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Sunday, December 11, 2022

Super Cartel Italian Leader Raffaele Imperiali Turns Witness in Italy

 "Socalj" for Borderland Beat

Imperiali has reportedly given four statements to authorities since his capture in Dubai. He was the second most wanted fugitive in Italy prior to his arrest.

Imperiali has promised to tell Anti-Mafia magistrates in Naples everything he knows from his 20-plus-year career in the Neapolitan-based Camorra and potentially the recently broken up Super Cartel. He has gone ‘pentito’ – an Italian phrase meaning “repentant” that is slang for becoming an informant. He was arrested in Dubai in 2021 after 5 years on the run from his native Italy.


Raffaele Imperiali, also known as "Lelluccio" is notorious for possessing a pair of stolen Van Gogh paintings and buying 40kg of gold per week, valued at €2 million, using profits from global drug sales of more than 400 kilos of cocaine per month. In intercepted encrypted text messages, he also claims to have had access to the Interpol database via a Moroccan contact in order to check on operations and arrest warrants against his network. "I had the Interpol systems checked,” Imperiale told prosecutors in Naples, revealing he then instructed pal Raffaele Mauriello to “come” to Dubai.


Raffaele Imperiale was born in Castellammare di Stabia in Naples, Italy to a wealthy local businessman father. He made connections with Dutch traffickers after moving to Amsterdam in the 1990s, running a coffee shop he inherited from his brother. There while dealing ecstasy he got his start under the Di Lauro Clan of Naples, Italy, home of the Camorra. He then moved on to the more profitable cocaine trade. He worked as a broker with some of Italy's largest mafia groups including the 'Ndrangheta in addition to his clan, said to be one of the top Camorra drug trafficking groups.

In 2004, there was an internal Camorra war against the Di Lauro Clan in Scampia that resulted in over 100 deaths. The split occurred after Paolo Di Lauro, head of the clan became a fugitive, and his son Cosimo eventually took over and attempted to centralize their drug dealing efforts and cycle in younger members. Raffaele allied with the group that split, known as Scissionisti di Secondigliano who was made popular in the TV series Gomorrah. He helped supply weapons and became a member of the Amato-Pagano Clan which included members that had first introduced him to the Camorra life. His alliance was a key part of what allowed that side to come out on top. Imperiali speaks five languages and built his fortune brokering deals with not only the Italians additional as crime groups in Ireland, the UK, Holland, and South America. He returned to Italy from Amsterdam in 2008 shortly before the heads of the Amato-Pagano Clan were arrested.

The recovered Van Gogh paintings, Congregation Leaving the Reformed Church in Nuenen, and View of the Sea at Scheveningen.

In 2016, after Raffaele fled his native Italy for Dubai, authorities discovered two Van Gogh paintings hidden in a wall on one of his properties. The paintings had actually been stolen from the Van Gogh museum in Amsterdam in 2002. It is possible he received the paintings in exchange for payment of a drug load as he had partners in that country or had purchased them for himself. However, it was later believed that he held onto the paintings in order to attempt to use them as bargaining chips and reduce a possible prison sentence for himself. It is reported he had spent over €7 million in a three-month timespan, including €200,00 in airfare. He spent more than €3 million just on “personal expenses” while on the run.

2021 arrest in Dubai.

Imperiale’s dramatic arrest made international headlines last year as he was arrested in his luxury villa possessing a Russian passport. The application for his extradition stated that he was a member of Europe's so-called 'Super Cartel' along with Irish mobster Daniel Kinahan, Balkan mob boss Edin Gačanin and the jailed Dutch Mocro Maffia leader Ridouan Taghi. He also worked with Colombian groups, including Los Urabeños, also known as the Clan del Golfo or the Gaitanista Self-Defense Forces of Colombia (Autodefensas Gaitanistas de Colombia - AGC). 

The Super Cartel included Imperiali, Kinahan from Ireland, Edin Gacinin of Bosnia, Ridouan Taghi, a Dutch-Morrocan, and Anthony Meza of Panama (Graphic by HEARST).

Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) documents sent to the Dutch police have identified Imperiale, Taghi, Gačanin, Richard 'El Rico' Riquelme Vega, and Daniel Kinahan as the heads of the ‘Super Cartel'. This group found its base in Dubai where authorities first discovered their connections as they had attended the lavish 2017 wedding of Daniel Kinahan. The year prior he had fled to Dubai from Ireland and Spain following a public shooting that led to the killings of 18 people in an Irish gang war and out of fear of arrest for drug trafficking and murder.

In Dubai, the Super Cartel members, all wanted in their resident countries, could use their wealth to blend in as the place was seen as a safe haven for criminals to network and reside in. Until a few months ago it had limited extradition treaties with most western countries. Now, Dubai/UAE is cooperating much more closely with various law enforcement agencies, as evidenced by several high-value targets wanted by Spain, the Netherlands, and Europol were arrested there in November 2022.

Imperiali was one of the first of the group arrested in Dubai in 2021 and extradited back to Italy earlier this year. It is said that he has already made four extensive statements to authorities. His capture was largely due to the interception of EncroChat messages. The company provided legally encrypted phones that were set up to guarantee cybersecurity. However, the phone system was infiltrated by Europol in 2020, leading to hundreds of arrests across Europe. Raffaele Imperiale is said to have used the encrypted chats to talk to traffickers such as Daniel Kinahan about ongoing shipments and other drug-related business, according to Europol.

Imperiale's Italian wanted poster.

He had claimed that his extradition was a kidnapping and breached his human rights according to the European Convention, but the Italian court found that there were no grounds for this appeal. His warrant was to serve an 18-year prison sentence for various offenses including drug trafficking in Italy.

He was then arrested again in his jail cell in connection with another case regarding a seizure of 4 metric tons of cocaine worth more than €800 million. It is believed his decision to become an Italian witness came shortly after this latest arrest. He stated that he was tired of his life and wanted to change.

It is currently not known if his information led to the recent captures in Dubai, Spain, and across Europe. But based on providing multiple statements since his arrest, he likely was cooperating before the massive Super Cartel bust and his status was not revealed until after the network was largely dismantled. It has been reported however that he has so far provided information and testimony against two co-defendants in the criminal cases against him in Italy. 

43 comments:

  1. Smart guy. He Made the deal before anyone else turned on him. It Really simple. It's called Survival at that point

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I had wanted to wash my car, but it started raining.
      I still want to wash my car.
      I put on a raincoat, and ended up washing the car, with soap and rainwater.

      Delete
    2. I would have done the same

      Delete
  2. Y’all just mad cuz CDS controls the world

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. 8:14 world of Warcraft about all the control

      Delete
    2. Cds dont even control sinaloa. In zacatecas a cds plaza boss ordered the torture and death of a pregnant woman. I bet you like that you fucking cds cheerleader piece of shit.

      Delete
    3. @9:08 … stop watching FOX news.

      Delete
    4. 6:55 stop listening to cds fake corridos

      Delete
    5. FOX reminds me about the norrh korean TV stations. You guys are awesome jajajaja

      Delete
    6. I forgot... CJNG rescues the Mexican youth from drug use. And extortion... Cut it out... Their exactly the same..If not worse

      Delete
    7. 9:48 north Korean anchors are risking their life, they are poor and broke, we understand...
      FAWX NEWS employees are free, usually millionaires, with nobody threatening their puras nalgas, not even ANTIFA,
      Why are they such culeros?
      (Assholes)

      Delete
  3. This is normal for the upper echelons in the narco world while street thugs do serious time.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Bingo !
      Everyone up top snitches, while common street thugs bite the pillow but refuse to snitch

      Delete
    2. I guess the average street thug doesn't have that much valueble intel.

      Delete
    3. Street thugs live by the code of the streets while narco bosses live by the code of CYA.

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    4. Detroit
      You should know you make a living of the scum representing them in court. Pinche vato miedoso!

      Semper Fi

      Delete
    5. CYA? California youth authority?

