Gay mafia hitman is murdered by his own cousin

A gay mafia hitman was murdered by his own cousin because an Italian mob boss regarded his lifestyle as a ‘disgrace’, it has emerged. 

Andrea Mantella told Italian authorities that he had arranged the killing of Filippo Gangitano in 2002 after mobsters said his cousin’s homosexuality ‘could not be tolerated’. 

Mantella was told it was up to him to ‘wash’ the honour of his family and his protests were waved away, according to La Repubblica. 

After failing to convince mob bosses to have Gangitano expelled instead, Mantella had him lured to a farm where he was shot dead and buried in an unmarked grave. 

‘We could not afford to have or have had a gay man in the gang’, Mantella said he was told by bosses of the ‘Ndrangheta gang.  

Gangitano had been living with his partner in the town of Vibo Valentia but mobsters believed his lifestyle was a ‘disgrace’. 

Mantella is currently in prison for his role in the mafia but has become a government mole in a major anti-mob operation.  

His evidence is linked to a huge government raid in which 334 people were arrested in early-morning swoops last week. 

Some arrests were also carried out in Germany, Switzerland and Bulgaria.   

The ‘Ndrangheta is based in the southern region of Calabria, the toe of Italy’s boot, and has surpassed Sicily’s more famous Cosa Nostra to become the most powerful mafia group in the country.

Italian investigators say the group, which is made up of dozens of smaller clans that all answer nominally to senior leaders in Calabria, is now Europe’s top cocaine broker. 

The suspects were facing a raft of possible charges including mafia conspiracy, murder, extortion, loan sharking, corporate fraud and money laundering.

Mantella’s evidence is linked to a huge government raid in which 334 people were arrested in early-morning swoops last week (pictured: some of the weapons and ammunitions seized)

‘Politicians were involved, as well as lawyers, accountants, public officials, court clerks,’ said prosecutor Nicola Gratteri, who led the investigation

‘All people who had jobs and did not need to put themselves at the service of the ‘Ndrangheta.

‘The mobsters are not in a position to carry out sophisticated money laundering. To do that they need professionals,’ he added.

Among those arrested on Thursday were a former lawmaker from Silvio Berlusconi’s Forza Italia party, the centre-left mayor of a Calabrian coastal town and a senior official in the Carabinieri police. 

‘This has inflicted a very hard blow on the ‘Ndrangheta,’ said interior minister Luciana Lamorgese. 

Gratteri, the prosecutor, said it was the largest haul of suspected mobsters in Italy since a massive anti-mafia swoop in Sicily in 1984.

That led to the so-called Palermo maxi-trial when more than 450 members of Cosa Nostra were tried.

The Palermo trial marked a turning point in the battle against the Sicilian crime gang, and their influence has waned dramatically over the past three decades, allowing ‘Ndrangheta to surge to prominence.