Mafia Math: Calculating Italian organized crime’s illicit income http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/bl...-illicit-income

Great article,as always.

it's impossible to calculate... i read police seized 1 billion from messina denaro alone so he should be very rich

In January 2010, police seized construction companies, villas, shops and vehicles worth some 550 million euros from a western Sicilian construction magnate, Rosario Cascio, believed to be one of the main bankrollers and money launderers for Messina Denaro. Together with 700 million euros in assets taken from supermarket magnate Giuseppe Grigoli at the end of 2008 and 200 million euros from construction tycoon Francesco Pecora in November 2009. In total 1.4 billion euros have been seized, which is seen as a clear reminder of the deep-rooted economic power of Messina Denaro.

In September 2010, police seized a record amount of assets worth 1.5 billion euros from a Sicilian businessman Vito Nicastri accused of working with Messina Denaro. He had invested in wind and solar energy sources, as a way of laundering money

I gotta say, just going off seizures and assets forfeitures, these estimates seem a little low, although I will say I suspected the Naples clans earnings were bigger than the he Cosa Nostra, based off fashion and drugs...

calderoli seems to downsize the estimates in order to not glorify the mafia... he also said mafia has not a monopoly in drug market when it is clear it controls the whole drug market in southern region and a big part of the northern ones...

Those assets seized represent wealth amassed over time. The figures quoted represent annual turnover. And I find them more believable than the astronomical figures we see. And that goes for the Italian Mafia as well as other OC groups.

i also don't believe astronomic figures but the calderoli'ones seem too low...probably the truth is in the middle

Yes, they make hundreds of millions with flipping luxury real estate in Rome alone.

@Ivey

I might agree with you, if it were ONE clan. I've read about the DiLauro, Prestieri, Contini, Mallardo, Nuvoletta, Mazzarella, Licciarddi, LaTorre , all the Casalesi clans like Schiavone, DeFalco, The Cavas and Grazianos with their construction empires..... Even some of the SUB-Clans are powerful like the Nettuno and Polverinos.

Ivey, have you ever really read up on Sicilian families like the Grados? They were lieutenants of the Bontade-Inzerillo click, and we're STILL billionaires off heroin.

You're saying one clan could take in $10 billion a year?

Nobody is saying these clans aren't wealthy and powerful. But the figures in this latest study appear more realistic and closer to the trurh than the astronomical estimates by other studies.

i can believe these estimates anyway, i read that sicilian mafia makes 1,2 billion annually with extortion racket... i think these estimates underestimate incomes from gambling, construction companies, fruit and vegetables markets, waste disposal, that in south italy are monopolized by the mafias... the mafia runs also a big part of public works, if we add these earnings it's possible they can take 30 billiona a year

According to Eurispes (European Institute of Political, Economic and Social Studies) in Italy.

43 billions the ndrangheta alone? i don't believe it it's too much

Did u saw this article:

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/mar/26/ndrangheta-mafia-mcdonalds-deutsche-bank-study

I have no idea how they are getting this numbers,its way too much.

I know those turnovers of drug trafficking are way to high, because Europeans annually spend 24 billion on illegal drugs. A large part of that money flows to the Netherlands not Italy.

http://www.parool.nl/binnenland/nederland-is-europees-kampioen-drugshandel~a4279064/

netherlands drug market is by far smaller than italian one so it's logic that a big part of that money flows to italy

Netherlands and Spain make the most money from drugs there are the wholesalers not only Italians also, Eastern Europeans, British, Irish and Dutch organisations. From there its distributed across Europe.

it depends on the drug... cocaine it is mostly stocked in spain and distributed across europe...heroin passes usually through italy and balkans, weed is mostly produced in italy and netherlands, meth is produced in netherlands, hash is also stocked in spain and distributed all across europe

In the link I posted they talk about this year's EU report on the European drug market.
If you read it you may think that the Netherlands is a kind of narco state like Mexico and Colombia. Not only are the Netherlands the biggest drug producer in Europe, it is also the main hub for the global trade in cannabis, cocaine and heroin.

spain is only a transit point most of cocaine is imported by italian mafias directly linked with colombians and the money is not invested in spain, the same for netherlands it is the biggest ecstasy producer and the second biggest weed produced after italy but only a transit point for other drugs

Have you seen the show Gomorrah? They show one of the bosses owning tons of buildings and crap in Spain. I know it's a show bust still

Drug markets: estimating financial value
Illicit drug markets are complex systems of production and distribution that generate large sums of money at di erent levels. A conservative estimate values the retail market for illicit drugs in the European Union at EUR 24.3 billion in 2013 (likely range EUR 21 billion to EUR 31 billion). With an estimated retail value of EUR 9.3 billion (likely range EUR 8.4–12.9 billion), and responsible for about 38 % of the total, cannabis products account for the largest share of the illicit drug market in Europe. is is followed by heroin, estimated at EUR 6.8 billion (EUR 6.0–7.8 billion) (28 %), and cocaine at EUR 5.7 billion (EUR 4.5–7.0 billion) (24 %). Amphetamines occupy a smaller market share, estimated at EUR 1.8 billion (EUR 1.2–2.5 billion) (8 %), ahead of MDMA, at almost EUR 0.7 billion (EUR 0.61–0.72 billion) (3 %). These estimates are based on very limited data, which has necessitated some broad assumptions, and hence must be viewed as initial minimum estimates that need revision in the future, as the information underpinning them is improved.

http://www.emcdda.europa.eu/system/files/publications/2637/TDAT16001ENN.pdf#page13


So, they are low-balling the drug thing a little?

It's true, the Italians (and other groups) invest heavily outside their own country mostly in real estate. In Brussels the 'ndrangheta owns an entire neighborhood and they have substantial real estate holdings across Europe.

Couple question on the marijuana...




How much of the product you guys think is export? (From Amsterdam)I know those coffee shops must do tremendous business.

I didn't know Italy produced so much weed. Is Holland the British Colombia (High grade indoor) to Italy's California?( High grade outdoor)