Gioia Tauro is a
comuneIn Italy, the comune is the basic administrative division of both provinces and regions, and may be properly approximated in casual speech by the English word township or municipality.- Importance and function :...
(municipality) in the
province of Reggio CalabriaThe Province of Reggio Calabria is a province in the Calabria region of Italy. Its capital is the city of Reggio Calabria.It has an area of 3,183 km², and a total population of 565,866 . There are 97 comuni in the province , see Comuni of the Province of Reggio Calabria.- External links : * *...
, in
CalabriaCalabria , in antiquity known as Bruttium, is a region in southern Italy, south of Naples, located at the "toe" of the Italian peninsula. It is bounded to the north by the region of Basilicata, to the south-west by the region of Sicily, to the west by the Tyrrhenian Sea, and to the east by the...
(
ItalyItaly , officially the Italian Republic , is a country located on the Italian Peninsula in Southern Europe and on the two largest islands in the Mediterranean Sea, Sicily and Sardinia. Italy shares its northern, Alpine boundary with France, Switzerland, Austria and Slovenia...
). It has an important
port||-||-||-||-||-||-||-||-|}A port is a facility for receiving ships and/or transferring cargo. It is usually found at the edge of an ocean, sea, river, or lake. The best ports have deep water in channels or berths, and protection from the wind and waves...
.
- Sirocco
Sirocco, scirocco, jugo or, rarely, siroc is a Mediterranean wind that comes from the Sahara and reaches hurricane speeds in North Africa and Southern Europe. It is known in North Africa by the Arabic word qibli or ghibli Sirocco, scirocco, jugo or, rarely, siroc is a Mediterranean wind that comes...
, a hot dry wind originating in the desert of Sahara (from South-East);
- Libeccio
The libeccio is the westerly or south-westerly wind which predominates in northern Corsica all the year round; it frequently raises high seas and may give violent westerly squalls. In summer it is most persistent, but in winter it alternates with the Tramontane...
, very dangerous for shippers (to be avoided - from South-West);
- Mistral
The mistral is a strong, cold and usually dry regional wind in France, coming from the north, which accelerates when it passes through the valleys of the Rhone and the Durance Rivers to the coast of the Mediterranean Sea around in the Camargue region. It affects the northeast of the plain of...
(Ponente), the predominant and quiet wind (from North-West).
The seaport is the largest in Italy and the seventh largest
containerContainerization is a system of intermodal freight transport using standard intermodal containers that are standardised by the International Organization for Standardization...
port in Europe, with a 2007 throughput of 's from more than 3,000 ships.
The seaport represents more than a third (2002) of the whole national traffic and is specialised in
transhipmentTransshipment or Transhipment is the shipment of goods or container to an intermediate destination, and then from there to yet another destination....
activities, taking the place of the
MaltaMalta , officially the Republic of Malta , is a densely populated developed European country in the European Union. The Southern European island nation is an archipelago that includes the inhabited islands of Malta, Gozo and Comino, along with a number of smaller, uninhabited islands...
seaport as the node for overseas traffic from/to USA and from/to the
Far EastThe Far East is a term used in English mostly equivalent to East Asia and Southeast Asia, sometimes to the inclusion of South Asia for economic and cultural reasons."Far East" came into use in European geopolitical discourse in...
.
The Medcenter
Container TerminalA container terminal is a facility where cargo containers are transshipped between different transport vehicles, for onward transportation. The transshipment may be between ships and land vehicles, for example trains or trucks, in which case the terminal is described as a maritime container terminal...
(Medcenter,
ContshipContship Containerlines was a global container carrier operating from 1969 to 2005 in the India/Pakistan, Levant, Australia/New Zealand, South America and Asia trade, mainly to and from Europe....
) is the main operator working within the seaport of Gioia Tauro.
According to a 2006 report, Italian investigators estimate that 80% of Europe's
cocaineCocaine is a crystalline tropane alkaloid that is obtained from the leaves of the coca plant. The name comes from "coca" in addition to the alkaloid suffix -ine, forming cocaine. It is a stimulant of the central nervous system and an appetite suppressant...
arrives from
ColombiaColombia , officially the Republic of Colombia , is a constitutional republic in northwestern South America. Colombia is bordered to the east by Venezuela and Brazil; to the south by Ecuador and Peru; to the north by the Caribbean Sea; to the northwest by Panama; and to the west by the Pacific Ocean...
via Gioia Tauro's docks.
