How The 'Ndrangheta (Italian Mafia) Actually Works | How Crime Works | Insider
Marisa Merico is the daughter of one of Italy's most notorious Mafia godfathers, Emilio DiGiovine of the 'Ndrangheta. She took over running the organized crime group after he was imprisoned and was herself later sentenced to time in prison in the UK and Italy for her involvement in the mob. The 'Ndrangheta is one of Italy's largest mafias, along with the Camorra in Naples and Cosa Nostra in Sicily.
Merico speaks to Insider about the methodology and history of the Calabrian Mafia and about her own experiences of growing up in a Mafia family. She is the author of "Mafia Princess," works as a criminologist, and speaks in prisons in the UK. She is an advocate for prison reform and helping women in the criminal justice system.
Find more about Marisa here: marisamerico.co.uk/
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How The 'Ndrangheta (Italian Mafia) Actually Works | How Crime Works | Insider
When she says " 'Ndrangheta don't touch children women" In 2007 it is estimated that they made around € 2.867 billion from Prostitution and human trafficking. So yeah bullshit.
There are so many cases or women that disappeared and then melted in acid. 'Ndrangheta mess up with everyone and everything.
Yeah, shes either lying or shes delusional
@@fourdoorsmorehoes I think she is lying. If she really was repenting she would testify against the evil bastards of the organized crime world. She has not, as she said she is not afraid since she has not told anything. Sounds to me she is a monster, needs to be locked up.
@@felipeiglesias horrifying but not surprised.
She said it in the context of killing.
She's terrifying, trying so hard to make it look not that bad
I don't think she's trying that hard. The street drug trade (which ruins millions of lives every day), police being paid off to protect criminal businesses, none of that should seem normal to anyone. It says more about us, the worship so many have for this criminal element and the over-saturation of media about them which normalises it all, that we don't find any of this surprising.
Monsters
Imagine your daughter goes to Italy as an Au-Pair only to fall in love and have a child with a mafia boss. I mean, this is pretty much the worst case, isn't it?
It would be much worse to go and marry a Muslim and become a terrorist! Lol
@@lewisc9959 with that comment you just embarrassed yourself so much. There is no doubt about how narrow-minded you're walking this earth...
@@atide_and1175 I didn’t embarrass myself, it’s a valid comment. Many European women dated Muslims and went to live in the Islamic state! Pure crap! Islam is pure evil!
Imagine she goes to Vancouver as an aupair and gets knocked up by a married BLACK guy! MUAHAHAHHAHA!!!
She could have found a cop or politician 😂
This lifestyle is probably being celebrated too much in popular culture. But when you think about it, they are basically also just criminals. Maybe better organized with a cooler image, but still criminals. Her Northern British accent is a bit confusing, you wouldn't expect that haha, but I understand because she is half-British and lived there most of her life.
You're spot on. The mafia ran my family out of Calabria because we just wanted to work on the farm instead of be apart of the crime - we're from a small valley town with less than a few thousand people, yet the mafia's infectious reach still got to us. Worst part was that it was from our own direct family members, too; my nonna's brothers and first cousins. Peace was kept between my nonno and nonna's family because of the patriarchs of both families having a good relationship. It wasn't until my great nonno on my nonna's side passed away that things broke down, and things got more nefarious and open with the mafia dealings. Mafia are scum, and just because they're glorified and are a little bit more 'prestigious' and 'classy' than gangs like Crips/Bloods, MS-13 (because of all the movies) it doesn't change the fact that they're criminals. I have mafia in my family, but at the same time, my cousin can't open up a chain restaurant because it would "cause trouble for the locals" and they'd need to pay a cut in order to keep the 'neighborhood' happy.
Huh?… what did you think it was a gentleman’s club?… it’s literally called organised crime…
She is the only Italian with a native-sounding English accent
They aren’t “basically” criminals they are criminals.
@@connorspiech309 not really. Had a friend called fabio when I was a teenager. He was born in Milan but moved to London when he was 3 years old. Spoke just like me and all our friends. He was quite a bit richer than most of us and his dad had a lovely ferrari. My family lived in a council flat and had an old rusty vauxhall. 😂
The gulf between the attitudes of this comment section and the prior mafia interview 9 months ago is fascinating.
misogyny lol
yeaaaaaaaaaaaah...... its bad, isnt it ?
