Italy is increasingly relying on the confiscation of illegally collected property in the fight against the mafia. For example, assets worth € 2.7 billion were confiscated from organized crime this year. 5,166 real estate, corporate interests and vehicles were confiscated, Interior Minister Luciana Lamorgese reported today in front of the Parliament in Rome.
1,119 ex-mafiosi who have decided to cooperate with the judiciary and 4,257 relatives are under police protection. The government is helping police invest in new technology to make the investigation more efficient, Lamorgese said.
Strongest criminal organization in the world
The Ndrangheta, the mafia in the southern Italian region of Calabria, is the strongest criminal organization in the world, which is also firmly anchored in the rest of Europe and in South America. She controls the global drug trade and invest the resulting income in the „legal economy,“ the minister reported. This organization is also strongly present in northern Italy.
The Sicilian Cosa Nostra is less strong than before, as several prominent bosses have been arrested. However, she remains „dynamic and dangerous“. The Camorra, the mafia in the metropolitan area of Naples, is also strong thanks to its extensive interests in drug and arms trafficking, extortion, fraud involving EU funding and illegal waste disposal, said Lamorgese.
