Facts about Italy: Mafia is big business

Facts about Italy presents th most notorious criminal organization in the world, Mafia
Revenue from organized crime, amounts to an amazing $127 billion annually in Italy, making it the largest segment of the Italian economy,the latest report which was published yesterday said. The figure, which represents approximately 7% of the country's GDP, is made from illegal activities such as extortion, loansharking, drug trafficking, and prostitution. In recent years, business lobbies have launched campaigns to increase awareness of the extent of organized crime in Italy, which they say limits investment in the country, but they were not very successful. Organized crime is particularly developed in Sicily, Naples and the southern regions of Calabria and Puglia.


Tano Grasso, head of Italy's antirackets commission, said on the national TV, that for every 100 foreign investors who will come to Italy, only one will establish business in the southern Italy. One of the biggest problems is so called "pizzo," as extorted "protection" money is known. Many businessmen in southern Italy have long considered it as "a must" expense. A business lobby of industrialists in Sicily recently said, that it will expel any member who will pay the "pizzo."But this proposal has been met with the violent resistance. Some merchants, factory owners and industrialists who have denounced extortion attempts by mobsters, have seen their businesses torched or company vehicles damaged. A small number of businessmen have also been killed for refusing to pay protection money.

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