The 'Ndrangheta (, Italian: [nˈdraŋɡeta], Calabrian: [(ɳ)ˈɖɽaɲɟɪta]) is a prominent Italian Mafia-type organized crime syndicate and criminal society based in the region of Calabria and dating back to the late 18th century. It is considered to be among the most powerful and dangerous organized crime groups in the world.Since the 1950s, following wide-scale emigration from Calabria, the organization has established itself worldwide. The 'Ndrangheta is the only one of the mafia-type criminal organizations operating in Italy to have maintained the rites that distinguished it in the past, passing them down orally and through codes that, on rare occasions, have been discovered. It is characterized by a horizontal structure made up of autonomous clans known as 'ndrine, based almost exclusively