tag:theconversation.com,2011:/global/topics/ndrangheta-63937/articles'Ndrangheta – The Conversation2023-12-13T14:57:28Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2174052023-12-13T14:57:28Z2023-12-13T14:57:28ZWe’re finally starting to understand the active role women play in organised crime groups<p>I met Caroline, a shy and pretty teenager who should be full of life and yet is not, in the course of my research. She explains to me how, as a 14-year-old, she became trapped in a cycle of violence when she transported money and drugs while being systematically sexually abused by the members of a local organised crime group. </p>
<p>She was threatened with attack if she spoke to anyone about her predicament. She was lured into this situation by one of her trusted girlfriends, who looked on as she was exploited.</p>
<p>This story highlights the complexity of women’s involvement in organised crime groups. They can be, and often are, victims. But they can also be complicit – actively involved and fully endorsing criminal values, like Caroline’s friend. </p>
<p>Women remain an unacknowledged component of transnational organised crime groups, which are largely thought of as macho and masculine. But we need only think of the mothers of mafia bosses in the Sicilian Cosa Nostra, the Calabrian ‘Ndrangheta and the <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11133-018-9389-8">Neapolitan Camorra</a> to realise that women are integral to the operation of these groups.</p>
<p>Our lack of understanding of the role women play is unhelpful if we want to combat crime effectively. We capture glimpses of women, <a href="https://muse.jhu.edu/pub/169/monograph/book/76948">here and there</a> but, on the whole, there exists a gender lacuna. Therefore, the picture we have of organised crime remains incomplete.</p>
<p>Over the last couple of years, there has slowly been a growing interest in <a href="https://sherloc.unodc.org/cld/uploads/pdf/Issue_Paper_Organized_Crime_and_Gender_1.pdf">this topic</a>. And a <a href="https://www.osce.org/secretariat/560049">new report</a> from the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) seeks to bring new understanding to this issue by focusing specifically on the women who are full participants in organised crime, not as victims. I was a consulting expert on this piece of work.</p>
<p>Based on questionnaires, in-depth interviews and previous research, this report seeks to go beyond the traditional gender binaries and see women for what they are – people with their own agency in organised crime. They play crucial roles in the family and household, where they can also act as advisers and decision makers in their criminal organisations. They can navigate the criminal underworld as intelligently as their male counterparts. </p>
<h2>Getting in</h2>
<p>What becomes clear from this report is that women are recruited in different ways depending on their place in the organised crime hierarchy, which is similar to the way men enter these groups.</p>
<p>Women in family criminal networks such as mafias may be educated into working for the family business because that is “what you do”. Meanwhile, girls and women in the lower levels of organised crime who do not belong directly to a crime family are often recruited as mules, transporters, lookouts and dealers. </p>
<p>This may be because they either need the money to survive, they want to belong or are simply looking for affection. This recruitment at the lower end of the criminal hierarchy is at times connected to sexual and emotional violence and abuse. </p>
<p>The OSCE report underlines that the nature of women’s roles in organised crime is much more varied than is usually presumed. There is also far less difference between what men do and what women do than we previously thought.</p>
<p>The women in these groups will do what is necessary to survive and get on, whether this means recruiting other women for human trafficking rings, becoming street dealers or allowing their names to be used as front companies for money laundering. Women <a href="https://www.taylorfrancis.com/books/mono/10.4324/9781003146568/graphic-narratives-organised-crime-gender-power-europe-felia-allum-anna-mitchell">make decisions</a> within this criminal underworld and are present across all criminal markets. </p>
<p>They are often the people who pass on criminal values to new generations within crime families and groups, contributing to criminal careers and cultural continuity of clans and groups. With this in mind, it starts to become clear that the foundations and roots of organised crime are, essentially, female.</p>
<h2>Getting out</h2>
<p>However, the report finds that women are underrepresented or completely absent from State witness protection programmes. When they are present, it is just as the wife or partner of a criminal rather than as independent participants in their own right. </p>
<p>For example, often, if women want to get out of the mafia, they must slot into their partner’s protection arrangements or follow a system that is set up for men. Women are not being offered the same exit opportunities as men because their specific needs as women and as mothers are rarely taken into consideration. </p>
<p>Women can be crucial in encouraging men to leave organised crime networks but they can also be the ones who refuse to leave the criminal underworld. This needs to be understood and taken into account. </p>
<p>Despite recent progress, we still need far more specific information about women as perpetrators of organised crime. Only by acknowledging their agency and listening to their experiences will we finally have a complete picture.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/217405/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Felia Allum worked as an external expert for the OSCE on this report. She is also a Senior Associate Fellow at the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI).</span></em></p>Women are often victims of these highly patriarchal crime systems – but they can also be powerful decision makers and exploiters of others.Felia Allum, Professor of Comparative Organised Crime and Corruption, University of BathLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2057922023-06-20T16:18:49Z2023-06-20T16:18:49ZThe Good Mothers: Disney’s groundbreaking drama tries to tell the stories of women in the mafia but important pieces of the puzzle are missing<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/531960/original/file-20230614-19-aaakle.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=107%2C17%2C5883%2C3970&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Disney+</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>The music accompanying the opening titles of the new Disney+ series The Good Mothers is a lullaby in the Calabrian dialect:</p>
