MESTRE (ITALPRESS) – The annual turnover of the Italian mafias is around 40 billion a year; a figure practically worth two points of GDP. If we make a purely theoretical comparison that, however, allows us to “size up” the scope of the phenomenon, the turnover of the crime industry turns out to be hypothetically in fourth place at the national level, after that recorded by Eni (93.7 billion), Enel (92.9 billion) and Gestore dei Servizi Energetici (GSE) (55.1 billion). This is stated by the Cgia’s Studies Office, stressing that the figure is certainly underestimated, as it is not possible to measure even the income attributable to the infiltration of these entities into the legal economy. By virtue of data held by the Bank of Italy’s Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU), it has been possible to map the number of businesses in Italy that are potentially contiguous to organized crime contexts. In addition to the reports received, the FIU also cross-referenced information exchanges acquired from the National Anti-Mafia Directorate and the Judicial Authority. Thanks to this mix of data, it was possible to survey at least 150,000 businesses that could potentially be controlled by or linked in various ways to mafia-style criminal organizations. Analyzing the territorial spread of companies in “mafia odor,” according to the Cgia’s analysis, the businesses most at risk are those found in large metropolitan areas. In Naples, for example, they would be nearly 18,500, in Rome just over 16,700 and in Milan close to 15,650. About 34 percent of at-risk businesses nationwide are concentrated in these three geographic areas. They are followed by Caserta with 5,873 enterprises, Brescia with 4,043, Palermo with 4,016, Salerno with 3,862, Bari with 3,358 and Catania with 3,291. The criminal areas in which mafias do business are numerous. Among the main ones are drug trafficking, arms trafficking, illegal waste disposal, public contracts, illegal betting, gambling, usury, cigarette smuggling and prostitution. Among the activities carried out by these criminal syndicates, extortion is the most profitable, and the victims of this crime are, almost exclusively, entrepreneurs. In recent years, extortion is one of the few crimes that has seen a sharp increase in the number of complaints. In fact, over the past decade, crimes reported by the police to the judicial authorities for extortion have increased by 66.2 percent, while the total number of all crimes reported has dropped by 19 percent, from 2.89 million in 2013 to 2.34 million in 2023. Particularly in the North, Dia points out, the extortion phenomenon is spreading without resorting to explicit threats anymore, let alone the use of violence, but seeking a kind of “complicity” with the victims, imposing, for example, the hiring of personnel or providing other types of services/supplies. Or, proposing “shared” solutions to businesses with mutual benefits. In overall terms, the South with 3,877 is the geographical breakdown with the highest number of complaints in 2023; followed by the Northwest with 2,945, the Center with 2,573 and the Northeast with 2,043. Again in the same time frame, among the provinces, however, the most important growth variations involved, in particular, Bolzano with +362.5 percent, Belluno with +330 percent, Verbano-Cusio-Ossola with +311.1 percent, Benevento with +278.6 percent and Ferrara with +257.1 percent. Finally, in absolute value, the Metropolitan City of Rome has the highest total amount of complaints in 2023 with 1,204. It is followed by Naples with 836, Milan with 769, Turin with 474 and Bologna with 296.
(ITALPRESS).
-Photo: Ufficio Studi Cgia-
Mafias fourth largest industry in the country, business for 40 billion year
