Nicaso talks about the "cyberbanging" of the 'Ndrangheta. «Seek consensus on social media»
The university professor, a guest of Unical, outlined the historical change of the Calabrian clans. "Essential intelligence to counter them"
Posted on: 26/02/2023 – 7:30



"The fourth revolution of mafia organizations" is the title of the lecture that Antonio Nicaso, essayist and university professor among the leading international mafia scholars, held at the Masters in Intelligence of the University of Calabria, directed by Mario Caligiuri, Nicaso has outlined the path of historical change of the mafias, deepening the current ability to relate with professional categories to enter the financial markets, but also exploiting the opportunities offered by social media. He then focused on the narration of the mafias from their origins: highlighting that today we are witnessing an involvement of the mafias in what has been defined as the fourth revolution. Today, the mafias have become a money laundering holding on the financial market, thanks above all to the proceeds of drug trafficking.


Antonio Nicaso
The mafias currently have great interests in every continent, using the dynamics of globalization. For this reason, their contrast requires more and more the use of advanced technologies and outstanding skills of operators in the sector, just as interceptions are irreplaceable. "The fourth revolution - underlined Nicaso - led to the modification of criminal strategies, with the use of cryptophony, dark web markets, online gambling". Even the most traditional of the mafias, the 'Ndrangheta has long been seeking consensus on social networks to attract new blood, but also to enhance the behavior and living standards of those who have enriched themselves with the proceeds of criminal activities. A strategy, common to many other criminal organizations, which in North America has been renamed "cyberbanging".
However, it is wrong to think that the mafias have operated in the shadows in the past. In fact, they also distinguished themselves in their clothing, as the distinguishing marks had always been well known. The mafias create links, based on the commission of the same crimes. This is the case of other subversive organizations including terrorist ones. From the aesthetics of violence to the use of symbolic systems and slang, the communication strategy of the mafias has always been very effective. This shows how necessary the contrast is, for which intelligence plays a very important role. With the extension of the digital space, the mafias are increasingly hybrid, widespread, ramified, dangerous. It is therefore necessary to anticipate its moves, defining the territorial borders canceled by globalization and introducing more incisive laws,
The university professor then highlighted that in the international context, investigations into mafia-type criminal organizations often consist exclusively in the exchange of information and data. It is appropriate to create task forces, such as the one set up by Interpol at the instigation of the Italian state police to hit the mafias even far from their territories of origin, where they often invest the proceeds of drug trafficking. In this regard, he recalled that Italy was a leader in the fight against the mafias in Europe and in the world. And he called for a greater involvement of other countries in the fight against the mafia, but above all against mafia capital. ( Italpress )