<blockquote>
<p><em>Ninna, ninna, ninna, ninna, neda</em> The wolf eats the little lamb. Little lamb of mine, what did you do when you found yourself in the mouth of the wolf?</p>
</blockquote>
<p>It is a dark and hidden message from a mother to her child before sleep. It serves as a reminder that the world is a dangerous place and your family are not always the people who will protect you. Sometimes, they are the ones who make it unsafe. </p>
<p>Disney’s latest contribution to the mafia genre, a six-episode TV drama series, is based on a book by British journalist Alex Perry. It’s a welcome and refreshing addition to the debate about the delicate role <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11133-018-9389-8">women play in Italian mafias</a>.</p>
<p>Italian mafias are strange, fascinating organisations. They combine both highly sophisticated, modern criminal activities and money laundering scams with internal traditional values and codes that dictate behaviour to members. </p>
<p>The series deals specifically with the fates of three young mothers in the notorious Calabrian <a href="https://theconversation.com/uk/topics/ndrangheta-63937">‘Ndrangheta</a>, a violent mafia that is both deeply embedded in the local community and has international reach. It is made up of more than 160 independent <em>cosche</em>, or clans, that exist across Calabria within a hierarchical structure. Each revolves around families with tight blood ties. </p>
<h2>Women in Italian mafias</h2>
<p>One of the innovative aspects of The Good Mothers is that it is framed as a story of “how feminism was key to bringing down Europe’s most powerful mafia”. And it is indeed an important contribution to our understanding of Italian mafias in part because it is a story about women, which is rare. </p>
<p>It’s incredibly difficult to research the roles women play in criminal groups because there is hardly any information available. When data does exist, it tends to adopt “a male gaze”. Most judicial or police sources are collected by men using their male values and gender assumptions, which colours the depiction of the women involved (and will inevitably pervade the narratives of those who use them).</p>
<p>When investigating mafias, there is a tendency to focus on the male-centric elements of operations – the leadership, the violence and the business. Accounts of women describe them either as victims of crime or as irrelevant extras. </p>
<p>The Good Mothers puts women at the centre of the action. Here is a detailed account of Calabrian mafia women who rebelled against the <a href="https://books.google.co.uk/books?hl=en&lr=&id=KJLBLxYBUysC&oi=fnd&pg=PR7&dq=mafia+women+&ots=HtzYnF-TMG&sig=9sXYl7nfZGG1xsZ7XUJVgufM66o&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q=mafia%20women&f=false">patriarchal, oppressive and violent mafia system</a> by deciding to collaborate with the state to expose the perverse internal workings of their clans.</p>
<p>For one of the first times in English, we see the traumatic and painful life stories of real women – Lea Garofalo, Giuseppina Pesce and Maria Concetta Cacciola. All were born into but eventually escaped the mafia’s power. </p>
<p>The main theme of their testimonies is the sexism, misogyny and machismo that underpins the ‘Ndrangheta’s patriarchal framework. Gender dynamics, contradictions and power relationships are based on values such as family, honour, omertà (a code of silence), respect, violence and revenge.</p>
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<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/5xyZ5Yt-Z2Y?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">The Good Mothers trailer.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Cacciola’s harrowing story illustrates how the mafia exploited her love for her children to get her to leave the witness protection programme. She then supposedly committed suicide by drinking acid in August 2011, a story no one believes. Her life represents the many dilemmas and difficulties involved in trying to extract oneself from the violent criminal underworld.</p>
<p>Pesce’s brave account adds complexity by underlining the way women in mafias can have agency – sexually, criminally, emotionally and socially. Pesce participated in the criminal activities of her clan, was outspoken and had an affair while her husband was in prison. </p>
<p>The character Anna Colace (who represents the real-life judge Alessandra Cereti) is another heroine. She is the brave anti-mafia prosecutor who takes on the mob by turning members and relatives into state witnesses. Through her investigations, she understands the power of the women in Calabrian <em>cosche</em> and how their desire to rebel can become a strength for the anti-mafia fight. </p>
<h2>The missing mothers</h2>
<p>The Good Mothers is a genuine attempt at explaining to an international audience how these real-life women and mothers sought to break free from the coercive control of the patriarchal Calabrian mafia system. Their decision became a historic moment that forced a change in the thinking around the ‘Ndrangheta. We learned that family structure, mothers and children are key.</p>
<p>Unfortunately, decades on from the events this series depicts, the ‘Ndrangheta is far from dead. Maybe, we are still missing a part of the puzzle. The Good Mothers missed an opportunity to denounce, highlight and analyse the role of Garofalo, Pesce and Cacciola’s own mothers, who endorsed the patriarchal values of the violent mafia system by manipulating these young women and by trying to stop them from rebelling. </p>
