Italian Journalist Exposes Mafia Blindness in Germany

A journalist exposes Germany's mafia denial

Italian journalist Petra Reski, who has spent decades specializing in organized crime across Europe, presents in her work "Die Paten von Duisburg" (The Godfathers of Duisburg) a stark analysis of 'Ndrangheta's presence in Germany. At its center is the massacre of August 15, 2007, when six men were shot dead outside an Italian restaurant in Duisburg—the worst mafia killing on German soil.

Reski's book is more than a reconstruction of a single murder. It is an indictment of a system that deliberately closed its eyes to reality for decades. The Calabrian mafia organization 'Ndrangheta—the most powerful and secretive among Italy's mafia groups—had long infiltrated major German cities, yet German authorities consistently refused to acknowledge the problem.

Investigation methods from a mafia expert

Reski combines investigative journalism with meticulous source work. She examines court documents, conducts interviews with investigators, and analyzes the structures of Calabrian clans. Through this work, she documents how the blood-feud logic of southern Italy was exported to North Rhine-Westphalia, and why the Duisburg killing was part of an international power struggle between 'Ndrangheta families rather than an isolated incident.

The author meticulously documents how organized crime was systematically underestimated in Germany. She reveals that German security agencies ignored warnings from Italian counterparts and treated 'Ndrangheta as an "Italian problem"—even as it became clear that Germany served as a safe haven, money-laundering paradise, and operational base.