Right?? Everyone is saying things like "she's seems like she's boasting" or "she's trying to make it look not bad" when I feel like the previous interviews were more or less the same 😭
Dayum I hadn’t even considered it, surely it’s not that simple right? Surely something in those 9 months happened that offers a logical explanation…..right?
This is a weird one, I'm not sure how much one can trust her. It seems more like she is boasting about that life then anything. Most of the things she said where stuff that you can read on wikipedia anyways.
Yah, no remorse. The crimes she admitted to were the ones she was convicted of. Would be very surprising if she wasn't involved in lots more crimes
Classic woman moment
I'm sure she knows what she's talking about but whether she's talking about what see knows is another matter.
Thanks for saving me 15 minutes
🗿
Thank her for being honest. It's very important for human nature to be honest in such extreme spheres.
She wasn't honest
Nope, this is highly different than most other sources.
Being honest she grassing now she's been caught
@@robertlee9712who did she grass on? Look up the court records and show me 1 person that went to prison because of her. You can't because it didn't happen.
@@robertlee9712her father is a different story. He did grass
Women and children might not be targeted by other clans but its different if they want to escape this life. Like the case of Lea Garofalo, who was murdered by her own family after she tried to leave with her daughter. There's a TV series about this called The Good Mothers (based on the novel) which also depicts how poorly those wives and daughters are treated within these families. And for those who dont have the attention span to check out or listen to her story; born in Italy, English mother and Italian father. Came back to UK (Blackpool) aged 9. Hence the northern English accent. Went back to Italy as a young adult and became part of the 'family business'. Came back to UK later on and convicted of money laundering, spent time in Durham prison while Myra HIndley and Rose West were there.
I took a gap year to work in Sicily teaching English, and even at my little level, wow, what I saw. I'd see burnt cars while walking to work, or burger vans who hadn't paid 'pizzo'. My school owner am sure was one of them as I was quite outspoken to her about not doing things for her like driving to dangerous villages on the roads etc and she swiftly got rid of me for no real reason when covid hit. I used to feel ok in some cafes but others had this dark and ominous presence. I had a student too who I just couldn't get rid of for 2 years with a big business and it was very scary, so I am glad I came back. Even at my little level you sense it.
Wow that's crazy
I come from the gargano area which is that little peninsula that sticks out in the Puglia region. There are several families (blood related families) that have been fighting a vendetta fueled war since 1979 that began over grazing rights. Now they're fighting over territory. You can't do anything or open a business or anything without going thru these families first. They are known for shotgun blasts to the face so that their family members can't see them in the casket.
What do they think of North Italians?
Who/what rules over Trampani in Western Sicily?
@@KFJNwow that’s crazy.. I want to do some more research on this now
Does she seem proud of her family's achievements in the world of crime ?
I mean she lived and grow with it and folks like her are more honest. Unless you want to cancel her 🤷🏾
Duh
@@eugeneflores6153why are you bringing up cancel culture? This is a criminal not someone being insensitive on Twitter
@@eugeneflores6153 your brain is so broken lol
She’s alive when others have died because of her accomplishments in crime. Yea she should be proud. So what? How far do you think you would have gone?
Glad I read the description, at first I was wondering "how is someone like that not in prison?"
“My name is Meadow Soprano and I was the daughter of the former Don of New Jersey”
you can surely recap it that way...
The passage of time has made this Calabrian Mafia princess into a Lancashire housewife. Amen.
🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
She is a criminologist
"Meadow Soprano is on line 1".....FASCINATING story and storytelling!
" it needs the government to NOT take a blind eye " , let that sink in
Mussolini had all these pricks gaoled.. but then America came in and released "the political prisoners", because they needed strike breakers after the war ended
She needs to have a sit-down interview with Michael Franzese!
Yeah two rats together
@@Stuckinthen9neties"i hate rats, I love and praise only criminals who dont talk"
He has a million. Another scumbag guinea gangster
@@pagodebregaeforro2803i think he was joking. Chill lol
Thankyou.