<p>This TV series only tells part of the story because it is based on a book that was itself a reconstruction of judicial investigations and interviews. A male gaze therefore remains. </p>
<p>While there are nuances, women are still largely depicted as victims of the mafia male patriarchy. Absent are discussions about the male victims of the ‘Ndrangheta or the powerful and determined matriarchs who <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s12117-014-9223-y">reinforce the structures</a> that allow the ‘Ndrangheta <em>cosche</em> to flourish.</p>
<p>In the book and consequently in the TV series, the mafia’s coercive control is too often portrayed as male when to fully understand it, we must also include the other women who remain in the shadows. It is these women who are the foundation of the ‘Ndrangheta and who should not be overlooked. Mafia oppression is not only male but also female. The essence of the ‘Ndrangheta is not only the good mothers but all the mothers.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/205792/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Felia Allum was a Leverhulme Major Research Fellow (2018-2022) and received funding from The Leverhulme Trust for a project on 'Women, crime and culture: transnational organised crime as an equal opportunity industry'.</span></em></p>The stories of women who escape the mafia need to be told but we also need to learn more about the women who stay and reinforce the structures of crime families.Felia Allum, Professor of Comparative Organised Crime and Corruption., University of BathLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1983522023-01-27T15:54:49Z2023-01-27T15:54:49ZModern mafia: Italy’s organised crime machine has changed beyond recognition in 30 years<p>The arrest of Matteo Messina Denaro, one of Sicily’s most infamous mafia bosses, has reminded many Italians of the extreme violence he was associated with when operating as a leading figure of Cosa Nostra. </p>
<p>Denaro appears to belong to another time – when the mafia brutally killed at will. And it is indeed true that the period of extreme violence with which he is associated has been confined to the past. But that does not in any way mean Italy’s organised crime groups have disappeared in the 30 years Denaro has been in hiding – they’ve just had a rethink about how they operate.</p>
<p>The Italian mafia has drastically reduced the number of homicides it carries out. Violence is now used in a much more strategic and less visible way. Rather than bloody and conspicuous murders, the modern mafia intimidates with crimes that are less likely to be reported to the police – such as arson and physical assault or sending threats. Murder is now a last resort. </p>
<p>The violent conflict between the Sicilian mafia and the Italian state reached its climax in the early 1990s. This was a period characterised by massacre after massacre, including the notorious bombing on <a href="https://www.unionesarda.it/en/italy/thirty-years-ago-the-via-d39-amelio-massacre-but-borsellino39-s-brother-invokes-silence-avzmokq9">Via D'Amelio in 1992</a> that killed magistrate Paolo Borsellino and five members of his entourage. In 1991 alone, there were 1,916 homicides – 718 of which were of a mafia nature.</p>
<p>The media covered every twist and turn. Politicians spoke in parliament about the scourge of organised crime. Mafia activity occupied a significant place in Italy’s public discourse and cultural imagination. </p>
<p>The authorities reacted with force. New laws were enacted, such as the “41-bis” prison regime, which included the threat of solitary confinement for members of organised crime gangs. A local municipality could be stripped of its powers for up to two years if local officials were thought to be working with the mafia, and a nationally appointed <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/ecoj.12237">technocratic administration</a> installed to clean house. A national anti-mafia directorate was also created so that more resources could be dedicated to the fight against organised crime.</p>
<p>In the years that followed, <a href="https://www.istat.it/it/archivio/277932#:%7E:text=Nel%202021%20gli%20omicidi%20risultano,diminuiti%20nel%202020%20(170)">data</a> shows a radical decrease in the number of mafia-related homicides, from 718 in 1991 to just 28 in 2019. In 2020, there were 271 homicides in Italy, compared with almost 2,000 in 1991. With 0.5 homicides per 100,000 inhabitants, Italy now has the fewest homicides in Europe after Iceland and Slovenia – fewer homicides per capita than Norway, Switzerland or Luxembourg.</p>
<p>At the same time, an interesting trend can be identified. In ongoing research, I’ve been analysing the archive of RAI (Italian National Television) over the past 40 years and studying the content of national and regional news bulletins. It’s clear that in years with more mafia homicides, media coverage related to the mafia increases, measured by the percentage of news on the mafia topic.</p>
<p>Conversely, when mafia homicides decrease, the topic is talked about less and there are fewer interventions in parliament. For example, between 1992 and 1994, organised crime was cited in 15% of speeches by parliamentarians. Within 20 years it was being mentioned in just 4.3% of speeches.</p>
<p>In other words, the more the mafia openly kills, the more attention it attracts from the media and politicians. It’s important to note that these are not necessarily years in which the mafia has been any less active in other ways. The smuggling, racketeering and corruption continues unabated. Only the most noticeable violence is in retreat. </p>
<h2>Unreported and unnoticed</h2>
<p>All of this suggests that the decrease in the number of homicides could, at least in part, be a strategic choice. Criminals have worked out what they need to do to fly under the radar and be left to their own devices. </p>
