stefano, who had just asked the bodyguard to call someone, wanted to know the distribution status of the two batches of goods over the weekend. The three Danieli brothers were responsible for this matter.
The two got into Horace Stefano's Mercedes-Benz bulletproof car. The driver drove out of Stefano's mansion, and Horace also asked about business.
After discussing for a while, Horace looked at Anthony Danieli, who seemed a little haggard recently, and suddenly asked: "Anton, why are you always so listless recently? Did something happen to you?"
Antonio Danieli was shocked when he felt Horace's seemingly casual but sharp gaze. He tried his best to control himself and didn't act strange. He followed the other person's tone and laughed at himself: "Maybe it's because of that little bitch Agnes." I have too much time on my hands, so I’m really sorry, boss.”
Horace Stefano knew the lustful nature of his subordinate. He continued to look at the other person for a moment, then smiled and said: "It's nothing. We are working hard for this reason. However, we must always pay attention to our health."
Antonio Danieli also smiled and promised, and deliberately looked like he didn't intend to repent.
When Horace withdrew his gaze, Antonio Danieli felt a thin layer of sweat break out on his back, even with the cold wind blowing in the carriage.
I couldn't help but pray that something would end soon.
Otherwise, Antonio Danieli didn’t know how many days he could survive without being discovered.
It only took more than ten minutes for the bulletproof Mercedes-Benz to arrive at a commercial district in the center of Regio from the suburb of San Diego. The car stopped at the back door of a restaurant owned by the 'Ndrangheta. The bodyguard and driver in the front row got out of the car to take a look. After a while, he helped Horace Stefano open the car door.
After getting out of the car, Horace Stefano quickly ducked into the back door of the restaurant under the cover of his men without stopping on the street.
As the godfather of a mafia family, especially in a gang with constant internal disputes, Horace Stefano's ability to survive to this day depends on his cautious approach.
In a lounge next to the back kitchen of the restaurant, Giorgio Stefano, the boss of the Stefano family, is already waiting here. Compared with his 46-year-old brother who is still strong and strong, the 59-year-old Giorgio Stefano has begun to put on weight. He does not look like a dangerous figure at the core of a mafia family, but more like a scholar.
This is actually close to the truth.
Giorgio Stefano is the eldest of the six brothers of the Stefano family. After the family started to improve a little, he cleared his name in time. Now he is a lawyer and runs a law firm in Regio. Law firm, also actively involved in political affairs in Calabria.
However, according to the secret files of the Italian police, Giorgio Stefano is actually the "brain" of the Stefano family. He is mainly responsible for making suggestions and is also in charge of the Stefano family's money laundering work.
Seeing his brother come in, Giorgio Stefano smiled and stood up and hugged Horace. He also didn't forget to say hello to Antonio Danieli and others, looking very friendly.
After a few words of greeting, the others were sent to the hall to eat, leaving only the two brothers in the room.
After his men delivered the food and left, Giorgio also asked about the two batches of goods he had just taken over over the weekend.
Facing his brother, Horace Stefano did not hide much, and said in an excited tone: "Another ship was seized in Sicily last week, and this time it lost a full 1.5 tons. Colombia can't stand it. Well, when we received the goods at the weekend, Douglas said that 30% of Sicily's share would be transferred here, which is 10% higher than we originally expected. The specific allocation needs to be discussed in detail, but basically it is between us and the northern parties. Take half.”
As a coastal city, Regio stretches along the coastline for more than 20 kilometers.
After the Second 'Ndrangheta Civil War from 1985 to 1991, the center of Regio was divided into three parts: the Condillo, Imeti and Serrano families in the north, and the Tega in the south. It is occupied by three families: Novo, Stefano and Liberi.
Among the three families in the south, due to the civil war that year, the strength of the originally strongest Stefano family was severely damaged. Even the then godfather Paul Stefano died in the conflict. Now the three families are dominated by the strongest Tega. The Nuo family is the leader. However, they are not actually subordinate to each other. They are just a relatively close alliance.
Because the Italian Mafia is different from the family gangs in other countries, there are many smaller families surrounding these six major families.
Antonio Danieli, who was relied upon by Horace Stefano as a confidant, was the eldest of the three brothers of the Danieli family and was considered a small force affiliated with the Stefano family.