Gioia Tauro is a
comuneIn Italy, the comune is the basic administrative division of both provinces and regions, and may be properly approximated in casual speech by the English word township or municipality.- Importance and function :...
(municipality) in the
province of Reggio CalabriaThe Province of Reggio Calabria is a province in the Calabria region of Italy. Its capital is the city of Reggio Calabria.It has an area of 3,183 km², and a total population of 565,866 . There are 97 comuni in the province , see Comuni of the Province of Reggio Calabria.- External links : * *...
, in
CalabriaCalabria , in antiquity known as Bruttium, is a region in southern Italy, south of Naples, located at the "toe" of the Italian peninsula. It is bounded to the north by the region of Basilicata, to the south-west by the region of Sicily, to the west by the Tyrrhenian Sea, and to the east by the...
(
ItalyItaly , officially the Italian Republic , is a country located on the Italian Peninsula in Southern Europe and on the two largest islands in the Mediterranean Sea, Sicily and Sardinia. Italy shares its northern, Alpine boundary with France, Switzerland, Austria and Slovenia...
). It has an important
port||-||-||-||-||-||-||-||-|}A port is a facility for receiving ships and/or transferring cargo. It is usually found at the edge of an ocean, sea, river, or lake. The best ports have deep water in channels or berths, and protection from the wind and waves...
.
Winds
- Sirocco
Sirocco, scirocco, jugo or, rarely, siroc is a Mediterranean wind that comes from the Sahara and reaches hurricane speeds in North Africa and Southern Europe. It is known in North Africa by the Arabic word qibli or ghibli Sirocco, scirocco, jugo or, rarely, siroc is a Mediterranean wind that comes...
, a hot dry wind originating in the desert of Sahara (from South-East);
- Libeccio
The libeccio is the westerly or south-westerly wind which predominates in northern Corsica all the year round; it frequently raises high seas and may give violent westerly squalls. In summer it is most persistent, but in winter it alternates with the Tramontane...
, very dangerous for shippers (to be avoided - from South-West);
- Mistral
The mistral is a strong, cold and usually dry regional wind in France, coming from the north, which accelerates when it passes through the valleys of the Rhone and the Durance Rivers to the coast of the Mediterranean Sea around in the Camargue region. It affects the northeast of the plain of...
(Ponente), the predominant and quiet wind (from North-West).
Gioia Tauro seaport
The seaport is the largest in Italy and the seventh largest
containerContainerization is a system of intermodal freight transport using standard intermodal containers that are standardised by the International Organization for Standardization...
port in Europe, with a 2007 throughput of 's from more than 3,000 ships.
The seaport represents more than a third (2002) of the whole national traffic and is specialised in
transhipmentTransshipment or Transhipment is the shipment of goods or container to an intermediate destination, and then from there to yet another destination....
activities, taking the place of the
MaltaMalta , officially the Republic of Malta , is a densely populated developed European country in the European Union. The Southern European island nation is an archipelago that includes the inhabited islands of Malta, Gozo and Comino, along with a number of smaller, uninhabited islands...
seaport as the node for overseas traffic from/to USA and from/to the
Far EastThe Far East is a term used in English mostly equivalent to East Asia and Southeast Asia, sometimes to the inclusion of South Asia for economic and cultural reasons."Far East" came into use in European geopolitical discourse in...
.
The Medcenter
Container TerminalA container terminal is a facility where cargo containers are transshipped between different transport vehicles, for onward transportation. The transshipment may be between ships and land vehicles, for example trains or trucks, in which case the terminal is described as a maritime container terminal...
(Medcenter,
ContshipContship Containerlines was a global container carrier operating from 1969 to 2005 in the India/Pakistan, Levant, Australia/New Zealand, South America and Asia trade, mainly to and from Europe....
) is the main operator working within the seaport of Gioia Tauro.
