Fathers have deliberately and repeatedly been poisoning their children. This is what has actually been happening over the last 15-20 years in Calabria, the poorest southern Italian region. At the beginning, the toxic waste scandal seemed an invented story, a legend; in the last few months however, several concrete new elements have surfaced and made this plot as true as it is disgusting. People have come to realise the brutal and most extreme consequences of the eco-mafia affair.
Francesco Fonti, a former ‘mafioso’, has informed investigators that the 'ndrangheta (the Calabrian mafia) made easy and good money by treating toxic dangerous waste, whose legal treatment would have been extremely expensive and politically complicated. The murky affair was not limited to Southern Italian regions but might also have involved Northern African countries. Fonti reported that around 30 toxic ships were sunk off the Calabrian coast by local Mafia and a profit amounting to between 2 and 15 m€ was collected per ship. He declared that in 1992 he was personally responsible for the explosion and the sinking of three ships (Cunsky, Yvonne A and Voriais Sporadais), off the coasts of Cetraro, Maratea and Melito Porto Salvo. Fonti's description of the events appears to be reliable as a recent verification of the ship which was found a few days ago in the Cetraro sea bed was rapidly linked to the Cunsky.
As is usual in such operations, the mafia did not act alone. A strong economic and institutional network with links both within and beyond the Italian borders provided support in masterminding the affair. On the one hand, international and national economic groups were willing to accept a far cheaper alternative for toxic waste treatment. On the other hand, involvement even from the Italian secret services facilitated the organisation of such a complicated criminal operation.
According to Francesco Fonti, the SISMI (Italian Security and Secret Services) was a key figure in mediating all relations between economic powers and local mafias, in addition to guaranteeing extensive political protection for eco-mafia. Luca Barbareschi, Vice-President of the Parliamentary Transports Committee, declared in a recent interview that "international governments agreed on building/accepting a system which enabled them to get rid of dangerous toxic waste. The health of their citizens was their last concern…Secret services played a pivotal role in managing the whole illegal business".
All statements and suspects are now under investigation. Some declarations even suggest that such a large operation might have affected not just the Calabrian coastline but also the Calabrian internal countryside. Another worrying possibility being discussed is whether some of the toxic waste recipients, when prevented from being sunk with the ship, were moved and buried in the countryside. This would explain why in 1990 when a ship stranded over Formiciche's beach, its cargo was never found; scientists then discovered that the cancer index and the radioactive index in the close internal areas were abnormally high.
Whatever judgement is pronounced at the end of the investigation, this toxic waste scandal is likely to add a new and worrying black page in the endless book of mafia's crimes in Southern Italy. Given the relevance and the extent of this affair, we can easily assume that too many people were aware of the operation and that too many people decided to accept the system. For this reason, it is not senseless to state that fathers deliberately decided to poison their own children. State and anti-state (local mafia in primis), have, yet again, cooperated against people's basic rights. People's health was disregarded and people's right to live in a better region was dismissed. We cannot forget that Calabria, a Mediterranean jewel with over 700 Km of blue and transparent sea coasts, relies on a tourism based economy. The consequences of this eco-affair are likely to be devastating for the Calabrian population and for the decreasing number of young people who have stayed in Calabria in the hope of building their future in their own region. Mass migration is expected to continue and is likely to increase.
Calabria has been poisoned yet again. The sun of the formerly prosperous Magna Grecia stands over a moral desert.
VINCENZO CAPELLUPO
Francesco Fonti, a former ‘mafioso’, has informed investigators that the 'ndrangheta (the Calabrian mafia) made easy and good money by treating toxic dangerous waste, whose legal treatment would have been extremely expensive and politically complicated. The murky affair was not limited to Southern Italian regions but might also have involved Northern African countries. Fonti reported that around 30 toxic ships were sunk off the Calabrian coast by local Mafia and a profit amounting to between 2 and 15 m€ was collected per ship. He declared that in 1992 he was personally responsible for the explosion and the sinking of three ships (Cunsky, Yvonne A and Voriais Sporadais), off the coasts of Cetraro, Maratea and Melito Porto Salvo. Fonti's description of the events appears to be reliable as a recent verification of the ship which was found a few days ago in the Cetraro sea bed was rapidly linked to the Cunsky.
As is usual in such operations, the mafia did not act alone. A strong economic and institutional network with links both within and beyond the Italian borders provided support in masterminding the affair. On the one hand, international and national economic groups were willing to accept a far cheaper alternative for toxic waste treatment. On the other hand, involvement even from the Italian secret services facilitated the organisation of such a complicated criminal operation.
According to Francesco Fonti, the SISMI (Italian Security and Secret Services) was a key figure in mediating all relations between economic powers and local mafias, in addition to guaranteeing extensive political protection for eco-mafia. Luca Barbareschi, Vice-President of the Parliamentary Transports Committee, declared in a recent interview that "international governments agreed on building/accepting a system which enabled them to get rid of dangerous toxic waste. The health of their citizens was their last concern…Secret services played a pivotal role in managing the whole illegal business".
All statements and suspects are now under investigation. Some declarations even suggest that such a large operation might have affected not just the Calabrian coastline but also the Calabrian internal countryside. Another worrying possibility being discussed is whether some of the toxic waste recipients, when prevented from being sunk with the ship, were moved and buried in the countryside. This would explain why in 1990 when a ship stranded over Formiciche's beach, its cargo was never found; scientists then discovered that the cancer index and the radioactive index in the close internal areas were abnormally high.
Whatever judgement is pronounced at the end of the investigation, this toxic waste scandal is likely to add a new and worrying black page in the endless book of mafia's crimes in Southern Italy. Given the relevance and the extent of this affair, we can easily assume that too many people were aware of the operation and that too many people decided to accept the system. For this reason, it is not senseless to state that fathers deliberately decided to poison their own children. State and anti-state (local mafia in primis), have, yet again, cooperated against people's basic rights. People's health was disregarded and people's right to live in a better region was dismissed. We cannot forget that Calabria, a Mediterranean jewel with over 700 Km of blue and transparent sea coasts, relies on a tourism based economy. The consequences of this eco-affair are likely to be devastating for the Calabrian population and for the decreasing number of young people who have stayed in Calabria in the hope of building their future in their own region. Mass migration is expected to continue and is likely to increase.
Calabria has been poisoned yet again. The sun of the formerly prosperous Magna Grecia stands over a moral desert.
VINCENZO CAPELLUPO
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