<p>This does not mean that violence is no longer used – it is simply more targeted. As reported every year by the anti-mafia charity <a href="https://www.avvisopubblico.it/home/home/cosa-facciamo/pubblicazioni/amministratori-sotto-tiro/">Avviso Pubblico</a>, local administrators are now the main targets of the mafia. They are sent threatening letters and are treated with aggression in person at a rate of about one incident per day. This phenomenon goes almost unnoticed by the media, which would surely pay attention were a member of the national parliament face intimidation or violence. At best, local officials might see their experiences reported in the local press; it’s rare for such incidents to be reported on at a national level. </p>
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<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/matteo-messina-denaro-arrest-of-mafia-boss-after-30-years-on-the-run-is-the-end-of-an-era-but-not-the-end-of-the-cosa-nostra-197940">Matteo Messina Denaro: arrest of mafia boss after 30 years on the run is the end of an era – but not the end of the Cosa Nostra</a>
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<p>The mafia thereby neatly achieves its goal of influencing local politics without attracting media and political attention. Election periods are particularly delicate: mayors are <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0047272717301251">subject to the most threats at these times</a>, particularly in the period immediately after taking office, as local criminals see an opportunity to take control of the newcomer. </p>
<p>This strategy has facilitated the mafia’s economic expansion. While the number of murders has declined, the number of properties and businesses seized from the mafia has ballooned – again suggesting that a drop in violent crime is not necessarily an indicator of a drop in other types of criminal activity. In 1991, the state seized two companies and four properties from the mafia. In 2019, <a href="https://aziendeconfiscate.camcom.gov.it/odacWeb/home">351 companies and 651 properties</a> were seized.</p>
<p>These figures could be read as indicating that law enforcement is doing a better job of identifying economic crime, and that could indeed be the case. But other data lends weight to the more pessimistic interpretation of the facts.</p>
<p>In 2019, assets relating to organised criminals were seized in 11 Italian provinces (largely in the northern regions) that had never previously experienced mafia activity. And today, each police operation related to organised crime leads to <a href="https://direzioneinvestigativaantimafia.interno.gov.it/statistiche/">seizures of about €1 million</a> (£880,000). At the end of the 1990s, the average value was about €50,000.</p>
<p>This suggests that far from being in retreat, the mafia is expanding into new areas of the country, and finding more lucrative opportunities as it goes.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/198352/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Gianmarco Daniele does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Organised crime gangs appear to have realised that committing fewer murders enables them to fly under the radar more easily.Gianmarco Daniele, Assistant Professor at University of Milan and Executive Director of the CLEAN Unit on the economics of crime at Bocconi University, Bocconi UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1848352022-06-21T03:06:38Z2022-06-21T03:06:38ZA flurry of attention, then collective forgetfulness – 100 years of the ‘ndrangheta Calabrian mafia in Australia<p>In a recent media release, Australian Federal Police <a href="https://www.afp.gov.au/news-media/media-releases/afp-target-italian-organised-crime-and-money-laundering-year-operation">said</a>:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>We have about 51 Italian organised crime clans in Australia. We have identified 14 confirmed ‘ndrangheta clans across Australia, involving thousands of members.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>The ‘ndrangheta, widely considered Italy’s wealthiest and most powerful <a href="https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-3-319-32585-9">mafia</a> group, are connected with Calabria, a region in southern Italy. They have important international links with – and are sometimes in a superior position to – local groups, such as bikies.</p>
<p>A flurry of recent reporting and police comment on the 'ndrangheta may give the impression their activity in Australia is a relatively new phenomenon. </p>
<p>But in truth, the ‘ndrangheta has been successfully planting seeds into Australian society for 100 years. It is integrated into Australian society; it’s not an alien guest or recent virus. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/meet-the-ndrangheta-and-why-its-time-to-bust-some-myths-about-the-calabrian-mafia-54075">Meet the ’Ndrangheta – and why it's time to bust some myths about the Calabrian mafia</a>
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<h2>A long history</h2>
<p>The recent AFP <a href="https://www.afp.gov.au/news-media/media-releases/afp-target-italian-organised-crime-and-money-laundering-year-operation">statement</a> was celebrating first anniversary of “the overt action taken under Operation Ironside, the biggest and most significant organised crime operation” in AFP history. </p>
<p><a href="https://theconversation.com/the-most-significant-police-operation-in-australian-history-how-it-worked-and-what-it-means-for-organised-crime-162342">Operation Ironside</a> – otherwise known as operation <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-an-app-to-decrypt-criminal-messages-was-born-over-a-few-beers-with-the-fbi-162343">AN0M</a> or <a href="https://www.justice.gov/usao-sdca/pr/fbi-s-encrypted-phone-platform-infiltrated-hundreds-criminal-syndicates-result-massive">Trojan Horse</a> in the United States – involved a joint action between the FBI and the AFP that took place on June 8 last year.</p>
<p>According to the AFP <a href="https://www.afp.gov.au/news-media/media-releases/afp-target-italian-organised-crime-and-money-laundering-year-operation">statement</a>, “globally, excluding Australian statistics, more than 700 alleged offenders have been charged”, thanks to Ironside. In Australia, it said, 383 alleged offenders have been charged with 2,340 offences.</p>
