Organized Crime Pays in italy

Organized crime represents the biggest segment of the Italian economy, accounting
for more than $127 billion in receipts, according to a report issued Monday.

The new figure reflects a trend that has been under way for a few years, the
annual report says. The figure last year was $106 billion, making it not quite the
biggest segment of the economy.

The report also said the line between legitimate business and criminal activity
was becoming harder to discern.

The annual report was released by the Confesercenti, an association of small
businesses. It says that through various activities extortion, usury, contraband,
robberies, gambling and Internet piracy organized crime accounts for 7 percent of

Italys gross domestic product.

From the weaving factories, to tourism to business and personal services, from
farming to public contracts to real estate and finance, the criminal presence is
consolidated in every economic activity, the 86-page report said.

The report also points to a disturbing trend of collusion in which big businesses
participate, especially in public works. The businessmen prefer to make a pact
with the Mafia rather than denounce the blackmail, the report said.

The report comes on the heels of a visit to Naples by Pope Benedict XVI on Sunday,
when he condemned deplorable mob violence that he said had insinuated itself into
everyday life.

Recent news reports have described threats to journalists in Sicily and the
Campania region from organized-crime families.
Usury represents the most lucrative activity by organized crime, with syndicates
taking in $43 billion while racketeering brings in $14 billion, the report
estimated. Illegal construction nets about $19 billion.

The businesses most afflicted by organized crime are in the south in Sicily,
Campania, Calabria and Puglia, the report found.

The report says 80 percent of the businesses in the Sicilian cities of Catania and
Palermo regularly pay protection money, known as pizzo.