PODCAST:More or Less: Behind the Stats
TITLE:How much money do the ‘Ndrangheta mafia make?
DATE:2024-01-06 00:00:00
URL:
MODEL:gpt-4-gizmo
The January 6, 2024 episode of the BBC's "More or Less: Behind the Stats" podcast, titled "How Much Money Do the 'Ndrangheta Mafia Make," addresses the question of the annual turnover of the Italian mafia, particularly the 'Ndrangheta gang. The episode, hosted by Parisha Kedale, delves into an estimate that suggests the 'Ndrangheta's annual turnover is 53 billion euros, a figure that reportedly surpasses the combined revenues of Deutsche Bank and McDonald's.
To verify this claim, the podcast features insights from two experts: Professor Anna Sergi from the University of Essex, an expert on the 'Ndrangheta, and Professor Francesco Calderoni of Universita Cattolica del Sacro Cuore and the Transcrime Research Centre. The 'Ndrangheta is described as a decentralized and transnational mafia organization involved in various criminal activities, including drug trafficking, extortion, and theft.
The 53 billion euro figure, which originally comes from a 2013 report by the Italian research company Demoscopica, is critically analyzed. Professor Calderoni expresses skepticism about this estimate, pointing out that the entire European illegal drug market is estimated at around 30 billion euros, which makes the 'Ndrangheta's supposed share implausibly high. He also refers to the National Institute of Statistics' estimates for illegal activities in Italy, which suggest a much lower total figure for all criminal activities in the country.
Professor Calderoni provides his own estimate, calculated through research focusing on nine different criminal activities. The research estimated the wider criminal economy in Italy to be in the range of 30-40 billion euros per year and attributed a portion of this to the mafia based on the intensity of mafia presence in different regions. The overall revenue attributed to all Italian mafia groups was estimated to be around 10 billion euros per year, with the 'Ndrangheta's share being approximately 3.5 billion euros.
In conclusion, while the podcast cannot entirely disprove the 53 billion euro claim, there are strong reasons to believe it is an overestimation. A more plausible annual turnover for the 'Ndrangheta is likely in the range of 3 to 4 billion euros.