The Second 'Ndrangheta Civil War ended three years ago. With the mediation of the mafia in Sicily and Campania, the 'Ndrangheta also began to establish gang committees, transforming from a loose family alliance into a pyramid-shaped gang, just because of the hatred between all parties. It is too deep. The current 'Ndrangheta gang committee is still only symbolic. It is mainly responsible for mediating disputes and avoiding another large-scale civil war. It does not yet have the substantive power of the old mafia gang committees such as 'Cosa Nostra' and 'Camorra'. and strong cohesion.
Giorgio Stefano was also a little excited when he heard Horace's words.
The 'Ndrangheta is not as deeply rooted as Cosa Nostra in Sicily, nor is the Camorra which can rely on the superior geographical location of the world-class port city of Naples. Before the 1980s, the 'Ndrangheta could only be found in Calabria. Italy's notoriously poor areas are struggling to survive.
Since the 1980s, as well-known mafia forces such as Cosa Nostra and the Camorra have become the key targets of the Italian government, Latin American drug lords have begun to connect with the 'Ndrangheta out of consideration of the risks of cooperation.
Two years ago, Cosa Nostra assassinated Giovanni Falco, a famous Italian anti-mafia judge, with great fanfare. It was originally intended to shock the Italian government, but it was self-defeating and triggered a large-scale anti-mafia wave. Cala, which borders Sicily, Although the Mafia in the Bria region was inevitably implicated, it suffered no overall losses. Instead, it continued to take over businesses that the Sicilian Mafia had no time to take care of, and began to accelerate its development.
Latin American drug lords have been strengthening their cooperation with the 'Ndrangheta in the past two years.
Unexpectedly, due to Sicilian mistakes last week, Latin American drug lords directly increased the share of about 20% of the drugs that they originally intended to transfer to the 'Ndrangheta to 30%.
This is a pretty big business.
Thinking about how much profit the 30% share he was about to take over would bring to the entire 'Ndrangheta, Giorgio Stefano said: "In this case, we may need to find other money laundering channels, otherwise we will not be able to digest so much. "
Horace Stefano said: "I am also planning to discuss this matter with you. Joe, did you read the newspaper over the weekend? Last Friday, the Melisandre Company and Bulgari reached an acquisition agreement. It seems that they are still negotiating to acquire Vacheron Constantin in Switzerland. I think we might start with this company. Not to mention other things, just the Christie's auction house owned by Melisandre Company, one auction item can clean up hundreds of millions of lire. This kind of efficiency cannot be achieved by the restaurant under our feet for hundreds of years."
Giorgio Stefano is mainly responsible for the money laundering affairs of the Stefano family and is of course more familiar with it.
However, Giorgio said cautiously: "Actually, I felt it was inappropriate when you sent someone to the United States last month to warn Melisandre's Sofia Feisi. Don't forget, that woman is Simone Weiss. Tello’s lover, a super rich man with a net worth of $300 billion, we’d better not mess with.”
Horace Stefano said indifferently: "Qiao, you are too careful. The richer the guy, the more timid and afraid of death. We have seen more of these people in recent years, just like the guy who has been hiding for so many years." The little tailor who dares not come back to the United States. Whether it is Sofia Feisi or Simon Westeros, they are all the same in my opinion. You have also seen that after I asked someone to warn me, Melisandre Company immediately published it in the newspaper I made a statement on the Internet that I will not acquire Versace, so I’m not scared.”
Giorgio Stefano said: "I remember that the statement seemed to be issued before you sent people to the United States."
Horace Stefano waved his hand and said: "It makes no difference. Melisandre Company has turned its target to Bulgari. So, Joe, I plan to let Anton go to the United States again and directly Kidnap Sofia Feisi's two children. Our demands are not high. Melisandre Company only needs to clear out the share of our subsequent business growth. As long as the woman agrees, even if she wants it again There is no problem with the little tailor’s company. Hey, I’m angry when I talk about that little tailor. If it weren’t for Paul’s support, how could he, a poor boy from a small village outside Regio, have the ability to create any luxury goods empire? It’s really desperate to get rid of us.”
Giorgio Stefano did not have the confidence of his reckless brother. Even though there was a lot of controversy, he still got his lawyer's license in college. Knowing more, I instinctively felt that I shouldn't continue to provoke the powerful Westeros system.
