In partnership with L’Obs. Available at kiosks or in the online shop, the special edition “The Power of the Mafia”.
On May 3, a large-scale police operation nicknamed “Eureka” was carried out in Europe against suspected members of the ‘Ndrangheta: 150 searches and more than a hundred arrests in eight different countries (Italy, Germany, France, Spain, Portugal). , Slovenia, Romania and Belgium). This is the largest operation against the Calabrian mafia. The investigation focused on “drug trafficking, arms trafficking, fraud and various large-scale tax crimes.” This operation demonstrates the power and territorial expansion of the ‘Ndrangheta, which was able to diversify its activities to make profits in multiple markets, including in the legal field. It is now considered one of the most powerful and dangerous mafia organizations in the world, having replaced the Sicilian Cosa Nostra and the Neapolitan Camorra.
Although the ‘Ndrangheta is the target of large-scale arrests and media trials, it still appears to be resisting the overthrow of some of its members. It would therefore differ from other criminal organizations in that there are no major media leaders under attack: it is not a unified structure dependent on a summit, but rather several families agreeing on common goals and are relatively horizontally coordinated.
What place does the ‘Ndrangheta occupy in the European mafia landscape today? How did this organization, founded in one of the poorest regions of Italy, gradually expand its networks across Europe (and beyond)? Is conquering new territories and new “markets” a priority for you?
Focus – In Calabria, civil society is trying to resist the mafia
The ‘Ndrangheta seem to hold their native region of Calabria with an iron fist. However, certain parts of civil society are trying to resist this, in particular through a strategy of reappropriating confiscated property, transforming it into property that serves the community. This is the case of land in the Gioia Tauro plain confiscated from mafia families and redistributed to an agricultural cooperative by the anti-mafia network Libera.
These associations point to the failure of the state, which, through its disinvestment, provides opportunities for the mafia to intervene in communities.
For further :
Clotilde Champeyrache, Geopolitics of Mafias, Le Cavalier Bleu, 2022.
Julie Déléant, Victor Le Boisselier, “In Calabria, the kingdom of the Ndrangheta, the heroes of the anti-mafia are tired”, L’Obs, 2023.