The Two Women who Defied Organized Crime

Posted on February 22, 2018 by babbityjean

(Abstracted from a lengthy article in the New Yorker entitled “The Women Who Took on the Mafia”)

Once considered little more than a group of country bandits in the Calabrian region of Italy, after the 1990s the ‘Ndrangheta (pronounced “n-drahng-ghe-ta”) became one of the most powerful crime syndicates in the world.  By 2010, it ran 70% of the cocaine trade in Europe; it extorted billions of euros from businesses and swindled both Italy and the EU of billions more through contracts for roads, ports, wind and solar power, and even the disposal of nuclear waste, which it dumped at sea off Somalia.  The bosses ran an empire that operated in 50 countries.

Like other mafia organizations, the ‘Ndrangheta revolved around family structure.  Each family was a miniature fiefdom, in which women were little more than slaves.  Fathers married their daughters off as teenagers to seal clan alliances.  Women were beaten for speaking their minds, and unfaithful wives were killed, usually by their closest male relatives.

Italian prosecutors agreed that ‘Ndrangheta women led tragic lives.  But they didn’t consider women of much use in their fight…until the Mafia prosecutor Alessandra Cerreti arrived in Calabria.  She believed that judicial officials, who were mostly men, missed the importance of ‘Ndrangheta women because “Italian men underestimate all women.”  The team she joined in Calabria was an exception; it believed that, in a criminal organization structured around family, women had to have a substantial role.  Their most important duty was to raise the next generation with a strict belief in omertà and a hatred of outsiders.  But many also became involved in the business.  At times, they acted as messengers between fugitives or imprisoned comrades, passing along tiny, folded notes—pizzini—written in code.  Some women acted as paymasters and bookkeepers.  A few took part in the violence.

Cerreti believed that female informants were an invaluable source of information but that it would take enormous bravery for them to cooperate.  When Italy declared war on the ‘Ndrangheta in 2010, she got her first break.  Following raids in several towns, 30 people were arrested, including 7 women.  Giuseppina Pesce, whose husband was already in jail, knew that she faced more than a decade behind bars herself.  But what really bothered her was that she was having an affair, and the newspapers reported that she had been detained with a man.  She would probably be killed and her three children would be raised by the ‘Ndrangheta.  She finally asked to speak with prosecutor Cerreti and they eventually made a deal.  “Everything I testify to now, I do to give my children a different future.”

Pesce’s evidence ran to more than 1500 pages.  It included diagrams of the ‘Ndrangheta hierarchy, descriptions of rituals, evidence of murders, locations of bunkers (where the criminals lived), detailed accounts of cocaine smuggling, extortion rackets, money laundering, credit-card fraud, and public corruption.  It supported existing cases and opened up many new ones.  Pesce’s betrayal shook the ‘Ndrangheta.  And it mobilized her family who thought that if she were collaborating for the sake of her children, she would stop for them too.  Then a long series of threats began using Pesce’s children as pawns.  Pesce recanted her testimony.

Following the murder of a girlfriend who had become an informant, Giuseppina Pesce regained her resolve.  The trial of 64 members of the Pesce ‘ndrina (clan) began in 2012 and took 5 years to complete.  In the end, her evidence brought down one of Europe’s most powerful crime families.

For both Ceretti and Pesce, it was a brave journey in a life characterized by isolation, friendlessness, and fear.  The prosecutor has a steel office door, drives in an armor-plated car, and has 4 bodyguards but very few friends.  Her husband’s identity is a secret and she has no children for fear of their lives.  Pesce and her children will be kept under the witness protection program for the rest of their lives.  They lead a tedious existence.  They move at least once a year and cannot communicate with anybody in their prior life.  One day Giuseppina’s brother will get out of jail and will try to find her and kill her.  “All of these experiences strengthened me as a woman.  I knew the risks, but in the end I did it.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Posted in Abitudini, Calabria, English, Foto, Italia, Mafia | Leave a comment

I cani da soccorso

Posted on February 15, 2018 by babbityjean

I cani sono una risorsa inestimabile negli sforzi di soccorso – che si tratti di una valanga a Rigopiano, un terremoto ad Amatrice, un uragano a Houston, o le frane a Montecito.  Sia l’Italia che gli Stati Uniti hanno ricevuto recentemente la loro dose di disastri, e le foto di gruppi di ricerca e soccorso mostrano spesso cani al fianco dei primi soccorritori alla ricerca di sopravvissuti e dopo, purtroppo, di cadaveri.

La Scuola Nazionale di Volpiano vicino a Torino addestra le unità cinofile per l’Italia.  Ha ripreso 20 anni fa una disciplina che era stata avviata nel ’41, per cercare vittime dopo i bombardamenti del conflitto bellico.  Sono 103 le unità operative nel Paese, ma devono diventare 186 in base al piano di riordino del Corpo Nazionale.  Gli Stati Uniti hanno molte strutture di addestramento, ma mi concentrerò su quella di Santa Paula, in California, che è chiamata la National Disaster Search Dog Foundation (Sdf).  Ci sono somiglianze e differenze tra la struttura italiana e quella americana.

