Weapons Cache and Modus Operandi

Holland Italy: The ring modus operandi involved suitcases of cash sent by courier to Costa Rica and drug shipments through Pennsylvania and Delaware destined for Spain, Holland and Italy, according to a joint FBI and Italian probe made public at a news conference Thursday in Rome at the headquarters of Italy national anti-Mafia prosecutor, according to CTV. The Cucino a Modo Mio restaurant was a popular local haunt with a secret weapons cache, officials say. After hours, Italian and U.S. authorities say, the restaurant in the New York borough of Queens was busy filling other orders -- allegedly running a cocaine trafficking ring that spanned three continents. Inside a safe, investigators found six pistols, a rifle, ammunition, brass knuckles, other weapons and $100,000 in bills. At least 13 people were arrested in pre-dawn raids in Calabria, the region in southern Italy that is the power base of the 'ndrangheta, which authorities say is focused on consolidating its influence and operations in the United States. The operation points to what investigators say is an increasingly deep-rooted U.S. stronghold for the 'ndrangheta, the southern Italian crime syndicate that has taken advantage of the Sicilian Mafia disarray and is consolidating ties with New York traditional Cosa Nostra crime clans. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.