Sanne de Boer

It's a very tricky territory, isn't it?

in australia it seems like we're so far away why what would they be interested in here absolutely so you're right it is tricky it's a fine line and i can so relate because um i mean not so much holland we have a lot of italian people in in amsterdam but uh especially germany which is of course our neighboring country it's it's the most important country in europe outside of italy for the drangata and there's it's actually the biggest current organization in in uh in germany as well

A lot of them are based right over the border with the Netherlands.

And also there, people have... There's been a huge massacre.

I speak about it in a book in 2007, where six people were killed right in front of a restaurant in the largest office building in Duisburg.

But still, I visit Germany sometimes.

My book has been translated into German as well.

And I still find people over there that are just...

So shocked and so in disbelief.

And despite a lot of even mass arrests happening in Germany, it's so difficult for people to recognize the fact that these very normal, very integrated, very successful people have been maybe even they were born in, they have maybe have got Italian roots.

They're actually part of this very strange, archaic organization called the Ndrangheta.

And also what I want to say about that, of course, what we need to realize is that these criminal groups, they would not stand a chance if they did not know how to make use of people in our own communities.

facilitators that are ready to help them, notaries, lawyers, accountants, even civil servants, administrators.

More and more stories are coming out, also in the Netherlands, where we find out that the Tendrangetse clans in our countries have great access into our institutions and in a sense also to organize their own impunity.

That also could be a little bit of part of the culture in Calabria.

I mean, it's very, of course, there's small communities.

Everybody knows each other.

Everybody's struggling for work.

So they all want to help each other out.

So I feel that in a way that is also my view as a sort of a privileged outsider who was born in the Netherlands.