Italian mafia shifts focus to corruption, West Africa and Albanian links gain prominence
5512 Mins Read
Italy’s organized-crime syndicates are increasingly focusing on corruption and infiltration of the legal economy and less on violence, according to a report to parliament by the National Anti-mafia Investigative Directorate on its activities in the first six months of 2023.
The report said the mafias have been adapting to social and economic changes for some time and have “replaced the use of violence, which is increasingly residual, although never repudiated, with strategies of silent infiltration and acts of corruption. “Today the mafias prefer to direct their attention to business-entrepreneurial spheres, taking advantage of the huge capital accumulated through illegal activities”.
West Africa increasingly important stop for the ‘ndrangheta clans
“In recent years, even West Africa has become an increasingly important stop for the ‘ndrangheta clans for their trafficking operations. Specifically, Ivory Coast, Guinea-Bissau, and Ghana have become crucial logistical bases for the narcos. Recently, Libya has also been added to these countries,” highlights the Semi-Annual Report on the activities carried out by the DIA during the first six months of 2023.
“Similar considerations apply to the United States and Canada,” it is added, “where the criminal infiltration of the ‘ndrangheta now appears complete, as demonstrated in recent years by police operations in the field of international drug trafficking.”
Albanian Organizations: Dangerous and Well-Structured”
“Albanian criminal organizations exhibit high danger and a strong impact on illegal activities, particularly with reference to drug trafficking.” This is what emerges from the Semi-Annual Report on the activities carried out by the DIA during the first six months of 2023. “These are well-structured groups supported by a strong solidarity component, as they are reinforced internally by family ties,” it is emphasized. “Albanian organizations have proven to be particularly adept on an international level, as well as capable of directly negotiating with South American cartels for the importation of large quantities of cocaine from traditionally producing countries.
In this regard, many anti-drug operations conducted in various Italian regions have confirmed the operational synergies between Albanian organized crime and local criminal groups.” The report also explains that “the modus operandi employed—now also judicially confirmed—sees these transnational criminal organizations transporting numerous migrants of various ethnicities (mainly Iranians, Pakistanis, Iraqis, Egyptians, Syrians, and Afghans) from the Albanian coasts to Italian territory via powerful rubber boats and sailing vessels, through the Strait of Otranto.”
