Rome, January 29, 2026 – The Italian Supreme Court (Cassation) has definitively confirmed the existence of the first ‘Ndrangheta ‘locale’ (local cell) operating in Rome. The judges of the second criminal section of the Supreme Court largely rejected the appeals lodged against the Rome Court of Appeal’s verdict, issued in February of last year, in the abbreviated procedure trial stemming from the extensive ‘Propaggine’ investigation.
Over 100 Years of Sentences Confirmed
The ‘Propaggine’ investigation, conducted by the Rome District Anti-Mafia Directorate (DDA) and the Anti-Mafia Investigation Directorate (DIA) and coordinated by prosecutors Giovanni Musarò and Stefano Luciani, had resulted in sentences totaling over one hundred years in prison. Specifically, the Court of Appeal had sentenced Antonio Carzo, considered the boss alongside Vincenzo Alvaro of the first Roman ‘locale’, to 18 years in prison. His sons, Domenico and Vincenzo, received sentences of 12 and a half years, and 9 years and 6 months respectively.
The First ‘Ndrangheta ‘Locale’ in Rome
As detailed in a previous in-depth report by Dossier, the ‘Propaggine’ investigation unveiled the presence of the first ‘Ndrangheta structure in Rome directly authorized by the Calabrian ‘mother house’. This structure was colloquially referred to as the first ‘locale’. Vincenzo Alvaro was identified as the key figure behind the Calabrian mafia’s strategy of economic infiltration in the city. His business acumen, acknowledged even by his associate Antonio Carzo, was evident in his ability to acquire and control numerous commercial activities without ever formally appearing in company structures.
Vincenzo Alvaro and Antonio Carzo: The Backbone of ‘Ndrangheta in Rome
According to investigators, the boss’s operational doctrine in Rome was based on the systematic use of front men to conceal actual ownership and launder illicit proceeds. This was the so-called ‘Alvaro system’, involving the ‘resetting’ of companies to evade investigations and continuously recycle dirty money derived from drug trafficking and extortion. This was achieved by using ‘gypsies’ as straw men and commercial premises as ‘laundries’, as extensively documented in a dedicated report.
The ‘Propaggine’ Investigation Continues
Meanwhile, the ordinary procedure trial continues before the eighth criminal section of the Rome court, with the prosecution seeking sentences totaling over 450 years in prison for approximately forty defendants. The ‘mother’ investigation levies charges including mafia association, drug dealing and possession, aggravated extortion, illegal possession of firearms, fictitious registration of assets, aggravated fraud against the state to facilitate the ‘Ndrangheta, aggravated money laundering, aggravated aiding and abetting, and external complicity in mafia association.
Rome: A Drug Hub for the ‘Ndrangheta
According to the prosecution’s case, Vincenzo Alvaro and Antonio Carzo led the ‘ndrina (clan) in Rome. It was Carzo who, in the summer of 2015, received authorization from the ‘Ndrangheta ‘mother house’ to establish a ‘locale’ in the capital, to be run by Carzo himself and Alvaro. In an intercepted conversation, they stated, “We in Rome are an offshoot from down there.” Furthermore, in conversations cited in the order from investigating judge Gaspare Sturzo, some of the suspects referred to the work of magistrates and police officers who had previously worked in Calabria and then in Rome: “There’s a Public Prosecutor’s Office… here in Rome… it was all… the team that was under Calabria. Pignatone, Cortese, Prestipino”…”and these were the ones who fought inside our towns… Cosoleto… Sinopoli… all our family… damned.”
This definitive ruling by the Supreme Court marks a significant victory in the fight against organized crime’s deep-rooted presence in the Italian capital, solidifying the legal framework against the ‘Ndrangheta’s expansion.
