Rome - An 11-year-old boy has become the youngest-ever Mafia informant, sharing with investigators the secrets of his jailed father's criminal trade, Italian media reported on Monday.
The unnamed boy is the son of 36-year-old Gregorio Malvaso, who was arrested in October 2014 on suspicion of being a leading member of the Ndrangheta Mafia in San Ferdinando, a coastal town near the tip of Italy’s boot.
“My dad was part of this clan,” the boy was quoted as telling prosecutors by the La Repubblica newspaper, whose report relied on documents related to Malvaso’s arrest presented in court last week.
“Dad used to do whatever he wanted within the clan, he was the boss’ right-hand man,” the child reportedly said.
“Of course I know what a mafioso does, he deals drugs, he shoots, it’s normal … In town I’ve heard everybody talk about the ‘Ndrangheta, even my older friends.”
The ‘Ndrangheta, based in the region of Calabria, is one of Italy’s main organised crime groups, along with Sicily’s Cosa Nostra and the Neapolitan Camorra. It is a global leader in drug trafficking and money laundering.
La Repubblica said the boy was being groomed as a mobster, but after his father’s arrest he was led to cooperate with authorities by his mother, who became an informant a few months ago and is living in hiding with the three children she had from Malvaso.
The newspaper said investigators were given a key piece of evidence - the sim card of the boy’s mobile phone which once belonged to his father, and allegedly contains incriminating data of his contacts with other mobsters.
DPA