Melbourne resident Michael Barbaro has been jailed over his role in a 2018 drug bust that also implicated his son Pasquale (aka Patrick) and associates Pepe Scardamaglia and Jimmey Barkho, Mark Buttler reports for the Herald Sun.
During his sentencing, Justice Michael O’Connel referenced Barbaro’s issues with figures involved in Operation Inca, better known as the infamous “Tomato Tins” ecstasy bust of 2008. When the original 2007 importation went awry, Pasquale Barbaro and Francesco Madafferi supposedly blamed Michael Barbaro and Fedele D’Amico for the loss, also suspecting them of being responsible for the theft of a 400kg shipment of cocaine that they never received. (See: Busted! by Keith Moor for more information on that).
Michael Barbaro, described in the past as an associate of Mick Gatto, was allegedly marked for death, with plans laid to murder him at Damien Gatto’s wedding, according to documents tendered to courts during the trials that arose after Operation Inca. Graham Potter was allegedly tapped as the trigger-man. Until he was caught in FNQ last year, Potter was Australia’s most wanted man, having served as a distributor for the Barbaro-Madafferi ‘ndrine, but most notoriously known for the grisly 1981 murder of teenager Kim Barry.
Michael Barbaro arrived in Melbourne in 1980, and over the last 40 years established himself in underworld circles as a mid-to-high level trafficker. During one of the drug-deals described in sentencing documents, an associate described him as “the boss of the mafia in (his) area”.
After Pasquale Barbaro received his 30 year sentence in 2012, the charges of conspiracy to murder Michael Barbaro were dropped.
For those who might be confused; there is no known close relations between Pasquale and Michael; Pasquale is the son of Little Trees Frank Barbaro, who’s brother Domenico fathered the longtime boss of the Calabrian Barbaro clan, Francesco “U Castanu’” Barbaro. Michael Barbaro comes from a completely seperate branch of the far-flung Barbaro family, and only came to Australia in the 1980s.
Further information:
https://www.countycourt.vic.gov.au/files/documents/2023-09/dpp-v-barbaro.pdf
Mafia in Australia 