Mafias Beyond Borders
Mafie Sotto Casa was born from the need to see and understand mafia phenomena, thanks to the reports and signals we receive from the territory and its inhabitants.
But just as we were opening a window onto the mafia in Emilia-Romagna first and then in Tuscany, we realized that many threads of police investigations and operations started “on our doorstep” and ended up “on the doorstep” of many people in other countries, both inside and outside Europe.
From Barcelona to Rotterdam, from Antwerp to Frankfurt, through South America and the United Arab Emirates, mafias have taken root throughout Europe and the entire world.
This is the origin of the international map, which broadens our view to mafia manifestations beyond Italian borders.
Legend
Click on a topic and read more
Murders and violent crimes
Some might say that in Emilia-Romagna there are no murders committed by the mafia but this isn’t true at all. When the mafia shoot, they rarely miss.
Operations and arrests
Arrests for mafia related crimes are now very common. Emilia-Romagna has become used to being awoken by the sound of police sirens.
Court trials
They’re only a few but they are remarkable. In Emilia-Romagna we’re currently hosting many ongoing major trials because of the mafia.
Compulsorily residing individuals
Coerced stay was a way to keep a dangerous subject away from his territory, in order to restrict his contacts with his fellows. they were forced to live in another Italian region, controlled by the forces of law and order. This preventative measure was abolished in 1995.
Investigations into environmental crimes
Mafia related crimes often have a strong impact on the environment. Mafia operates in many fields like waste management, disposal of inert material, construction, agricultural production and renewable energies.
Companies involved in mafia-related activities
Many companies in Emilia-Romagna have been excluded from the White list, which is a list of suppliers and companies which are not involved in crimes or influenced by mafia issues and are eligible to enter into public contracts.
Municipalities dissolved or under investigation
This happens when the Council’s decisions and actions might be or have been strongly influenced by criminal organizations, In these cases, the Prefecture considers the option of dismissing the local government, replacing the administrators with a team of commissioners who must restore the order.
Threats to journalists and local officials
Too often journalists and local administrators are threaten by the mafia if they refuse to submit to them. The Mafia’s favourite ways to warn them are aggression, damage to property, legal action against them, blackmailing etc.
Special surveillance individuals
Special surveillance is a preventative measure for those who have been declared a danger to public safety, even if they haven’t been convicted yet or at all. For this reason they are constantly supervised by a judicial authority.
Arson attacks
This is one of the mafia’s favourite ways of intimidating and warning people. They usually set fire to construction sites, earth-moving machinery, vehicles.
Confiscated assets
What are they? They’re apartments, lands, bank accounts. In other words, confiscated property is any kind of movable or immovable asset, confiscated after a final sentence. Those properties must be given back to the community.
For those who want to explore the topic further, you can start with these documents and projects.
The Direzione Investigativa Antimafia (Anti-Mafia Investigation Directorate) publishes a report every six months on the evolution of the mafias. Here you can find the chapter from the 2023 report (2nd semester) dedicated to the most recent updates on the expansion of Italian organized crime in the world.
Some of the journalists and experts interviewed by MafieSottoCasa for the #microfonoinmano (#micinhand) column have a deep knowledge of the topic: find the interview with Petra Reski here and the interview with Amalia De Simone here.
Amalia De Simone, among other things, curated an investigative journalism project in Europe in 2021. It’s called MafiEuropa and you can find all the content here.
Europol, the European agency that promotes cooperation between the police forces of Member States, published a mapping of the most dangerous criminal networks in 2024.
This analysis report contains statistics and infographics related to the activities, composition, methods of operation, and spread of the main criminal groups present in Europe.
The Global Initiative is an organization of analysts that updates the Global Organized Crime Index. It is an interactive and navigable map featuring information and data related to the presence of organized crime in every country of the world.
The website also offers a ranking of the world’s countries based on the presence of mafia-style organized crime (in which Italy appears in sixth place, between Venezuela, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Libya, and Mexico).
Here you can find the latest edition of the analysis report that accompanies the map.
Discover the latest news from the International Press Review we have gathered.