Amazing story
Had to turn on CC
I love how she subtly shits on the American mafia.
And that’s how mafia works
respect
COOL!
Guys in the comments have watched too many gangster movies lol It’s quite funny, surely you realise criminals don’t look or act like the Corleone’s but sculk people from hard backgrounds
ikr
Exactly.
Yeah same, I became the boss of my mafia family too! We ran the hair and nails salon racket and delved a bit into the importation of bon bons
Read the video description
You're not funny
It seems like she realized she can't go back and therefore could make money talking about her old life. However, given the opportunity back then without a daughter, she would have continued
Yes, it's the opportunistic mindset of any true criminal
@@SS-hg6yu RIGHT. This isn't new, y'all just have more to say because she's a woman. But like she said in the beginning, it's the American Mafia that didn't let women join.
Any chance of doing a video on our corrupted government?
How about human trafficing? I don't believe it didn't involved.
me 2
it is one of the highest earning points for the ndraghetta. what do you think?
Yea. Probably a bunch of rapists involved.
Very interesting
This needs a movie
Godfather film series got this moments.
the misogyny in this comment section, whew
literally 💀
Alright time to play Mafia 4
At first I thought this was Mel Robbins
Man, that kind of loyalty to family
So she became a Mafia boss to show her father the power of girl bossing.
Yes! And to then use that power to support all women in the whole wide world;)
Sure mafia doesn't kill kids... Giuseppe Di Matteo
Its curious how some people go to crime "for the family" example breaking bad. This story she got out of crime for her family- her daughter even though its her family that led her to crime. take this to rumble.
She is clearly a high-level criminal and as the CHIEF of a criminal organisation involved in killings, drug dealing, corruption etc., she wasn't simply "led to crime". I really don't want to know the horrible things she did behind her beautiful face, good manners and nice accent.
Great video!! I guess mobster in US diff.
She should have her own bio movie
So... she's out there, speaking internal stuff, doing interviews on YT, writing books... something there isn't right. Either she's not what she claims or mafia is far less deadly the way they are portrayed in the media and films.
Look at Michael Francesze, if it’s in the court documents it’s public and the polizia already know. You don’t kill someone who has settled in Britain either, the backlash would be monumental
@@vanguardanon4979 I think with cases like Francesze and her it's probably more trouble than reward to kill them, so they don't do it, but if a golden opportunity would come along, I think they would strike.
Or, like she said, she only talks about what she is permitted to talk about. At 5:17 on, she's all, you know, there's just stuff we don't address/mention... She hints or implies a couple of things, but mostly seems keen to discuss the BROADER aspects of the Mafia and how it works, not specifically who, what, or how, and the conspiracies/money changing specific pockets, or specific controversial crimes; that OR her personal acts in the Mafia, that specifically involved her. I'm sure she's naturally careful with her wording and language, you have to be, in a society and organization like that. You watch your tongue, or, even potentially, you could lose it.
The men do all this stuff & there's movies & songs written about them. Let there be a female boss & y'all get scandalized.
@@Heyu7her3this
Incredible
Who else thought this was Mel Robbins from the thumbnail?
Greetings from Leipzig!
Ruled by Visconti?
I wonder what she’d think of the Theerapanyakul family
Damn I thought you were talking about some badass family I’ve never heard of
Strangely, I was looking for the name Gonstabe..
I was working in Africa decade+ ago and one story became famous locally there. An Italian mafia boss was either hiding out there or was there on business. This Italian guy made a pass at a married women and husband of that came out with machete. Italian guy was tough for Italy but not so much in Africa. This civilian took out his machete and slapped with blunt side of it on his head. Mafioso cried like a baby and got rescued by police. Right now African gangs have got a small foothold in Italy, few years down the line Ndangheta will work for African crime lords in Italy.
First and foremost it's a business
'Ey up, I wurra queen in t' mafia'.
I would like talk with this women as I had a friend who was a trafficking victim who managed to get out and was told about the ometra the code of silence. She had never heard heard of it before. The people who tried to recruit her said they were soilders. She was very much manipulated and brainwashed at one point into sex trafficking but managed to fight her corner and ended up receiving death threats because she was a police informant and was called a rat and a stool piegion.
