NCJ Number
210492
Journal
European Journal on Criminal Policy and Research Volume: 10 Issue: 4 Dated: 2004 Pages: 257-283
Date Published
2004
Length
27 pages
Annotation
This analysis of Italian and foreign organized crime groups involved in the illegal drug market focuses on the main changes that have occurred since the early 1990s in Milan, Florence, and Naples, which are located in northern, central, and southern Italy, respectively.
Abstract
Using data on drug trafficking and sales from Italy's Central Antidrug Bureau as well as recent court records, the analysis addresses the permanence of old criminal actors and new foreign immigrant arrivals. The study of local drug markets in the three cities shows the various criminal positions held by foreigners, who have become increasingly involved in the illegal Italian drug trade since the early 1990s. The analysis found that in areas with a traditionally strong Mafia presence, such as Naples, Italian and foreign criminal actors involved in high-level drug trafficking can be clearly distinguished in terms of operational abilities and the extension of criminal networks available to both groups. In Milan and Florence, on the other hand, where there is not a strong traditional Mafia presence, there has been a progressive involvement of foreigners in important positions in the international drug trade, often supplying Mafia groups and negotiating with them on an equal footing. Still, foreign criminal groups are much less able than indigenous Mafia associations to establish links with corrupt political, law enforcement, and banking personnel in facilitating their drug operations. Alternative future scenarios for the comparative involvement of foreign and native organized crime groups in Italian drug trafficking are projected. 6 tables and 56 references