<p>The recent anniversary of this joint action led to a spike in media reports about the ‘ndrangheta in Australia, with AFP Assistant Commissioner Nigel Ryan quoted as <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2022/jun/07/thousands-of-italian-mafia-operating-in-australia-federal-police-say">saying</a>:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>It’s entirely possible that people will be living next door to members of the ‘ndrangheta without knowing.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>I thought it was notable the AFP’s press release <a href="https://www.afp.gov.au/news-media/media-releases/afp-target-italian-organised-crime-and-money-laundering-year-operation">mentioned</a> 51 Italian crime groups, of which only 14 are recognised ‘ndrangheta clans; this begs the question of who are the remaining groups.</p>
<p>The AFP’s <a href="https://www.afp.gov.au/news-media/media-releases/afp-target-italian-organised-crime-and-money-laundering-year-operation">statement</a> didn’t specify, and focused chiefly on the ‘ndrangheta.</p>
<p>As someone who has researched the ‘ndrangheta for a decade – and specifically the <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/26338076211040604">Australian ‘ndrangheta</a> <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/0004865814554305">since 2014</a> – I didn’t think there was much urgent or new in the recent “revelations” tied to the anniversary of the Ironside arrests. </p>
<p>The ‘ndrangheta – also known as “the honoured society” – has operated in Australia in a structured way for at least <a href="https://www.icsaicstoria.it/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/The_Ndrangheta_Down_Under_Constructing_t.pdf">a century</a>.</p>
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<h2>The ‘ndrangheta in Australia</h2>
<p>The criminal organisation even has <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/26338076211040604">an Australian “birthday”</a>: December 18, 1922 when the ship King of Italy docked at the Western Australian port of Fremantle, then in Adelaide and then in Melbourne. It left in each of these ports one of the three founders of the ‘ndrangheta.</p>
<p>The ‘ndrangheta has capitalised on Calabrian/Italian <a href="https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/modern-italy/article/abs/undesirable-italians-prolegomena-for-a-history-of-the-calabrian-ndrangheta-in-australia/1492FB4203669F0497AC21722140B29C">migration</a> to Australia to grow and entrench its power in <a href="https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-3-319-78873-9">Australia</a>. </p>
<p>Australian institutions were quicker than their Italian counterparts to <a href="https://www.icsaicstoria.it/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/The_Ndrangheta_Down_Under_Constructing_t.pdf">recognise the specificities</a> of the ‘ndrangheta between the mid-1950s and mid-1960s. At this time, Italian authorities were largely focused on the more famous Cosa Nostra, the Sicilian mafia.</p>
<p>Australia’s approach to countering <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/0004865816652367">the ‘ndrangheta in Australia</a> tends to swing between <a href="https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-3-319-53568-5">visibility and forgetfulness</a> or <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-the-calabrian-mafia-in-australia-is-so-little-recognised-and-understood-50914">sensationalism and denialism</a>. As investigative reporter Nick McKenzie, put it:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>The history of the AFP’s policing of Italian organised crime in this country is marked by widely spruiked success, rarely mentioned failure and extended periods of malaise.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>As his <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/national/often-studied-rarely-prosecuted-how-the-mafia-gets-away-with-it-in-australia-20220609-p5asjj.html">report noted</a>, in the past 20 years alone Australian law enforcement has produced maps of ‘ndrangheta families and confidential reports about its members and activities. </p>
<h2>Drugs, political infiltration and power</h2>
<p>Much media and police focus has been on ‘ndrangheta and the drug trade (Operation Ironside is, so far, no exception).</p>
<p>Yes, the drug trade is fundamental to ‘ndrangheta wealth and power in Australia and has been for <a href="https://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/national/worlds-biggest-ecstasy-bust-how-a-google-search-foiled-aussie-tomato-tin-mafias-drug-plots/news-story/0db0ce6a9d6d61706420b975484ba7ea">many years</a>.</p>
<p>However, as outlined in my recent book, <a href="https://bristoluniversitypress.co.uk/chasing-the-mafia">Chasing the Mafia</a> and by investigative <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-07-06/calabrian-mafia-continues-flourish-despite-police-operations/6596192">reporters</a>, there is a world of political infiltration, too. Legal businesses have been born on the back of proceeds of crime, and powerful men who have a say in the Calabrian/Italian community.</p>
<p>This is less talked out, partly due to fear and intimidation but also due to consensus, friendships, and <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0004865818782573?icid=int.sj-full-text.similar-articles.1">exploitation of ethnic solidarity</a>. </p>
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<p>The ‘ndrangheta is deeply integrated into Australian society; it is a phenomenon with <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0004865818782573?icid=int.sj-full-text.similar-articles.1">many heads</a>.</p>
<p>As such, it needs a strategy that does not stop at countering drugs importation but considers, for example, the social impact of this mafia on society and the <a href="https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-3-030-48145-2">transcultural identity of Italian migrants in contemporary Australia</a>.</p>
<p>When it comes to the ‘ndrangheta in Australia, the combined knowledge of the AFP, the NSW police and the Victorian police is unparalleled. Much of this knowledge is, of course, left out of official statements. These statements have arguably one good effect: they raise the level of attention yet again.</p>