It’s good to hear, in many interviews of this calibre , that the families are in decline. I realize they’re not gone, but consider the horrible things they do ?
The hierarchy described in this video is totally messed up. They have whole different hierarchy than the one described. This one she talking about probably could be the 60's cosa nostra hierarchy. You can talk about the ndrangheta rankings for 2 days, she omitted almost everything from the bottom to the top of the pyramid. The are so many ranks in ndrangheta. She is giving straight misinformation
A licensed criminologist!
She is genuine.
Just some information that italian would not put mafia and italian in the same sentence so already this is Sicilian indigenous programmers trying for a connection So this is why we have european law Help and support sent all avenues Action immediately all areas AFFA angels never die nffn HMS council
May all sentient beings be liberated from suffering and from the causes of suffering.🕉☮️☮️☮️
Read her book, you can’t really see she s repentant or thinks this is bad, she s more like proud of her past
She is also lying quite a bit too
@@gaia7240 you think?
@@missthunderstormable i think so like about " 'Ndrangheta don't touch children women" In 2007 it was estimated that they made around € 2.867 billion from Prostitution and human trafficking. someone commented about this in the comment section so idk man
@@lakshmimahajan6388 i could be wrong but thats with women who come from africa too work on the tomato fields... they have african people do the work for them...
@@landonbrowne6250 their main activity was drug trafficking, but also deals with arms trafficking, money laundering, racketeering, extortion, loan sharking, and prostitution. idk dude i could be wrong too ig and anyway thx for the info. apprecite that.
I wonder if she had the makings of a varsity athlete?
A woman boss? Wouldn't happen in the States.
@@nicvoid What are you gonna do?
@@nicvoid there have been many actual woman bosses in italy... many bosses got shot and woman as boss wont get killed by anyone else
No and she mentioned her dad also ratted
@landonbrowne625 she said at the beginning that the American Mafia won't allow for women, that's what they're referring to
How come she sounds like a Lancashire lass?
english mom, lived in uk as a child, italian dad, came back to italy :)
Why does she call the Camorra 'Gommorah'?
Accent
because she's a fraud, italian mafia but is british lol. They wouldn't accept a brit into the family
Italian mafia, otherwise known as the mafia
As opposed to the American mafia
There are like 4 main crime syndicates in Italy. When just Mafia is used, that mostly means the Sicilian Mafia which is also called the Cosa Nostra. The specific one that she is talking about mainly operates in the Calabrian region of Italy.
This is true, but after the Nineties, in Italy ‘Ndrangheta has taken the leader role by far among the 4 (3?) main crime syndicates.
@@ilsommodante5636 True that. Since Sicily and Calabria are close in location and language, it made it easier to take on the head role
@@irinagevorgyan9121 I’m Italian and that WAS NOT the reason why it happened.
I would love to be a criminal. Can't even get a mortgage playing by the rules
Lol
dm me i have a very lucrative business opportunity. It's called selling crack
do you think bezos doesnt pay taxes on amazon a huge corporation by playing by the rules?
There are levels of "criminality" that aren't as risky as others. The appeal depends upon what level is "comfortable" for the individual. Also.. there are crimes committed against the individual and those committed against the state. If the state was structured to truly protect & serve, yet allow freedom to those who can manage that freedom well, THEN there would be much less need for normal crimes (everything not including murders). But, in our world, when the state commits a criminal act it goes unpunished 95% or more of the time, while the average "nobody" is in danger of getting an excessive penalty for a crime, yet while other dangerous criminals go through the revolving door of what many self-righteous people consider "justice".
I thought that a lot too. Also thought about becoming a gold digger. 10 years, $2500 for World’s most developed technology that I invented. Thats the money the whole f*** world thinks I deserve for Building it.
Why she got a Lancashire accent was she in protection scheme in Uk?
Ohh so you could have titled this basic BASIC Mafia 101 I guess like my Australian friends could tell me this
Amo a esta mujer...
...... I thought this was Christine from Sister Wives.....
perfect english...
