Cosa Nostra has always extorted local municipalities, at no point in its existence did it not. Even in the 1980s when it was a global powerhouse as some of you like to claim.
There are plenty of post-2010 articles that show that Cosa Nostra has global reach and assets all over the world. As far as reports from the DIA and other Italian law enforcement groups, they all contradict each other. They can't make their minds up. One moment they're saying it's weakened if not dead the next it's a sophisticated, global, invisible criminal monster.
That's the problem with these overly-generalized claims and exaggerations, nothing is ever true across the board. Which is why it's best to focus on the mob on a case-by-case basis. They like to talk about the Ndrangheta being the most powerful crime syndicate, but not every Ndrangheta clan is powerful. Some are barely past the status of a street gang. Others are immensely powerful.