Per iniziare, entrambi concordano sul fatto che qualsiasi cane possa diventare un cane da salvataggio.  Mentre pastori tedeschi, labrador, golden retriever, e border collie sono abbastanza comuni, tutti i cani, compresi i meticci, sono eleggibili perché tutti i cani hanno la stessa capacità olfattiva.  I cani vengono addestrati a trovare droghe e bombe negli aeroporti, e persino, un beagle ha rilevato un pezzo di pizza che avevamo dimenticato nel nostro bagaglio a mano durante un viaggio di ritorno dall’Italia.  (Siamo stati indagati dal Dipartimento di agricoltura all’aeroporto per vedere se stavamo trasportando anche un pezzo di prosciutto).

I cani hanno 300 milioni di recettori olfattivi in opposizione al 6 milioni negli esseri umani.  La parte del cervello dedicata all’analisi degli odori è 40 volte più grande della nostra.  Quindi, l’olfatto di un cane è tra 10.000 e 100.000 volte più acuto.  Diciamo che è solo 10.000 volte meglio.  Se si fa il paragone con la vista, allora quello che gli umani potrebbero vedere a un terzo di miglio, un cane potrebbe vedere più di 3.000 di distanza—l’equivalente della distanza da una costa all’altra degli Stati Uniti.

Entrambe le strutture di formazione concordano sul fatto che i cani devono possedere importanti caratteristiche fisiche e psicologiche.  Devono essere di medie dimensioni per essere in grado di muoversi con facilità.  Devono essere socievoli, curiosi, motivati e, soprattutto, avere un ottimo rapporto con i loro compagni / addestratori umani.  Durante la formazione e le ricerche, non possono essere distratti dall’odore di un altro animale o dal cibo.  Imparano a cercare in tutti i tipi di terreno, dalle montagne ai boschi, passando per macerie, fango e detriti, spesso in condizioni estreme.

In Italia, i vigili del fuoco che scelgono questo settore vengono a scuola con i loro cani, che devono avere tra i 6 e i 18 mesi di età.  La formazione dura 9 mesi e ci sono 5 esami lungo la strada.  L’allenamento è rigoroso, la selezione è estremamente difficile.  Anche nell’ultima fase, un cane potrebbe essere mandato a casa senza un certificato.

Sdf è un’organizzazione no-profit che salva i cani dai canili e li allena per i lavori di ricerca e soccorso.  L’organizzazione poi li fornisce gratuitamente ai vigili del fuoco ed ad altre agenzie di pronto intervento.  I vigili del fuoco trascorrono molte ore ogni giorno con i loro cani, per stabilire un legame e per addestrarsi.  Le reclute di cani alla Sdf sono spesso meticci di cui la concentrazione, energia, ed ossessione maniacale con i giocattoli li rendono terribili animali domestici.  Gli addestratori sfruttano questo concentrazione, utilizzandola come strumento per premiare i cani di ricerca per il successo del lavoro.  I giocattoli sono di solito giocattoli da masticare, molto robusti, fatti di vecchi tubi antincendio racchiusi in materiale spesso.

Quando i cani rilevano il profumo di una persona viva, si avvicinano il più possibile e poi abbaiano senza sosta.  I loro accompagnatori marcano il punto e gli addetti al soccorso iniziano lo scavo.  Mentre i cani italiani vengono premiati con un semplice “Bravo” o “Brava”, i cani addestrati a Santa Paula vengono premiati con giocattoli e giochi, per quanto strano possa sembrare.  Il cibo è usato solo come ricompensa per i cani che ricercano “cadaveri”.  Per entrambe le scuole, se un cane non annusa nessuno vivo in una zona, è quasi certo che non ci sia nessuno da trovare.  Per essere certi, tuttavia, un secondo cane, anch’esso addestrato specificamente a rilevare solo i sopravvissuti, controlla la stessa area.

In Italia le unità cinofile arrivano per la formazione da ogni regione d’Italia.  Quindi tornano alle rispettive unità operative regionali dove lavorano fino a quando convergono insieme nel luogo di un terremoto o di un altro grave disastro.  A Montecito, in California, 39 cani sono stati assegnati all’incubo, e circa la metà è stata addestrata alla struttura di Santa Paula, che a sua volta subito danni dal precedente Thomas Fire.

