Umberto Bellocco

Umberto Bellocco (Italian pronunciation: [umˈbɛrto belˈlɔkko]; born December 17, 1937 in Rosarno) is an Italian criminal and a member of the 'Ndrangheta, a mafia-type organisation in Calabria. He belongs to and was the boss of the Bellocco 'ndrina based in Rosarno.

In the beginning of the 1980s he was involved in setting up the Sacra Corona Unita (SCU), a mafia-type organization in Apulia, to counter the growing influence of the Camorra. On his instigation Giuseppe Rogoli imported the codes, structure and initiation rites of the 'Ndrangheta to be used by the SCU.[1][2][3]

He was arrested in June 1983 in Lecce in Apulia. He was sentenced to three years for illegal possession of firearms. In the subsequent years he received multiple charges for murder, extortion, drug trafficking and Mafia association. At some point he was charged with 14 murders. However, many charges resulted in acquittal in appeal. He was sentenced to 14 years for drug trafficking. In July 1988 he was released because the terms for detention expired, and became a fugitive.[4]

He became a member of Camera di Controllo, a provincial commission of the 'Ndrangheta formed at the end of the Second 'Ndrangheta war in September 1991, to avoid further internal conflicts.[5]

He was arrested again on February 18, 1993.[6][7] and is currently in prison. He was succeeded as acting boss by his cousin Gregorio Bellocco, arrested in February 2005, and Giuseppe Bellocco, arrested in July 2007.[1]

References
  1. (in Italian) Un cartello della ndrangheta gestiva il traffico della coca nel nord Italia, Nuova Cosenza, January 19, 2006
  2. (in Italian) Sciarrone, Mafie vecchie, mafie nuove, p. 174
  3. (in Italian) Gratteri & Nicaso, Fratelli di Sangue, p. 155
  4. (in Italian) In libertà re della 'ndrangheta; era accusato di 14 omicidi, La Repubblica, July 16, 1988
  5. (in Italian) Sentenza procedimento penale Olimpia, Tribunale di Reggio Calabria, January 19, 1999
  6. (in Italian) Preso Bellocco re della 'ndrangheta, La Repubblica, February 18, 1993
  7. Mafia arrest, The Independent, February 18, 1993
  • (in Italian) Gratteri, Nicola & Antonio Nicaso (2006). Fratelli di Sangue, Cosenza: Luigi Pellegrini Editore ISBN 88-8101-373-8
  • (in Italian) Sciarrone, Rocco (1998).Mafie vecchie, mafie nuove: radicamento ed espansione, Rome: Donzelli Editore, ISBN 88-7989-435-8
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