As one mafia fades, Italy faces another

Yet the 'Ndrangheta's clans can be quarrelsome – with fatal results. The killings in Duisburg last summer are rooted in such an internecine dispute, says Mr. Gratteri, who is overseeing the investigation into the origins of the attack.

One of the men shot in Duisburg, Marco Marmo, was wanted by authorities for involvement in the December 2006 murder of an the 'Ndrangheta leader's wife in the Calabrian village of San Luca. Gratteri refused to discuss the details of the investigation under way, but the Italian press has speculated that Marmo was the reason an 'Ndrangheta clan executed the Duisburg attack.

Mr. Lumia of Italy's antimafia parliamentary commission says this conflict "has become a clash for financial and territorial control of San Luca ... [which] becomes control on an international level."

In order to bring down the 'Ndrangheta, Gratteri contends, new legislation is needed. "We have no laws that are proportional to the force of the 'Ndrangheta," he says, explaining that well-behaved convicts can leave prison after five years. "I would like ... [them] not to be released before 30 years."

Youths' challenge to Italy: rise up

For magistrates battling the 'Ndrangheta, a welcome ally has been Ammazzateci Tutti – formed two years ago by fed-up young people. "The 'Ndrangheta is an octopus which tries to control everything and to kill all of the fish," says Bruno Marino, a student whose father was killed by the group.

Since its founding, Ammazzateci Tutti has held regular demonstrations designed to pressure the Italian state into taking action against the 'Ndrangheta.

Last February, a protest in Reggio di Calabria drew thousands into the streets. In recent weeks, the group has staged regular protests against the government's pending transfer of Luigi De Magistris, an antimafia magistrate investigating links between politicians and the 'Ndrangheta.

"The 'Ndrangheta ... is infiltrating the political system," says Aldo Pecora, a law student and spokesman for Ammazzateci Tutti, whose taunting title means, "Now Kill Us All."

"Ammazzateci Tutti is a message that expresses both hope and challenge to the 'Ndrangheta, saying 'See if you have enough lead to kill us all,' " explains Mr. Pecora. "It's also a challenge to normal people to rebel against the the 'Ndrangheta."

Pecora says the group continues to form chapters across both Calabria and throughout Italy, their message spreading via the Internet, which he credits with helping them to become a national organization.

Still, he concedes that they don't yet pose a serious threat to the 'Ndrangheta, but are rather "bothering" those who want to control Calabria.

He hopes to one day become an antimafia magistrate, and says he's put Ammazzateci Tutti "before everything, before my family and my studies, because I am not wasting time. I am doing something for my children, if I ever have any. There is nothing to lose and only the future to gain."

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