Giuseppe Piromalli (born 1921)

Giuseppe Piromalli
Mugshot of 'Ndrangheta boss Giuseppe Piromalli
Born	(1921-03-01)March 1, 1921 Gioia Tauro, Italy
Died	February 19, 2005(2005-02-19) (aged 83) Gioia Tauro, Italy
Nationality	Italian
Other names	Peppino
Allegiance	'Ndrangheta

Giuseppe Piromalli (Gioia Tauro, March 1, 1921 – Gioia Tauro, February 19, 2005), also known as "Peppino", was an Italian criminal known as a member of the 'Ndrangheta in Calabria. A native of Gioia Tauro, Piromalli was one of the most famous of the 'Ndrangheta bosses and headed the Piromalli 'ndrina. He redirected the 'Ndrangheta clan from its rural base to an entrepreneurial criminal organisation.

Piromalli ruled the most powerful mafia group in the Gioia Tauro plain. He inherited this position from his elder brother Girolamo Mommo Piromalli, who died of natural causes in 1979. The Piromalli cosca contains more than 200 members. Since the mid-1970s, according to several pentiti, members of the Nirta family from San Luca and the Piromalli family rotated among themselves the position of capo crimine. In Gioia Tauro, blood relatives of the Piromalli long represented the interest of the clan in the city council.

The Piromalli’s were allied with their relatives of the Molè family. Often they are referred to as the Piromalli-Molè clan. "The Molè family is the military arm of the Piromalli clan," according to Francesco Forgione, chairman of Italian parliament's Antimafia Commission. Control of the Gioia Tauro container hub has allowed the Piromalli clan to dominate not only the illegal drug trade but also arms and other contraband smuggling. The Piromalli-Molè clan in recent years turned the syndicate into a modern and high-tech criminal organization. Within the Piromalli organization the Molè clan is responsible for drug trafficking and handles relations with 'Ndrangheta branches in central and northern Italy as well as with Colombian drug cartels.

Together with his elder brother Girolamo Piromalli, Giuseppe redirected the 'Ndrangheta clan from its rural base to an entrepreneurial criminal organisation assuming dominance over several public works in the Gioia Tauro area, particularly in the construction and operation of the new container seaport. When in 1974 businesses involved in the expansion of the port and steelworks in Gioia Tauro offered a three per cent kickback to be left in peace the three leading 'Ndrangheta families at the time, Antonio Macrì, the Piromalli brothers and the De Stefano brothers rejected the offer and wanted to be sub-contracted on work carried in order to control the projects.