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    6. @1150 CYA = cover your ass (as in snitch)

      Delete
    7. @11.15, the Latin speaking sailor dude- Good for Detroit, because somebody has to.

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    8. If they gave people who ratted serious time , there would be no incentive for other big fish to rat to save themselves

      Delete
  4. The di lauro clan the camorra and naples are ashamed of this rat. Snitching is not for the smart like these new soft pussy ass generations like to think. These top guys know the risks they can end up in jail for life so shut the fuck up and do the time. And his name and family wont be shamed for his cowardness. They be respected.

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    Replies
    1. Nope, those times are over, they all talk when facing long time. Forfeiture all his assets and money, squeeze out all the intel and let him walk free, his friends will take care of him. There is a shipping container with a chair inside waiting for him.

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    2. 11:12 we arent talking about the Sinaloa cartel

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    3. Guys like Thomas Buschetta had & still have their relatives all killed even tho they snitched decades ago… most of the guys who are facing long sentences nowadays are gonna snitch… there’s not really such thing as omertà… killing their families only harden their position on snitching…

      -Holden D. Cash

      Delete
    4. There is good mini series called „il Cacciatore-the hunter“. You guys should watch.

      Delete
    5. The di Mauro clan is what Gomorrah is based off

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    6. Uneducated comment, you don’t know anything. My family is from the same town as Raffaele; Castellammare di Stabia and I can tell you that Raffaele left the Di Lauro clan in the early 2000’s…. this is actually what led to the war you see in Gomorrah (La Faida di Scampia).

      They don’t talk about this shit online but the whole war was solely because Imperiale became a huge independent broker and ended up supplying the Amato-Pagano clans, who became the Scissionisti (Secessionists).. or “The Spainairds”

      It’s said that Imperiale is actually and secretly a high level member of the Amato clan, who is still immensely powerful and rich today… since they successfully dethroned the Di Lauro clan who are DEFUNCT!

      Delete
    7. 3:52 hey gumba,
      where is your fork?
      Go bend some spaghetti.

      Delete
    8. @3:52 I have read that after Paoli di lauro's son Cossimo took over or was given reign that's when the split came because the son stated hustling and disrespecting the people under the father.
      Search Vanity fair the Camorra never sleeps.

      Delete
  5. Why do Sinaloas snitch so much? If your answear is "let them snitch what do you carr" we already know you are a snitchloa

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Let them snitch all they want.

      Delete
    2. You must love sinaloans so much they have a permanent home in your mouth

      Delete
    3. I can care a rats ass, if they snitch.

      Delete
    4. 9:52 if they snitch it's ok.
      Go get your clothes washed.

      Delete
    5. I was hopping for a real answear, but like always all i see is this rooted way of thinking you can break the law and than snitch your way out like a lil biach

      Delete
  6. Where’s the naive people that think that the underworld of crime is like a movie like the “Godfather “😂 Italians are snitches hahaha Where’s your so called omertà hahaha

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Informants in the mafia based in Italy aren't as common as informants in the Sinaloa cartel let that sink in

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    2. 11:40 You also believe in Santa clause and fairytales hehe

      Delete
  7. Why are Cuinis Snitches...? No mames

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Until we see some paper work from Cuinis than we can talk about it, Sinaloas in the other hand we got books over books of paper work 🤝

      Delete
  8. What's'eh gonna tell ain't nobody know?!
    That the Pope's in on it!? That there's all these ties! To tie on! And there ain't no knot to hang on! What soup of the day will he tell? Let me turn this pot for mine. What Waup will be heard hitting the wall? I'm'uh bang my Screw so whatcha gon do. Get back. Call the cammorra y el Papa y diles que meh pelen la verga... que la barratas is over ain't no flea market no more. That they ain't been for theirs and I'm taking m8ne to a new day. That I ain't even got to magic some shit I got it automatically if they feel like getting a hole dug up to them instantly. That in in hell I'm the right hand man of Satan if they feel like jumping. That they jumped mine to much and this shit is over. That I'll put a Whole lot with Satan up here on'em anyday.

    ReplyDelete

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