Mafia Expansion

Federico Varese is a professor of criminology and Official Fellow of Linacre College, Oxford University. Previously, he taught at Williams College and Yale University. His main areas of research are organized crime, corruption, Soviet criminal history, and the dynamics of altruistic behaviour. His book, "The Russian Mafia" won the Ed Hewitt Prize of the American Association for the Advancement of Slavic Studies.

DW-WORLD:DE: According to Italian interior minister Giuliano Amato, the six killings in Duisburg are linked to the ongoing San Luca clan feud. Italian anti-mafia prosecutor Pietro Grasso has said that such killings being carried out on non-Italian soil is unprecedented. What is the significance of the killings?

Federico Varese: Among the mafia in Italy -- and we just did a study on the reporting on various Italian criminal groups in Italy in the media -- the ‘Ndrangheta is the one that is usually under the radar. It has always been the one that has been able to avoid major scrutiny from the media so it kept a very low profile. So it’s a big step to do such a high profile murder in a different country especially.

Obviously it raises the alarm in Germany as well. So in that sense, it’s quite a departure from what we have seen before. But of course they (‘Ndrangheta) have killed prominent politicians before. They are ruthless and in a sense they see this just as a continuation of what they do at home. But I think from our point of view, from the point of view of the public at least, it really raises the bar.

Do these recent killings in Duisburg indicate that ‘Ndrangheta has expanded into Germany, or might it simply be the case that some of these people were in Germany to escape mafia feuds back home in Calabria?

What we know is that there is a lot of money laundering going on among the ‘Ndrangheta in various countries in Europe. Germany is one of those. So I don't think these murders show anything really except that they are taking the violence outside of their home territory.

Earlier, they ('Ndrangheta) might have done money laundering in different countries but now it seems they are sort of expanding to violence in their activities abroad. That's quite significant.

What interests might ‘Ndrangheta have in Germany?

I think this is a general issue about so-called money laundering. In some ways you could think that money laundering is not such a terrible crime because it’s a way to inject money into the economy, although it is a crime under most laws, but it’s obviously different from hard core crime like murder.

But I think what it (the killings) highlight is that one might follow the other. So once we allow proceeds from crime to seep into another economy or part of Europe where they come from, say drug money or extortion money into Germany from Italy, it does not mean that is the end of it. It might mean that the next stage is actually somehow the rooting of the group into this territory. So I guess this is the lesson, the general point, that comes out of this instance.

Your research has focussed on why the ‘Ndrangheta was able to successfully expand into Bardonecchia in Piedmont but not Verona. What are the conditions that allow ‘Ndrangheta, to transplant itself to some places and not others?

Most observers would point to migration as the main element that allows this expansion to occur. Migration of people from the same territory might be a factor that helps transplantation. However, Italians and people from Calabria, from Southern Italy, from Sicily, have migrated to many, many parts of the world and there was no mafia. So it's not as if everywhere Italians migrate there is mafia – that would be a really big misconception.

I think in addition to migration, there are some local conditions that allow these local groups to become entrenched. Some of the conditions we have observed in northern Italy, such as in Piedmont, was that they were able to corner certain markets through the use of violence.

What is most extraordinary about the town of Bardonecchia, just outside Turin, is that the town has a very, very different social and cultural makeup from southern Italy. It was a place where people would trust each other and feel safe, but there were social and economic conditions that allowed the ‘Ndrangheta to move there.

One of these was connected to the state business and the construction business. Some of the Calabrese that had been working in the construction business were connected to the mafia. These people helped to create cartels of firms that were connected to Calabria and cornered the market so they used violence to prevent other firms to enter this market.

It was a combination situation because there was a demand for their services -- some people actually benefited from their presence. The firms that were allowed to enter this very lucrative market were very happy. And some of the workers, somewhat illegal workers, who were not legally registered with the trade unions in particular also were happy because they found employment -- when they couldn’t find jobs in the big industries in Turin, like Fiat.

So there was a lethal combination of some people of the economic elite who found advantages in having the ‘Ndrangheta, and some workers and this is what explains why the ‘Ndrangheta was successful in becoming entrenched in this part of Italy. That's what Germany has to look out for -- make sure that these organizations don’t have the possibility to corner markets and eventually to generate some sort of support for their presence.

Is it possible for ‘Ndrangheta to recreate conditions like those in southern Italy in Germany?

In principle yes. It depends on the local markets and how careful the political elite, the police and the judiciary and various other institutions of authority are to make sure that there is no access to these markets. But there are some special markets which are more easily penetrated by organized crime -- construction is typically one of those markets. Special attention must be paid to these markets.

In principle, it is possible that the ‘Ndrangheta does move up one step from simple money laundering to becoming entrenched in the German economy. And this is the most dangerous situation, ever, you can imagine. A German construction firm wanting to enter the market and prevent its competitors from entering it, might actually benefit from having their presence.

Obviously these guys (the 'Ndrangheta) have a reputation for violence, an ability to use violence and have shown how much they can use violence in this instance. That's how they build up their reputation. So next time around, if I am a German entrepreneur and someone with a Calabrian accent comes around and says, 'get out of this market or I’ll punish you,' I’ll be more inclined to believe him and move out.

Given the worldwide presence of ‘Ndrangheta can we expect more of these clan wars or feuds to be carried out internationally?

That’s hard to tell. I think the feud in particular will certainly continue in San Luca if this is the reason behind (the killings). They must have felt really confident about carrying out this operation in Germany.

They must have been able to have intelligence on the ground. I don’t think the ‘Ndrangheta has this level of intelligence everywhere. But obviously they must have had it in this town (Duisburg) because how would you know that these people were going to that restaurant? How would you know they were the right ones coming out at that time? How would you know where the one you are looking for is?