A business empire worth hundreds of billions of dollars, more than dozens of times more powerful than any of the old plutocrats in Italy.
However, Giorgio Stefano didn't quite understand why he couldn't be provoked. In recent years, the Italian wealthy people he had been able to come into contact with had either treated them with respect or avoided them.
Now, after hearing his brother say so much, Giorgio quickly became relaxed.
According to the previous estimates, the 30% share that the Colombian drug lord plans to transfer from Sicily this time is already larger than the scale of all the 'Ndrangheta's previous related businesses. Judging from the current situation, as the Italian authorities continue to suppress the Sicilian mafia The Party and the 'Ndrangheta will definitely take over more in the future.
Expansion of scale means huge capital flow.
If the huge amount of cash cannot be cleaned and circulated as soon as possible, it will definitely seriously restrict the next development of the 'Ndrangheta.
Melisandre's company, which controls a large number of luxury brands and an international auction house, is indeed a perfect platform for money laundering. As Horace just said, the auction turnover of one collection at Christie's auction house is enough to keep the restaurants and bars of the 'Ndrangheta dedicated to money laundering busy for hundreds of years.
After thinking for a moment, Giorgio Stefano nodded and warned: "Send more people over this time, and don't hurt the children, otherwise the matter will be difficult to discuss."
Horace Stefano agreed, and the brothers continued to discuss some details over the meal.
After finishing a medium-rare steak on the dinner plate, Horace Stefano put down the tableware, remembered something, and asked: "Qiao, before you came here Shoshanna said you had something to discuss with me?"
Giorgio Stefano also finished his meal and was wiping the oil stains on his hands with a napkin. He stopped and said, "Yes, have you noticed that there seem to be a lot of strangers in Reggio recently?"
Horace Stefano narrowed his eyes: "Stranger?"
Giorgio Stefano nodded, put down his napkin, and looked a little more solemn: "Yes, Nicholas, who is responsible for managing the bars near the sea, first reminded me. Moreover, I always feel a little uneasy these days, you know You don’t believe this, but I felt this way before what happened with Paul.”
As the capital of the Calabria region, the city of Regio, even if it cannot be compared with metropolitan cities such as Rome and Milan in Italy, has hundreds of thousands of people gathered along the coastline that stretches for more than 20 kilometers. In addition, the city has Some cargo seaports that communicate with other places, and even many stowaways from Eastern Europe and North Africa like to land here and enter Italy. It can be said that there is a mixed bag, and the presence of strangers is normal and generally does not attract attention.
However, since his brother said this, Horace Stefano immediately became vigilant: "Is it possible that the police are also planning to take action against us?"
Giorgio Stefano shook his head and said: "That guy Nazari charges us so much money every month, and the government and the police department also have many of our informants. If the authorities plan to target us, there will be no news about it."
Horace Stefano raised his hand and pointed to the north: "Condillo and the others?"
This time Giorgio Stefano wasn't sure.
It's not the police. It's really possible that the three families in the north are interested.
Moreover, in connection with the recent plan of Latin American drug lords to transfer more business shares to the 'Ndrangheta, Giorgio Stefano made more similar speculations.
Although we stopped the war three years ago, the civil war lasted for six years and so many people died that it was impossible to resolve the hatred.
Perhaps they could barely maintain peace in the past. This time, if the three northern companies can monopolize all the business transferred from Colombia, their own strength will be greatly improved, even if they are competing with Cosa Nostra in the south and Camo in the north. It's not impossible to be comparable.
Even if they know in their hearts that once their strength reaches the level of Cosa Nostra and Camorra, they will easily become the target of attack by the Italian government. However, for the Mafia, the two major forces in Sicily and Campania , is the ultimate goal of many people.
Noticing his brother's silence, he knew that he did not want to see the third 'Ndrangheta civil war again. However, Horace Stefano understood that some things were impossible to give in. His expression quickly became fierce and he said: "I'll wait a moment. Just arrange this matter, no matter who is thinking about it, as long as I catch them, they will be chopped into pieces and thrown into the sea."
Giorgio Stefano continued to hesitate for a moment, then nodded and said, "We don't want our family to act. We'll call Giuseppe and the others later and we'll discuss it together."