5 ms·

I wonder what the state of the mafia is these days. Referring to the Wikipedia article[1], the five families are still a thing in New York. [1]: https://en.wik

I wonder what the state of the mafia is these days. Referring to the Wikipedia article[1], the five families are still a thing in New York. [1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Five_Families#Original_and_current_Five_Families_bosses https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Five_Families#Original_and_cur...

paganel 7y ago
Not sure about the US but unfortunately it is still a thing in Italy, especially the 'Ndrangheta. This is an article from 2014 [1] but even so, back then they said that 'Ndrangheta had a turnover of €53bn, and I can imagine it did only go up in the meantime. The bad thing is that it has "captured" most of Northern Italy, too, or at least according to what I have read online and in the papers (I'm not from Italy myself), and it also has a strong European presence: Germany, Eastern Europe [2] etc. [1] https://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/mar/26/ndrangheta-mafia-mcdonalds-deutsche-bank-study https://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/mar/26/ndrangheta-maf... [2] https://linx.crji.org/2019/08/30/bio-mafia-care-producea-in-romania-asociata-cu-ndrangheta/ https://linx.crji.org/2019/08/30/bio-mafia-care-producea-in-...
- saiya-jin 7y ago
  I can't find the article now, but basically Ndrangheta ended up so effective and successful in black money laundering, all other bad actors (drug cartels, other mafias, any bad guys) are using them for a fee. They are definitely in eastern/central Europe, in Slovakia government was toppled recently because its close ties to it, and because investigative journalist writing about it was executed with his fiancee. Mostly milking off EU subsidies, but whatever else gets the money, they want in, or they are already there. I can't imagine easy way out of that situation, government capture was pretty effective. Election change few faces but underlying flows mostly remain the same.
- woodpanel 7y ago
  Re: Germany Stuttgart seems to be one of the mafia's strongholds in Germany. Just last year one famous local Stuttgart "restaurateur" got convicted, as the Italian Carabinieri uncovered that he was the southern German bridgehead for the 'Ndrangheta. He was dubbed the "celebrity chef" as the rich and famous frequented the one restaurant he actually owned quite often, including soccer players and elected officials. Even after mafia allegations existed for decades. [1] Germany is often considered to be their backyard. Relatively wealthy. Even small villages will have enough italian food demand to sustain one of your restaurant/money-laundering-fronts. And a generally unsuspecting public and administration. The last one being a pain in the neck for Italian law enforcement. Many grandees of Italian mobs thus seem to live under fake identities more or less unbothered in northern Germany. After reunification they bought vast strips of coastal property in the former communist part of Germany for cheap. [1] https://www.stuttgarter-nachrichten.de/inhalt.mafia-und-die-justiz-mafia-urteil-gegen-stuttgarter-promi-wirt.af300a2d-a511-4bc1-b305-6a25394a735a.html https://www.stuttgarter-nachrichten.de/inhalt.mafia-und-die-...
ainiriand 7y ago
Southern Spain is packed with russian mafia. https://www.propublica.org/article/fighting-russian-mafia-networks-in-spain https://www.propublica.org/article/fighting-russian-mafia-ne...
- anthk 7y ago
  Without opening the link: Andalucia, right? And maybe Valencia.
wefarrell 7y ago
In NY they siphon money from construction jobs and I've heard they control the carting (private waste disposal) business. Supposedly they took a lot of money from the ground zero cleanup after 9/11.
- seanalltogether 7y ago
  Last thing I read was that they exert control on things in construction that are time sensitive. Concrete mixers for example have to be loaded at a station with very specific measurements and then delivered to the site within a specific amount of time.
- philwelch 7y ago
  Is that why it's so expensive to fix the subways?
jasonlotito 7y ago
They are also up in Montreal, Canada.
rabuse 7y ago
South Florida is home to a lot of the Russian mafia. You see them a lot in the night scene.
slumdev 7y ago
James Comey's "A Higher Loyalty" touches on the mafia briefly. It's interesting.
coliveira 7y ago
The mob is still big on construction and related activities, mainly in NYC. They even have a powerful friend in the WH: https://www.cityandstateny.com/articles/politics/news-politics/trumps-mob-connections.html https://www.cityandstateny.com/articles/politics/news-politi... http://trumptrophy.com/index-3.html http://trumptrophy.com/index-3.html

