Hazel Inglis/ 10/6/08/ 5:56pm/ global crime
The mafia is alive and well in Italy. The Calabrain mafia, known as ‘Ndrangheta, is becoming the largest and most powerful in Italy. They are like a ‘liquid mafia’ in that they seep into everything. ‘Ndrangheta is all about family and relies on relatives that are scattered throughout Australia, Canada, and Mexico. Some estimate that there are as many as 10,000 members of ‘Ndrangheta, and with family loyalty makes them dangerously distinctive when compared to other mafias.
It is estimated that the ‘Ndrangheta has annual revenues of $55 billion to $70 billion and drug trafficking accounts an estimated 62 percent of their illegal profits. They have been placed on the United States’ list for narcotic kingpin organizations and over the past two decades have put Italy at the heart of the global cocaine market. ‘Ndrangheta does not limit themselves to drugs, they also participant in extortion, prostitution, construction contracting and waste management.
The mafia is very interesting to me. They are usually very much family based and so well connected. The governments in their home countries are aware of then but have no power over them. They have their hands in all types of jobs and income. They have been around for a very long time and I believe they will be around for a long time to come.
www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-mafia_spolarjul
1 comment:
Thats pretty interesting considering my father was born in that region of Italy. I used to ask him when I younger about the Mafia and if it really existed and he told me yes and how bad it was for the rest of the families living in fear. I had no idea to what extent they are alive and working. The man power behind it is absolutley amazing, and the fact that government has no idea on how to control it. I really just had not idea about cocaine, and families in Australia. I guess it really is all about networking!
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