<p>But any attempt to take the ‘ndrangheta seriously requires sustained political will and resources. Swinging between a flurry of attention on the ‘ndrangheta and collective forgetfulness of the issue does not help.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/how-mafia-and-corruption-scandals-rocked-italian-football-and-left-fans-with-a-crisis-of-faith-118136">How mafia and corruption scandals rocked Italian football and left fans with a crisis of faith</a>
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<img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/184835/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Anna Sergi does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>A flurry of recent reporting on the ‘ndrangheta may give the impression their activity in Australia is relatively new. In truth, the ‘ndrangheta has been in Australian society for a century.Anna Sergi, Professor in Criminology, University of EssexLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1181362019-06-21T12:26:12Z2019-06-21T12:26:12ZHow mafia and corruption scandals rocked Italian football and left fans with a crisis of faith<p>Football could be considered Italy’s <a href="https://globalteamevents.com/soccer-in-italy-a-look-at-the-culture-and-history-of-italys-most-popular-sport/">most popular sport</a>, with world-class teams <a href="https://www.forbes.com/soccer-valuations/list/">worth billions</a> attracting <a href="https://www.pwc.com/it/en/publications/assets/docs/reportcalcio-2017.pdf">a dedicated following</a> across the country. But more than that, football shapes the nation’s <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/14660970008721268">collective identity</a>, bringing people from the smallest village to the biggest city <a href="http://www.cussoc.it/index.php/journal/article/view/37">together in their love</a> for “the beautiful game”. </p>
<p>But over the past decade, media investigations and <a href="https://www.routledge.com/Corruption-Mafia-Power-and-Italian-Soccer/Testa-Sergi/p/book/9781138289932">research have uncovered</a> an unseemly lack of virtue within the industry. Mafia infiltration and corruption have come to characterise Italian football to the point that malpractice, deviance and criminal behaviour might seem to be the norm. </p>
<p>For example, fans of one of Italy’s most successful teams, Juventus Football Club (also known as “Juve”), have been dismayed by a series of <a href="https://www.thelocal.it/20170126/top-italian-football-club-accused-of-mafia-links">corruption allegations</a>. In April 2019, the Italian Supreme Court <a href="https://www.ilfattoquotidiano.it/2019/04/19/ndrangheta-in-curva-juve-cassazione-conferma-i-clan-controllavano-gli-ultras-per-spartirsi-i-ricavi-del-bagarinaggio/5122423/">ruled that</a> Juventus managers had supplied match tickets that were touted for profit by groups of hard-core fans, known as <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/dec/01/nside-talys-ultras-the-dangerous-fans-who-control-the-game">ultras</a>, under the control of individuals linked to the Calabrian mafia, known as <a href="http://theconversation.com/meet-the-ndrangheta-and-why-its-time-to-bust-some-myths-about-the-calabrian-mafia-54075">the ‘ndrangheta</a>. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/meet-the-ndrangheta-and-why-its-time-to-bust-some-myths-about-the-calabrian-mafia-54075">Meet the ’Ndrangheta – and why it's time to bust some myths about the Calabrian mafia</a>
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<p>In an earlier case, concluded in October 2018, former Juventus player and 2006 World Cup winner Vincenzo Iaquinta <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-46048806">was sentenced</a> to two years in prison for firearms offences, in part of a larger trial concerning the infiltration of ‘ndrangheta clans in northern Italy. The footballer’s father was also sentenced to 19 years on mafia-related charges. </p>
<h2>Playing for power</h2>
<p>These incidents are not confined to one club – organised crime groups have interests at all levels of the sport. In 2018, football generated <a href="https://www.calcioefinanza.it/2018/07/26/quanto-vale-calcio-in-italia-2017-volume-affari/">€2.397 billion</a> in Italy alone – the bulk of which came from audiences, not even counting TV, sponsorship and advertising contracts. It’s obvious that an industry attracting such enormous amounts of money would make an appealing target for criminal groups that seek to accumulate profits and conceal the proceeds of crime. </p>
<p>But mafia-type groups are also <a href="https://www.palgrave.com/gp/book/9783319535678">driven by power</a>, with the aim of gaining influence through intimidation or protection and ultimately governing through violence or corruption. Criminal groups such as 'ndrangheta clans use football as a platform to boost their reputation and prestige through more or less legal activities. </p>
<p>Some clans will interfere with youth soccer associations, for example by sponsoring young players, buying or establishing teams or even “saving” them if they are in financial difficulties. A <a href="http://www.giuseppelumia.it/2014/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/17_12_13-Bozza-relazione-CALCIO.pdf">special committee</a> of the Italian parliamentary Antimafia Commission explored these occurrences throughout Italy in 2017. </p>
