With logistical support from a scion nicknamed “Little Kiss,” the Giorgi-Boviciani clan of the 'Ndrangheta crime group used northwestern Europe as a cocaine and tax-evasion haven.
Key Findings
- According to investigators, the Giorgi-Boviciani clan helped oversee a multi-million-dollar cocaine pipeline from Latin America to Europe.
- Aided by a Brazilian prison gang, the 'Ndrangheta shipped drugs to Antwerp, Rotterdam, and Hamburg, often via West Africa.
- The Giorgis played a key bridging role, buying this cocaine from faraway cartels and selling it to European buyers, who then filtered it to street dealers.
- As well as spreading cocaine around Europe, officials say the Giorgis moved the proceeds into the legal economy via the food and restaurant industries.
On an October evening in 2018, as Sebastiano Giorgi and a Romanian associate skipped and swayed at a fancy Stuttgart nightspot, they were blissfully unaware that their every move was being eyed by police. The cops had watched the pair polish off a meal before following them and their “dates” onto the dance floor, believing the gangsters were meeting up to talk about drugs. In fact, they were busy with the sex workers they had taken out on the town.
German authorities and Italian anti-mafia police had been watching Giorgi — known as “Bacetto,” or “Little Kiss” — for years. A rising figure in Italy’s ‘Ndrangheta criminal organization, he was based a two-hour drive away in the picturesque lakeside town of Überlingen, where he ran an Italian eatery frequented by tourists. While Bacetto’s restaurant hasn’t always earned the best reviews from diners, he does get high marks from investigators for his other business — managing a multi-million-euro cocaine pipeline from Latin America to Europe.