paganel 7y ago

Not sure about the US but unfortunately it is still a thing in Italy, especially the 'Ndrangheta. This is an article from 2014 [1] but even so, back then they said that 'Ndrangheta had a turnover of €53bn, and I can imagine it did only go up in the meantime. The bad thing is that it has "captured" most of Northern Italy, too, or at least according to what I have read online and in the papers (I'm not from Italy myself), and it also has a strong European presence: Germany, Eastern Europe [2] etc. [1] https://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/mar/26/ndrangheta-mafia-mcdonalds-deutsche-bank-study https://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/mar/26/ndrangheta-maf... [2] https://linx.crji.org/2019/08/30/bio-mafia-care-producea-in-romania-asociata-cu-ndrangheta/ https://linx.crji.org/2019/08/30/bio-mafia-care-producea-in-...

saiya-jin 7y ago
I can't find the article now, but basically Ndrangheta ended up so effective and successful in black money laundering, all other bad actors (drug cartels, other mafias, any bad guys) are using them for a fee. They are definitely in eastern/central Europe, in Slovakia government was toppled recently because its close ties to it, and because investigative journalist writing about it was executed with his fiancee. Mostly milking off EU subsidies, but whatever else gets the money, they want in, or they are already there. I can't imagine easy way out of that situation, government capture was pretty effective. Election change few faces but underlying flows mostly remain the same.
woodpanel 7y ago
Re: Germany Stuttgart seems to be one of the mafia's strongholds in Germany. Just last year one famous local Stuttgart "restaurateur" got convicted, as the Italian Carabinieri uncovered that he was the southern German bridgehead for the 'Ndrangheta. He was dubbed the "celebrity chef" as the rich and famous frequented the one restaurant he actually owned quite often, including soccer players and elected officials. Even after mafia allegations existed for decades. [1] Germany is often considered to be their backyard. Relatively wealthy. Even small villages will have enough italian food demand to sustain one of your restaurant/money-laundering-fronts. And a generally unsuspecting public and administration. The last one being a pain in the neck for Italian law enforcement. Many grandees of Italian mobs thus seem to live under fake identities more or less unbothered in northern Germany. After reunification they bought vast strips of coastal property in the former communist part of Germany for cheap. [1] https://www.stuttgarter-nachrichten.de/inhalt.mafia-und-die-justiz-mafia-urteil-gegen-stuttgarter-promi-wirt.af300a2d-a511-4bc1-b305-6a25394a735a.html https://www.stuttgarter-nachrichten.de/inhalt.mafia-und-die-...

ainiriand 7y ago

Southern Spain is packed with russian mafia. https://www.propublica.org/article/fighting-russian-mafia-networks-in-spain https://www.propublica.org/article/fighting-russian-mafia-ne...

anthk 7y ago
Without opening the link: Andalucia, right? And maybe Valencia.

wefarrell 7y ago

In NY they siphon money from construction jobs and I've heard they control the carting (private waste disposal) business. Supposedly they took a lot of money from the ground zero cleanup after 9/11.

seanalltogether 7y ago
Last thing I read was that they exert control on things in construction that are time sensitive. Concrete mixers for example have to be loaded at a station with very specific measurements and then delivered to the site within a specific amount of time.
philwelch 7y ago
Is that why it's so expensive to fix the subways?

jasonlotito 7y ago

They are also up in Montreal, Canada.

rabuse 7y ago

South Florida is home to a lot of the Russian mafia. You see them a lot in the night scene.

slumdev 7y ago

James Comey's "A Higher Loyalty" touches on the mafia briefly. It's interesting.

coliveira 7y ago

The mob is still big on construction and related activities, mainly in NYC. They even have a powerful friend in the WH: https://www.cityandstateny.com/articles/politics/news-politics/trumps-mob-connections.html https://www.cityandstateny.com/articles/politics/news-politi... http://trumptrophy.com/index-3.html http://trumptrophy.com/index-3.html