'Ndrangheta control of port
According to a 2006 report, Italian investigators estimate that 80% of Europe's
cocaineCocaine is a crystalline tropane alkaloid that is obtained from the leaves of the coca plant. The name comes from "coca" in addition to the alkaloid suffix -ine, forming cocaine. It is a stimulant of the central nervous system and an appetite suppressant...
arrives from
ColombiaColombia , officially the Republic of Colombia , is a constitutional republic in northwestern South America. Colombia is bordered to the east by Venezuela and Brazil; to the south by Ecuador and Peru; to the north by the Caribbean Sea; to the northwest by Panama; and to the west by the Pacific Ocean...
via Gioia Tauro's docks. The port is also involved in the
illegal arms tradeThe arms industry is a global industry and business which manufactures and sells weapons and military technology and equipment. Arms producing companies, also referred to as defence companies or military industry, produce arms mainly for the armed forces of states. Products include guns,...
. These activities are controlled by the
CalabriaCalabria , in antiquity known as Bruttium, is a region in southern Italy, south of Naples, located at the "toe" of the Italian peninsula. It is bounded to the north by the region of Basilicata, to the south-west by the region of Sicily, to the west by the Tyrrhenian Sea, and to the east by the...
n crime families known as
'NdranghetaThe 'Ndrangheta is an organized crime organization in Italy, centered in Calabria...
.
The
Piromalli clanGiuseppe Piromalli may refer to:*Giuseppe Piromalli a Calabrian 'Ndrangheta crime boss*Giuseppe Piromalli a Calabrian 'Ndrangheta crime boss...
managed to condition the management of the new container terminal. Established in the mid-1990s, it became the largest terminal in the Mediterranean, moving over 2 million containers in 1998. Since 1994, when
Contship ItaliaContship Containerlines was a global container carrier operating from 1969 to 2005 in the India/Pakistan, Levant, Australia/New Zealand, South America and Asia trade, mainly to and from Europe....
rented the port area to start transshipment activity and the Medcenter Container Terminal was set up thanks to 138 billion lire (about US$86 million) in state financing, the Piromalli’s aimed to oblige the Medcenter company, through its vice president Walter Lugli, and the Contship company, through its president Enrico Ravano, to pay a kickback of US$1.50 for each transshipped container, a sum which corresponded to about half the net profits earned by the two companies.
In February 2008 the parliamentary
Antimafia CommissionThe Italian Antimafia Commission is a bicameral commission of the Italian Parliament, composed of members from the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate . The Antimafia Commission is a commission of inquiry into, initially, the “phenomenon of the Mafia”...
concluded that the ‘Ndrangheta “controls or influences a large part of the economic activity around the port and uses the facility as a base for illegal trafficking.” In its report it said that “the entire gamma of internal or sub-contracted activities is mafia-influenced, from the management of distribution and forwarding to customs control and container storage.” The extortion of Ravano and Contship, was part of a project that “did not involve simply this security tax, which grew with the port, but also control of activities tied to the port, the hiring of workers, and relations with port unions and local institutions,” the report added. “It effectively eliminated legitimate competition from companies not influenced or controlled by the mafia in providing goods and services, performing construction work and hiring personnel. And it threw a shadow over the behaviour of local government and other public bodies.”
'Ndrangheta infiltration of city council
The
city councilA city council is the legislative body that governs a city, municipality or local government area.-Australia:Because of the differences in legislation between the States, the exact definition of a City Council may vary slightly...
of Gioia Tauro was dissolved in 1991 because of infiltration by the 'Ndrangheta. In April 2008, it was dissolved for the second time for the same reason. The town is home to several
'ndrine, such as the Alvaro, Mammoliti, Molè and Piromalli families.
Gioia Tauro's former mayor and deputy mayor, Giorgio Dal Torrione, and Rosario Schiavone, were arrested on Mafia charges, on October 13, 2008. Both had been forced to step down in April when the city council was dissolved on suspicion of Mafia infiltration. 'Ndrangheta boss Gioacchino Piromalli was arrested as well along with his nephew, also named Gioacchino Piromalli, who is a lawyer. The mayors were accused of employing the younger Piromalli. Police believe the legal work was a front to enable the Piromallis to regain a slice of the business generated by Gioia Tauro, one of the largest container ports in Europe.