I cani possono essere feriti in questi compiti pericolosi.  Poco dopo la frana del 9 gennaio, i veterinari volontari sono arrivati al campo base del Comando degli Incidenti per aiutare i cani prima e dopo aver fiutato attraverso il fango denso, detriti tossici, e enormi massi nei siti della calamità.  Dopo i loro lunghi turni, i cani vengono lavati.  Poi i veterinari li esaminano e, quando necessario, puliscono le ferite, eseguono interventi chirurgici, e li curano per dolori e stiramenti.  Probabilmente poi, un pasto abbondante.

Il nostro sincero apprezzamento per questi fantastici cani…e per i loro compagni umani.

Posted in Animali, California, Foto, Italia, Italiano, Medicina, Piemonte, Santa Barbara | Leave a comment

Search Dogs

Posted on February 15, 2018 by babbityjean

Dogs are an invaluable asset in rescue efforts—whether it’s an avalanche in Rigopiano, an earthquake in Amatrice, the hurricane in Houston, or the mudslides of Montecito.  Both Italy and the United States have had their share of disasters recently, and photos of search and rescue efforts often depict dogs alongside first responders looking for survivors and later, sadly, for cadavers.

The National School of Volpiano outside of Turin trains dog units for Italy.  It began 20 years ago to carry on a discipline that began in 1941 to find victims from the bombing during the war.  There are currently 103 operating units in the country, but must grow to 186 according to the reorganization plan of the National Corps.  The United States has many training facilities but I will focus on the one in Santa Paula, California, called the National Disaster Search Dog Foundation (SDF).  There are similarities and differences between the Italian and American facilities.

First, both agree that any dog can become a rescue dog.  While German Shepherds, Labradors, Golden Retrievers, and Border Collies are quite common, any dog including mixed breeds are eligible because all dogs have the same olfactory capacity.  Dogs are trained to find drugs and bombs in airports, and even a beagle sniffed our day-old pizza that we had forgotten in our luggage on a return trip from Italy.  (We were investigated by the Department of Agriculture to see if we had also brought in a slab of prosciutto.)

Dogs have 300 million olfactory receptors versus 6 million in humans.  The part of the brain devoted to analyzing smells is 40 times greater than ours.  Hence, a dog’s sense of smell is between 10,000 and 100,000 times more acute.  Let’s say it’s only 10,000 times better.  If you make the comparison to vision, then what we can see at a 1/3 mile away, a dog could see more than 3,000 miles away—that’s clear across the United States.

Both training facilities agree that the dogs must possess important physical and psychological characteristics.  They must be of medium size to be able to move with ease.  They must be sociable, curious, motivated, and above all, have an excellent rapport with their human companions / trainers.  Throughout training and searches, they cannot be distracted – by the smell of another animal or by food.  They learn to search in all types of terrain—from mountains to woods, and through rubble, mud, and debris—often in extreme conditions.

In Italy, firefighters who choose this field come to the school with their dogs, who must be between 6 and 18 months old.  Training lasts 9 months and there are 5 exams along the way.  The training is rigorous, the selection is extremely hard.  Even at the last stage, a dog could be sent home without its certificate.

SDF is a nonprofit that rescues shelter dogs and trains them for search and rescue work.  The organization then provides them free of charge to handlers at fire departments and other first-response agencies.  The firefighters spend hours every day with their dogs, bonding and training.  The dog recruits at SDF are often mutts whose focus, energy, and manic obsession with toys make them terrible pets.  Trainers harness that focus, using it as a tool to reward search dogs for successful work.  The toys are usually very rugged chew toys, made of old fire hoses encased in thick material.

When dogs pick up the scent of a live person, they get as close as they can and then bark nonstop.  Their handlers mark the spot, and rescue workers then begin excavation.  While Italian dogs are rewarded with a simple “Bravo” or “Brava,” the dogs trained in Santa Paula are rewarded with toys and play, as odd as it sounds.  Food is only used as a reward for “cadaver dogs.”  For both schools, if a dog does not smell anyone alive in an area, it’s almost certain that there is no one to be found.  To be certain, a second dog—also trained specifically to detect only living survivors—checks the same area.

In Italy dog-human units arrive for training from every region of Italy.  Then they return to their respective regional operational units where they work until they converge together at the site of an earthquake or other major disaster.  In Montecito, California, 39 dogs were assigned to the nightmare and about half had been trained at the Santa Paula training facility, which itself suffered damage from the preceding Thomas Fire.

Dogs can get injured in these dangerous assignments.  Soon after the January 9 mudslide, volunteer veterinarians arrived at the Incident Command base camp to help dogs before and after they sniffed through thick mud, toxic debris, and huge boulders at the disaster sites.  After their long shifts, dogs first received a bath.  Then vets examined them and, when needed, cleaned wounds, performed minor surgeries, and treated them for soreness and strains. Probably afterwards, a hearty meal.

Our heartfelt appreciation to these amazing canines…and their human companions.

Posted in Animali, California, English, Foto, Italia, Medicina, Piemonte, Santa Barbara | 2 Comments