Beh, si è trasferita in UK dall'età di 9 anni
I must be missing something here. Why does she have a UK accent if she's born and raised in Italy?
Yeah you obviously did miss something. you must not really pay attention when watching. Her mother was English and she herself has lived in England far longer than she ever lived in Italy.
13:05 Can someone please explain what's up with her hair?
This would have been interesting if I could understand what she was saying
Did she see all this from England?
she had an english mother
@@pixi111 I have an Italian dad but accent english because I grew up in England
Why not show how government crime works? Also show how rich people get away with murder.
Don't hate the game just cos you can't play it bro
I remember her
Camorra is not part of that kind of Mafia.There is Cosa nostra Napoletana .Camorra it s different.
Calabrian "camorristi" have nothing to do with neapolitan camorra. "Camorrista" has a different meaning in calabrian ndranghita and it does not refer to neapolitan camorristi. Also there is no such thing as "Cosa nostra napoletana". "Cosa nostra" is specific for sicilian mafia. Neapolitan camorra is either called just "camorra" or auto-referenced as "il Sistema", the System.
Sensationalizing these criminals. What times we live in!
It’s not sensationalism it’s just informational.
Shes clearly proud still. Thats bad. Guess she just realized she could make money less risky writing a book.
What is her accent?
Manc😊
Honestly she threw me off at the beginning I thought she was Australian or maybe South African, then as she went on you can clearly hear her Northern English accent with a tinge but I can’t put my finger on what that is 🤔
It's manc, northern England. Manc Hester
She has dangerous eyes
It's "Camorra" not "Gamora" 😂
👍
It's her accent
She's from the north of England, she has a thick northern accent.
Such a thick Italian accent 😂
@otc2020 there is no doubt she was an Italian mob boss
As an italian I earn just british accent
Cmon did yall just not read the description. Her mom was english
@@pixi111 which is a big reason shes spouting bs about things she should have no knowledge of
No omertà?
It's 100% to show people what happens. I told a story from my old life and it involved me being violent. The guy said, "But you have never been violent in the six years we've been close". Yeah. Well. I had to make an example of them. I didn't have a choice. It was tell the world you can punk me off or tell the world you don't want smoke with me. You have to choose the latter in that lifestyle. I'm not a violent person. But. If you get me to a certain point, there's no going back, and I'm capable of things you wouldn't think. Grown men are afraid of me lol. Some of my friends say they'd never dream of crossing me. I mean ... Probably for the best. In this life I don't get pushed to that point really but if it happens the old me is coming out and you don't want to meet her lol.
🤡
cringe
@@hanasouljaboy5949 Lmaoooo shut up "Soulja Boy"
Rise of the broken sigma😨😱
psychosis
I’m having a hard time getting through this video lol
How is any good things are go wrong person hand's after that what happens innocent people
Like all government s then
Someone is telling a very lot of lies
Why is she wearing the cross ?
Criminals like to pretend they “serve” a higher power
KZhead brought me hier after video about life of Amish people
Fuggedaboutit! no that's american sicilian mafia lol
She speaks about death of a child, because of their activities
❤️🇬🇧
This feels heavily edited, almost schizophrenic. She could’ve said this or anything else in the original recording.
Blood is a big expense nowadays I guess...
WE LOVE ITALY 🥰🥰🥰
She's basically just talking about their viewpoint and how respect should be...I mean honestly they are just businessmen who had no choice but to stick together bcuz of their ethnicity, they didn't ask for this, they shouldn't want to success as a group? Like others? I don't agree with all of their tactics, but I understand why it happened. Their govt kind of made it happen in the 1st place
no choice? People always have a choice.
They earn billions from human trafficking, literally one of the worst crimes there is. If you don't think they have a choice, you're absolutely delusional
Oh pls 💀
It was like this in the late 1800s and early 1900s, but this hasn't been the case for almost a century.
@@-AxisA- yes. Which I why I said WHAT Happened..( past tense 🙃
I am sorry for watching. No disrespect
Whenever she says American clans don't involve women and how men are made and what a capo is and how the waste disposal business works, it always feels to me like she just watched The Sopranos.
I don't think she has any idea of what she's talking about
This is the most British sounding Italian I’ve ever seen.