or its social culture, is quite a bit older than the Cosa Nostra, which first appears in Italian criminal records around 1860, the time of the country's unification, and in the records of criminal proceedings in New Orleans in the United States shortly afterwards.

'Ndrangheta comes into the criminal records at almost the same time, but it is clearly much older. The name means 'our man's honour,' or 'our man's loyal bond'. The swearing-in ceremonies have the same mix of pagan and Christian elements as those of the Sicilian clans - pricking the finger and swearing on the burning image of a saint are common. In the postwar period, the organisation's fortunes rode on new government reconstruction contracts, and on gaining a stranglehold on huge slabs of the Mediterranean market in heroin and cocaine. When the European Community agreed to

The ’Ndrangheta’s obscurity make it attractive to the link-men of terrorist groups

build a new steel complex at Gioia Tauro on the coast of northern Calabria, the 'Ndrangheta cornered the market in agricultural land in the area. It also tied up the cement and construction contracts. In just over a year there were 26 murders in the district, a higher murder rate per capita than greater New York and Newark. The villages of Aspromonte were desolate because anything of value - any cow, sheep, or pig - was grabbed by the bosses.

Today the 'Ndrangheta has moved into real estate, insurance and even football finance. But it is the ruthless slayings, such as that at Duisburg, on which its fame now rides. This and its obscurity and secretiveness make it especially attractive as an arms trafficker to the link-men of terrorist groups such as al-Qaeda, who increasingly use its methods and, sometimes, its services.