Understanding criminal mobility: the case of the Neapolitan Camorra

Abstract

Italian mafias are now present and active abroad, and many national legal economies are undermined by their activities. The American government responded to this threat in 2011 by introducing an 'executive order' that blacklisted the Camorra's (the Neapolitan mafia) activities in the United States. Recently, there has been a growing debate on criminal mobility and, in particular, why, when and how Italian mafiosi move out of their territory of origin and expand into new foreign territories. Recent literature suggests that Italian mafias change their behaviour across territories and will succeed in 'transplanting' when there are emerging new markets. This article examines some brief case studies of camorristi in Europe to discuss these concepts of mafia mobility; and it concludes by suggesting that there is no 'one size fits all' analysis and that more attention should be paid to the interdependence of territories.

A tale of reverse deviance: non-compliant spatial practices in the land of Gomorrah

“…For my part, I contend that, being territoriality such a distinctive feature of mafia-like organisations (Paoli, 2003;Campana, 2011;Varese, 2011;Allum, 2014), territories should not be regarded just in ecological terms as stated by most criminological accounts concerning the environment. Rather, they should be acknowledged as social spaces taking actively part to the cultural construction of the aforementioned grey zone and, therefore, of the mafia social power.…”

“…Among the non-economic features that distinguish these criminal networks from other forms of organised crime, territoriality, intended as both the functional bond and the cultural attachment of mafia groups to their places of origin, stands out as one of the most relevant. Even if involved in transnational crime, mafia groups always set up headquarters in their home territories, seeking social consensus and political leverage for securing a large stake in the local governance (Allum, 2014;Martone, 2014). As for Italian mafias, the societal dimension that ties them to their home territories has proven to be so prominent to be taken also into account by the law.…”

“…Because territoriality is of great importance for mafia-like organisations (Paoli, 2003;Campana, 2011;Varese, 2011;Allum, 2014), I adopted a spatial perspective for my research, arguing that the sociology of space may add an original contribution to the topic: spatial practices of people coping with organised crime in their daily life can serve as a privileged point of observation to account for the mafia social power. The present study is an ethnography of a reterritorialisation process located in the surroundings of Caserta, which territories have been notoriously tyrannised by the Camorra (Varese, 2009).…”

The Italian mafias in the world: A systematic assessment of the mobility of criminal groups

“…Scholars often express scepticism about these accounts (Campana, 2013;Gachevska, 2012;Sarno, 2014). Studies acknowledge that the groups restrict activities typical of territorial control to home territories (for example, private protection, extortion racketeering, loan-sharking, and infiltration in politics) (Allum, 2014;Campana, 2011;Europol, 2013a;Savona and Sarno, 2014;Savona, 2012: 12). In fact, the mafias' foreign presence is associated with the drug trade, money laundering, and infiltration in the legal economy (Campana, 2011).…”

“…Other scholars distinguish between push and pull factors, namely, factors driving criminal groups away from or to a place, respectively. Push and pull factors may stem from market, ethnic, or criminal environment elements (Allum, 2014;Morselli et al, 2011).…”