Giuseppe Nirta (born 1940)

Giuseppe Nirta (born October 19, 1940 in San Luca) is a boss of the 'Ndrangheta from San Luca in Calabria. He is the current head of the Nirta clan.

The Nirta clan is allied with the Strangio clan in a vendetta against the Pelle-Vottari-Romeo families known as the so-called San Luca feud. The bloody feud between the clans began in February 1991 during a carnival celebration in San Luca when anger over an egg-throwing incident boiled over and culminated in the killing of two members of the Strangio-Nirta clan and the wounding of two others.[1]

The feud re-exploded after a seven-year lull at Christmas 2006 when gunmen ambushed the Nirta’s son Giovanni Luca Nirta. He escaped unharmed but his wife Maria Strangio – a cousin of Giovanni Strangio – was killed.[1] Giuseppe Nirta is accused of murdering Bruno Pizzata, a member of the Pelle-Vottari clan, on January 4, 2007.[2]

The vendetta attracted international attention on August 15, 2007, when six men belonging to the Pelle-Romeo clan were shot dead in their cars in front of a pizzeria near Duisburg train station in western Germany.

Nirta was one of Italy's 100 most wanted criminals and arrested on May 23, 2008. He was hiding in a bunker in San Luca.[1] On July 12, 2011, the Criminal Court in Locri sentenced Nirta to life imprisonment for the Duisburg killings.[3][4]

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 San Luca clan chief caught, ANSA, May 23, 2008
  2. ↑ 'Ndrangheta, arrestato Giuseppe Nirta, Corriere della Sera, May 23, 2008
  3. ↑ Strage di Duisburg, verdetto di primo grado ergastolo a Giovanni Strangio e altri sette, La Repubblica, July 12, 2011
  4. ↑ Italians convicted in Duisburg mob massacre, The Associated press, July 12, 2011

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