How Italian mafia ‘took over’ quiet UK town & turned it into ‘Surrey Sopranos’ – before daring bank raid took them down
THE ITALIAN Mafia “took over” a quiet UK town and turned it into the “Surrey Sopranos” before a daring bank raid foiled its plans.
Woking, in northwest Surrey, was a hotbed of crime and mafioso behaviour in the 1970s through the 80s and into the 90s.
But those living in modern day Woking say the town has moved on since the days of NatWest bust ups.
One drinker at the Herbert Wells Wetherspoon told The Sun: “We were neighbours in Cedar Road with some Italians.
“There was a bust there in the 80s. It was above the NatWest bank and was apparently where they (the gangsters) kept their money.
“Margaret Thatcher was in power at the time and she had apparently wanted to get them all cleared out.
“I don’t know about the modern day mafia. Woking has changed loads and is a commuter belt town. It’s not what it was.
“But yes, there are loads of Italians here and, yes, I saw the criminal side first hand.”
The man, who wished to remain anonymous, added: “There was without a doubt a mafia contingent in Woking in the 80s and 90s.”
He refused to elaborate more on stories he had with the mafia.
Another man said communities of Sicilian monsters were focused around the Horsall Road and Cedar Road areas of the Surrey town.
Lee Burnham, 71, has lived in Woking his whole life and was enjoying a Guinness when he revealed he had connections to the underworld.
He told The Sun how he was friends with a gangster who he played with in an Italian football team.
He said: “He upset someone in Woking, someone quite big. I don’t know what it was about.
“Anyway, he got nicked, we’re going back to the 80s here, and he took the wrap.
“He was jailed and I never saw him again and have no clue to this day what happened to him.”
The Sicilian population in Woking is owed in part to a massive prisoner of war camp that was located in nearby Send.
Margaret Thatcher was in power at the time and she had apparently wanted to get them all cleared out.
After the war, many settled in Woking and started families.
Luca, owner of Italian Good restaurant in Woking, is from Sicily himself.
He said: “I’ve heard of stories. They’re even my customers!
“I’m from Sicily. Cosa Nostra is from Sicily. There are a lot of Sicilians in Woking.”
'God's banker'
THE discovery of Roberto Calvi, 62, hanging under Blackfriars Bridge in London in 1982 sent out a message that the Mafia were here.
Calvi — known as “God’s banker” because he dealt with the Pope‘s money — is believed to have lost huge sums belonging to a Sicilian mobster.
Ex-Scotland Yard detective Peter Bleksley said: “The Mafia were saying, wherever you go we will find you.”
Many historians suspect hitman Francesco Di Carlo was responsible for Calvi’s murder but no one has ever been found guilty of the crime.
The assassin, also known as Frankie the Strangler, helped to ship heroin and cannabis under the cover of his antiques firm.
Living in a mansion in the stockbroker belt town of Woking, Surrey, Di Carlo drove a Ferrari and had a string of businesses including a hotel and travel agency.
In 1985 his operation was smashed by British customs officers, and he was sentenced to 25 years in jail.
He died in 2020, still denying carrying out the hit on Calvi.
It comes as Ross Kemp found that organised criminals from Italy have links to this country stretching back a century.
And he believes they are still operating here today, possibly stronger than ever before.
In the Sky History series Ross Kemp: Mafia And Britain, which begins on Tuesday, the former EastEnders actor said: “Undoubtedly they’re still here.
“They’re everywhere. They operate in a very different way to the 1920s or 1980s.
“The most successful ones are the ones you never hear of.”
The web of crime leading back to these shores takes Ross to Colombia, the US, Spain and southern Italy.
Experts think Britain is attractive to the mob because it is the biggest market for cocaine in Europe and has a lax attitude to money laundering.