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<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/280189/original/file-20190619-171271-1oxnz7k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/280189/original/file-20190619-171271-1oxnz7k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=368&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/280189/original/file-20190619-171271-1oxnz7k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=368&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/280189/original/file-20190619-171271-1oxnz7k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=368&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/280189/original/file-20190619-171271-1oxnz7k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=463&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/280189/original/file-20190619-171271-1oxnz7k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=463&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/280189/original/file-20190619-171271-1oxnz7k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=463&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">The ultras of AC Milan.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/milan-italyseptember-28-2017-hooligans-soccer-726963664?studio=1">Shutterstock.</a></span>
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<p>Groups may use the leverage gained in local environments to exploit business opportunities or gain power at higher levels, too. In <a href="https://www.thelocal.it/20170126/top-italian-football-club-accused-of-mafia-links">the case of Juventus</a>, ticket touting offered clans control over a profitable market, as well as a means to exercise power over the <a href="https://theconversation.com/gunfire-streetfights-and-ultras-violence-bring-final-shame-to-italian-football-spectacle-26346">sometimes violent ultras</a>. This, in turn, boosts the reputation of the clans by demonstrating their capacity to exercise influence and control over people and territories using money and violence, if needed. </p>
<h2>Losing faith</h2>
<p>Mafia groups also use personal networks and contacts to fix match results and benefit from illegal betting networks. A famous case involving a Serie A footballer, <a href="https://thesefootballtimes.co/2014/05/06/the-mobsters-grandson-giuseppe-sculli-and-the-ndrangheta/">Giuseppe Sculli</a> – the grandson of a very prominent ‘ndrangheta boss – showed how mafia interests can be pursued through players or referees for criminal purposes. </p>
<p>In Italian football, match-fixing can occur at alarming scales. The Calciopoli scandal in 2004 eventually led to Juventus being <a href="https://www.sportskeeda.com/football/calciopoli-2006-match-fixing-scandal-juventus-relegated">relegated to the lower league</a> in 2006. During this case, <a href="http://static.fanpage.it.s3.amazonaws.com/socialmediafanpage/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/sentenza-calciopoli-motivazioni-appello.pdf">it was alleged</a> that different football players, referees and managers had created a system of corruption and sleaze which favoured the victories of certain teams, including in the Serie A. </p>
<p>Italians’ <a href="https://arenacalcio.it/2019/01/10/calciopoli-dodici-anni-dopo-secondo-moggi-e-tutto-da-rifare-con-laiuto-dei-tifosi/">faith in fairness in football</a> after the Calciopoli scandal has dropped drastically. But money laundering and fraud allegations continue to be made against those the highest level, as seen in the 2019 case concerning the <a href="https://www.ilfattoquotidiano.it/2019/01/25/palermo-calcio-zamparini-ai-domiciliari-per-falso-in-bilancio-e-autoriciclaggio-lui-una-storia-di-vergogna-per-la-citta/4923791/">former president of the Palermo FC</a>, Massimo Zamparini. </p>
<p>While the state of Italian football seems especially bleak, allegations of corruption in this industry happen everywhere. In October 2018, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/football/2018/oct/10/belgian-football-clubs-raided-fraud-match-fixing-inquiry">Belgian authorities</a> charged five people in relation to a massive police inquiry into financial fraud and match-fixing. In May 2019, <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/48431483">Spanish police forces</a> arrested a number of La Liga and second division players and club executives as part of an investigation into match-fixing. Most recently, in June 2019, former UEFA president and Juventus football star <a href="https://news.sky.com/story/michel-platini-french-football-star-detained-on-suspicion-of-corruption-over-2022-world-cup-11743932">Michel Platini was arrested on suspicion of corruption</a> over the decision to name Qatar as host nation of the 2022 World Cup – even as he serves a four-year ban from football for <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/football/2016/may/09/michel-platini-cas-appeal-ban-football">receiving a “disloyal payment”</a>. </p>
<h2>A red card for corruption</h2>
<p>There is no doubt that boosting public confidence in the fairness of football requires improved systems of governance, from the local levels to the national arenas. So it’s <a href="https://sports.abs-cbn.com/football/news/2019/05/25/fifa-restoring-corruption-ethics-code-criticism-57109">good news</a> that international governing body FIFA is set to restore the offence of corruption to its ethics code, having it removed the previous year. </p>
<p>There also needs to be better care and transparency around the enormous amount of money that the industry attracts. FIFA and national bodies – such as the FIGC in Italy, for example – need to oversee the transactions for buying and selling teams and players, make arrangements for legal betting and ensure accountability in sponsorship systems, to begin with. </p>
<p>But there also needs to be an awareness that the industry offers social and symbolic capital to mafia organisations and organised crime groups, as well as economic opportunities to “dirty” entrepreneurs. In response, bodies such as FIFA need to develop specialist knowledge and build in antidotes to corruption, while maintaining oversight and disciplinary power over the industry.</p>
<p>The football field is a meeting place for different interests and different people. It’s a space for business, but also for entertainment and competition. Leadership of such fields requires integrity, dedication and the will to work for the many – not enrich the few.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/118136/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Anna Sergi does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>High-profile cases of corruption, ticket touting and match fixing have led Italians to lose faith in the beautiful game.Anna Sergi, Senior Lecturer in Criminology, University of EssexLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1087142018-12-13T14:26:51Z2018-12-13T14:26:51ZItalian Mafia activities are expanding abroad – and European police forces are still unprepared<p>Members of the Italian mafia like to travel abroad – not necessarily for pleasure, but to make money. And the harm they are doing to European economies is often underplayed, trivialised or ignored.</p>
