Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

EU report names Aberdeen as mafia ‘stronghold’

Aberdeen restaurateur Antonio La Torre – who Italian prosecutors named as a Camorra crime lord  – was arrested in 2005. He was later jailed in Italy
Aberdeen restaurateur Antonio La Torre – who Italian prosecutors named as a Camorra crime lord – was arrested in 2005. He was later jailed in Italy

A new European Union report has identified Aberdeen as a stronghold for Italy’s deadly Camorra mafia clan.

The Naples-based crime group has interests in the catering, food retail and property sectors in the Granite City, according a new study.

According to Italian MEP Oreste Rossi, the Transcrime research centre found evidence that Camorra and two other gangs – ‘Ndrangheta and the Sicilian Mafia – have operations in the UK.

It will publish its full report later this year

The project, which was funded by the EU, is investigating how the main organised criminal groups invested the proceeds of their crimes in selected countries between 2007 and 2013.

“The Camorra stronghold is Aberdeen, the third most populous city in Scotland, where it controls the catering, public works, food retail and wholesale and property sectors,” Mr Rossi told the European Parliament.

The Camorra, which is made up of family crime networks, is said to have killed more people than any other crime organisation in Europe.

The report adds: “The Sicilian Mafia runs illegal gambling dens in London. The ‘Ndrangheta also has a presence in London, in the property sector.”

Aberdeen has been repeatedly linked with mafia activity over the past decade.

City restaurateur Antonio La Torre – who Italian prosecutors named as a Camorra crime lord – was arrested in 2005 and jailed in Italy for extortion and racketeering.

He is the brother of Augusto La Torre, who later confessed murdering 40 people in Italy.

Former Aberdeen restaurateur Michele Siciliano, who is said to have looked after La Torre’s finances following his extradition, also gave himself up to anti-mafia prosecutors the following year.

Another city restaurant boss, Ciro Schiattarella, spent time in jail after being extradited to Italy to face charges.

Former Aberdeen City Council leader Barney Crockett said the mafia’s presence in Aberdeen was no secret.

“I think the attraction of Aberdeen is the fact that they can swap over a lot of money, because it is such a busy business environment,” he said.

“However, I am totally confident that there is no involvement in public works of any description.”

But the suggestion that the city remains in the grip of mobsters has been strongly denied by Italians in Aberdeen, who say it is an insult to the city’s 600-strong Italian community.

Nevertheless, Mr Rossi is using the new report to push for fresh crime prevention “tools” to combat mafia money laundering across Europe.

Last night, former MEP Struan Stevenson, said the claims in the report were “absolutely staggering”.

“It is well known that criminal gangs in Scotland use legitimate business operations to turn their dirty money into clean money,” he said.

“But these have always been home-grown gangs, usually from Glasgow, where money has been known to go into things like taxi companies and construction firms.

“It is absolutely staggering, but probably shouldn’t come as a surprise that the Camorra has twigged that places like Aberdeen are potential havens for them to launder money.

“Scottish police need to get to the bottom of whether the findings of this report are true – and if it is, there needs to be unilateral action to stamp it out. New European laws to back this up would be helpful.”

The Transcrime report also identifies mafia operations in Romania, Spain, Portugal and France in industries such as the catering, property, transport and farming.

Cecilia Malmström, European Commissioner for Home Affairs, said the report is currently being analysed by Brussels officials and will influence new legislation being drawn up.

“The Commission intends to take into account the results of this study in order to consider further measures aimed at preventing the infiltration of organised crime into the legal economy of the Union,” she said.

Police Scotland declined to comment on the report.