https://www.lequotidien.lu/international/la-mafia-sinstalle-en-europe-de-lest/Mafia settles in Eastern Europe
The mafia begins to spread its tentacles in Eastern Europe after gangrene the economic or social fabric in other European countries where it acts as cancer cells, says an expert.
The presence of the Italian mafia in Germany, France or Spain is known for a long time, but now it turns to the countries of Eastern Europe, members of the European Union, explained in a interview Colonel Carabinieri Cristiano Tomassi of the National Directorate of Anti-Mafia Investigations (DIA).
In early March, the Slovak police released seven Italians arrested after the murder of a journalist who was investigating corruption in connection with the Italian mafia. "They are going more and more to the countries of the East. A recent operation touched a clan that had invested in Romania, in construction companies, hundreds of apartments, Spa, a heritage of 250 million euros was seized, "says the expert in the fight against mafia .
"Mafiosos reason as economists: growth rates, development prospects, are certainly higher even than those of a prosperous Germany. Investigations in Slovakia (...) have shown the presence of the men of 'Ndrangheta', the mafia of Calabria, "whose objective was to take advantage of community contributions," he continues. The mafia brews incredible amounts of money because of the margins it has on drug trafficking and the various seizures give the measure. "During Operation Gambling (in Calabria in 2017) we sequestered a wealth of about two billion euros created in the field of illegal gambling, online games. This seizure included capital, companies, 1,500 betting rooms, many real estate, "said Colonel Tomassi.
These financial means then allow mafia to expand their territory. At the end of March, the Austrian and Italian police authorities dismantled a network of traffickers who supplied arms to a clique of the Neapolitan mafia, the Camorra, while in December there were 90 mafia linked to the 'Ndrangheta, the Calabrian mafia, which were arrested in six different countries.
Being mafia, "it's forever"
Evoking the case of entire neighborhoods bought in various European cities by the mafia, but he has not identified, he explains in a pictorial way the danger represented by this phenomenon. "Why does it seem that in these neighborhoods nothing is happening, they are quiet? Because there is a strong mafia control but it is not a virtuous control, it is like a cancer that progresses and where there is a cancer there is no more life, "he explains. . Admittedly, petty crime no longer exists, "but the healthy economy either," adds the specialist.
In its latest semi-annual report on the mafia, the DIA stresses that the latter "pollutes the financial and credit circuits, disrupts competition and the smooth functioning of markets by using instruments that are foreign to the world of legal entrepreneurs. black and the subtraction of financial income from the tax levy ". When there is an economic crisis, as has been the case in recent years in Europe, the mafia succeeds in infiltrating even more easily.
"Mafiosos look for small entrepreneurs in difficulty, those who have problems getting a loan from a bank that asks for guarantees, etc. The mafia lends the money and from then on, the business is over, it sooner or later passes under the mafia who continues to climb into its capital (because of its usurious rates) until to oust the owner, "continues the senior officer. "No honest trader, Dutch, French, German, will ever be able to compete with such a force," warns the expert. "When you're a mafia, it's forever. It's a lifestyle choice, we decide to marry a lifestyle, an idea, and that's what makes the difference with simple organized crime. "
LQ / AFP
