Last month, Italian police arrested the head of the largest, and most profitable mafia
in Italy.
And while chances are you’ve never heard of the ‘Ndrangheta family, their yearly
revenue is estimated to equal 3% of Italy’s GDP.
Some may think that nowadays the mafia only exists in Godfather reruns, but organized
crime around the world brings in a ton of cash, and wields significant influence.
So how powerful is the mafia and who are the main players?
Well, the most powerful mafia group in the world is generally considered to be the Japanese
yakuza.
Particularly, the pre-WWII Yamaguchi-gumi syndicate; which reportedly boasts nearly
35,000 members, and in 2014 it was estimated to bring in nearly $80 billion a year.
Like other mafias, they deal in gambling, prostitution, extortion, and above all, drugs.
35% of their income is said to come from drug trafficking in Japan.
In 2012, the United States imposed sanctions on Yamaguchi-gumi’s top leadership as part
of a transnational crime crackdown, which included other powerful criminal groups around
the world.
In Russia, a relatively new mafia from the 1980s, known as the Solntsevskaya Brotherhood,
is considered the most dangerous, and largest group of the numerous Russian mafias, with
membership in the thousands.
Due to the post-Soviet rise of criminal Russian oligarchs, the Brotherhood is especially influential
because of their ties with top government officials.
A Wikileak document revealed that they are even protected by the post-KGB security agency,
the FSB.
Their primary sources of revenue are money laundering, drugs, and car theft.
The most famous mafia is Cosa Nostra out of Sicily.
But despite their well-known status, much of their top leadership is behind bars, and
suspected members are closely watched.
As a result, by the late 1990s, most of Cosa Nostra’s connections had been transferred
to the ‘Ndrangheta family, including their extensive drug trade.
Today, the ‘Ndrangheta controls 80% of the cocaine imported into Europe.
A 2013 crime study estimated that the various Italian mafias collectively brought in $33
billion dollars.
According to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, transnational criminal activity
accounted for nearly a trillion dollars worth of revenue in 2009, or 1.5% of the global
GDP.
There are a large number of active and interconnected mafia-type organizations, with different hierarchies,
spheres of influence, and dangerous repercussions.
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