<p>Organised crime groups are good at exploiting business opportunities away from home. Companies set up for money laundering purposes distort European economies because their constant cash flow gives them an unfair advantage in the marketplace. </p>
<p>When I walk around London, I wonder how many of the busy nail bars, shops and restaurants are merely fronts for organised crime. For I was once told by a former member of the Neapolitan mafia: “The ambition for [an Italian] mafia member, is to go abroad, and particularly, England.” </p>
<p>They consider the UK to be an attractive destination because it is relatively easy to set up a company, and its legal system does not recognise “mafia membership” as a crime.</p>
<p>Officials are fighting back with some success, however. In December 2018, hundreds of Dutch, German, Belgian and Italian police officers <a href="https://www.thelocal.it/20181205/italy-ndrangheta-mafia-suspects-bust">arrested dozens of members</a> of the powerful Calabrian mafia, the ‘Ndrangheta, on suspicion of drug trafficking and money laundering activities across Europe. They also seized large amounts of drugs and cash from locations including Italian restaurants and ice cream parlours. </p>
<p>But is this too little, too late? Since the 1990s, there have been stark warnings of the harm Italian mafias can inflict on European countries as they exploit opportunities created by globalisation. </p>
<p>In 1991, British police based in Rome <a href="https://ricerca.repubblica.it/repubblica/archivio/repubblica/1991/11/13/londra-allarme-mafia-sono-sbarcati.html?ref=search">warned</a> of the presence of Italian mafias in the UK. Two years later, the French parliament <a href="http://www.assemblee-nationale.fr/9/dossiers/933251.asp">reported</a> on the fight against the mafia’s attempt to penetrate France. Similar warnings were being made in the Netherlands. </p>
<p>But it wasn’t until 2012 that the European Parliament really addressed the situation. The following year, Europol (the European Union Agency for Law Enforcement Cooperation) finally <a href="https://www.europol.europa.eu/publications-documents/threat-assessment-italian-organised-crime">published</a> an “Italian Organised Crime Threat Assessment”. </p>
<p>It attempted to fill the “important information gap” which exists around the activities of Italian mafias in Europe. As Europol itself <a href="https://www.europol.europa.eu/sites/default/files/documents/italian_organised_crime_threat_assessment_0.pdf">noted</a>, the “difficulty in collecting information” highlights the fact that mafias operate “under the radar” outside Italy. </p>
<p>Finally, in November 2018, Europol set up a specific operational network focusing on Italian mafia activities abroad, with the Italian Anti-mafia Police playing a <a href="https://www.europol.europa.eu/newsroom/news/new-era-dawns-in-fight-against-mafia-groups-europol-key-player-in-brand-new-operational-network">leading role</a>. </p>
<p>This is an important step in the fight against Italian organised crime. But it is worth noting that it was a step mostly driven by Italian law enforcement agencies (whose success has helped to force Italian mafiosi and their money abroad to neighbouring countries) after the initiatives of the European Parliament. </p>
<h2>Mafia moves</h2>
<p>Now their fellow agencies across Europe must develop more efficient and coordinated strategies in response. Yet there appears to be no agreement on the action needed. The European Parliament and Europol remain limited and isolated if the majority of their members still refuse to engage with the problem. As one Italian prosecutor told me:</p>
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<p>My job is to investigate Italian mafias and their activities in Italy, not when they travel abroad. If my European colleagues are not interested in following up the information I provide them with on Italian mafia suspects, I cannot do very much more.</p>
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<p>Ultimately, there is a lack of understanding across Europe about what mafia membership crime looks like – which can be difficult if you have not witnessed first hand the power of a mafia, and how it imposes itself on society, economics and politics. </p>
<p>As criminal groups travel and export their activities abroad, there needs to be flexibility around policing. Organised crime groups thrive as borders come down, whereas law enforcement agents appear to flounder when closer international cooperation is required. They become entangled in bureaucratic procedures and cultural misunderstandings. Different legal systems need to work together to avoid situations where criminals can be condemned in one country but go free in another. </p>
<p>We also need to address the lack of political will to tackle organised crime and mafia activities. European politicians engage and seek to defeat terrorism but as far as Italian mafias and organised crime go – and their ability to infiltrate legal economies and launder their proceeds of crime, made more often than not, from drug trafficking – there is no consistent political will to defeat them. </p>
<p>The recent arrests of 'Ndrangheta members across Europe can be seen as a concrete step forward. But it also highlights how far we are behind in terms of understanding and developing a coordinated European strategy to follow Italian mafia money.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/108714/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Felia Allum receives funding from the Leverhulme Trust.
</span></em></p>Working abroad can be a profitable option for members of criminal groups.Felia Allum, Senior Lecturer in Italian and Politics, University of BathLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.