Raids also in Switzerland – millions laundered from cocaine trafficking Raid against international money laundering network.Image: Europol
A joint venture between mafiosi from Montenegro and Italy used Switzerland as a refuge for years – until Europol struck.
Mar 13, 2026, 7:47 amMar 13, 2026, 7:47 am
Mafiosi in particular like to live inconspicuously – at least on paper. For example in Chur. In the Rhine district. In a large block of apartment buildings, which pension funds like to have in their real estate portfolio. Michele P. and Tania M lived there. He is 53 years old and comes from Napoli, she is 37, Canadian, but was born in Cetinje in Montenegro. We know all this thanks to company documents from France.
The pair represent a criminal joint venture between the Neapolitan Camorra, the Calabrian Ndrangheta and a clan from the Balkans. The town of Cetinje is considered a mafia stronghold and a hub for the transit of cocaine and heroin into the EU. Michele P. belongs to a well-known Camorra family of the same name from Ercolano.
Four with Permis B from Switzerland
The “Churer” couple and five other people from the mafia network have been behind bars since February 23rd. In a police operation coordinated by Europol, four of the suspected criminals were arrested in southern France and three in Italy. There were raids in Belgium, France, Italy and Switzerland. At least four of those arrested had Swiss residence permits.
Tania M. and Michele P. are the daughter and son-in-law of one of the most wanted and presumably largest cocaine brokers in Europe. Zoran M, Montenegrin native with Canadian citizenship. According to a statement from the European police, the man was considered a “high-ranking target of Europol and was wanted by several European countries.”
Special forces in coordinated arrestsImage: Europol
He had been living with his clan, including his daughter and son-in-law, in luxurious villas in the Cannes region for several years. “He is really one of Europe’s biggest known drug traffickers, whom we and several other European police authorities have been hunting for years,” Jean-Philippe Lecouffe, head of operations at Europol, told France Inter.
Switzerland as a protective shield for mafiosi
This powerful godfather, in conjunction with the Camorra and ‘Ndrangheta mafia families around his son-in-law, had set up a million-dollar business involving cocaine trafficking and money laundering. In this picture-perfect example of a modern mafia case, the gang apparently remained undetected for so long thanks to Switzerland: this is where the majority of the arrested gangsters had apparently settled. Here they had residence permits, company shells and assets. Here they could count on weak laws, overwhelmed authorities and willing service providers in the fiduciary and financial sectors.
Details about those arrested:
- Giovanni P., son of Michele P. He was arrested in Maslianico, on the border with Switzerland. In a Ticino border town you can find him working for a general construction company. It was founded in 2020 by a trustee with a criminal record; the required notary came from Mendrisio. Father Michele P is also part of this construction company. It has a website, but it is obviously just a facade. But the mafiosi may have obtained residence permits through the company. And there were guaranteed to be false invoices about it.
- Federico F., 35, was arrested in Cantù, near Como. The man is originally from Africo, the stronghold of the Morabito clan in Calabria. A few years ago, F. and his brother were sentenced to four years in prison in northern Italy for running a plantation with 500 marijuana plants in a warehouse.
- Giuseppe S., 45, arrested in Portici in the province of Naples, with Swiss permit B. The Neapolitan from Torre del Greco is the proud owner of a stock corporation in Roveredo that offers advice in the field of chemical-pharmaceutical products. Cocaine trafficking undoubtedly falls within the company’s purpose. The company has a website, also this pure facade. The trustee was an Italian in Roveredo who works in numerous other dubious companies. The notary who certified the statutes and who has attracted attention, not for the first time, comes from Lugano. Giuseppe S. and his wife own other companies: since 2019, a real estate company in Cap d’Ail near Monte-Carlo and a consulting firm with an address in Budapest, capital from Aruba (Antilles) as well as offshoots and real estate in southern France.
- Zoran M., who has just turned 62, is the godfather. Arrested at Cannes. Born in Cetinje in Montenegro, Canadian citizen. He once lived in Toronto with his family, or so it says in French documents. He has been investing on a large scale in the south of France for almost 20 years. In real estate companies where his wife and children also sit.
- Dusan M., 39, son of the godfather, arrested near Cannes. A second son died young.
- Michele M., arrested near Cannes. Presumably a Camorra member, with addresses in Switzerland including Chur, Roveredo and Lugano. A company active in the solar business and owned by an Italian-Albanian family is based at the address in Roveredo. What’s spicy is that this company used to be domiciled in Lucerne by an Italian trustee who also looked after a company belonging to the Larosa Ndrangheta clan.
- Tania M., 37, arrested near Cannes, daughter of the godfather and partner of the Neapolitan Michele M. The couple also founded a real estate company in Cannes in 2022, leaving the Chur address.
Suspicious transactions in Switzerland
According to Ticino television RSI, four of those arrested were last reported in Roveredo in Misox, Graubünden. The Misox has been considered a money laundering paradise for the mafia for decades. According to SRF, the municipality of Roveredo sees the errors in this case at the canton of Graubünden or at the migration office there. In a long letter, she called for more “care when issuing residence permits – especially when it comes to people who already have a criminal record.”
According to Europol, “the money laundering network was directly linked to the large-scale cocaine trafficking from South America to Europe.” It allegedly coordinated the sea transport of large quantities of cocaine to the most important European ports. The network used shell companies and false invoices, including in Switzerland, investments in luxury goods and cryptocurrencies, to launder millions. On the Côte d’Azur, luxury real estate worth around five million euros and luxury cars were confiscated, 600,000 euros in crypto and 26,000 euros in cash. The gang was busted because investigators followed the trail of money in Switzerland: Here the authorities discovered suspicious transactions.
The Federal Prosecutor’s Office, which is conducting criminal proceedings in a Joint Investigation Team (JIT) with France and Italy, is investigating several people for money laundering and drug trafficking, as it announced. Several requests for legal assistance are pending.
The presumption of innocence applies.
* The first names of the accused have been changed. (nil/aargauerzeitung.ch)