Investigating the Dangerous New Mafia taking control in Italy | Foreign Correspondent
4,367,417
Published 2020-03-17
The mafia is one of Italy’s most famous international business brands, with an estimated annual turnover of $250 billion a year. But its market share is being challenged by a group of ruthless new players.
Foreign Correspondent’s Emma Alberici investigates the growing power of Nigerian organised crime in the birthplace of the Italian mafia.
The director of Italy’s anti-mafia agency says Nigerian crime gangs are organised and dangerous:
“It has many similar traits to Italian mafia – its oaths, its sense of belonging, the capacity to coerce, the code of silence…even the local mafia fear them.”
Specialists in trafficking humans for sexual slavery and drug running, the Nigerians are now being allowed to run their operations in return for giving the Italian mafia a cut.
A former prostitute, trafficked from Nigeria, tells us:
‘There’s no pity. If you misbehave…or you can’t continue anymore, they will bring their gun and shoot you.’
We investigate the two main hubs for Nigerian organised crime in Italy.
North of Naples, Alberici visits Castel Volturno, an almost lawless coastal town, abandoned by the local Camorra Mafia and by the state. Here, the Nigerian Mafia is left alone to use this once “Mafioso Riviera” as a hub for its European operations.
In Sicily, the mafia’s birthplace, we go undercover to expose prostitution and drug houses and catch up with the man named by investigators as one of the Nigerian Mafia’s kingpins.
At a secret location, we speak to Roberto Saviano, one of the world’s most famous Mafia whistle-blowers. He lost his freedom 13 years ago after revealing the sordid workings of the Camorra mafia in Naples.
Now living under permanent police guard, Saviano explains the role Nigerian organised crime plays in Italy’s homegrown mafia.
To stay silent, he says, is to be complicit.
About Foreign Correspondent:
Foreign Correspondent is the prime-time international public affairs program on Australia's national broadcaster, ABC-TV. We produce half-hour duration in-depth reports for broadcast across the ABC's television channels and digital platforms. Since 1992, our teams have journeyed to more than 170 countries to report on war, natural calamity and social and political upheaval – through the eyes of the people at the heart of it all.
Contributions may be removed if they violate ABC’s Online Terms of Use www.abc.net.au/conditions.htm (Section 3). This is an official Australian Broadcasting Corporation YouTube channel
All Comments (21)
-
Hey everyone, thanks for watching! Emma has responded to your questions here, sorry for the delay, Emma was busy making the following weeks program on Coronavirus in Italy and we didn't have the time to go over these in our usual schedule, apologies. AngyNags Q: Those ladies that went under cover for you (and since you have disclosed their appearance in this video), I hope you took them out of italy for their safety before releasing this video A: We only sent one older Nigerian woman to work undercover for us. We never actually showed the woman's face who did the undercover work for us. We also didn't reveal her name. ER's Lab Q: Please do a better job of concealing the identity of your confidential resource persons A: The young African man we spoke to who had recently been released from jail was entirely disguised - his name, his voice and his location. CY Mora Q: Why these journalists showed the face of that girl, Joy Ezekiel? Quite irresponsible to put someone on such a risk just to have more publicity! A: Joy Ezekiel lives with a group of nuns who have saved more than 600 trafficked women and their 80 babies. Two of them have now gone public with their stories. They want the world to know what has happened to them. Joy was keen to tell Foreign Correspondent her story and specifically asked not to be disguised. She is also currently writing a book. Joy has more recently also travelled to Rome to meet with the Pope during a religious conference to spread the word about the plight of trafficked women. Joy has now been invited to present her story to the United Nations. Joy's captors are now facing trial. She has been working with police. Allan Mena Q: WHY THEY DO NOT JUST DEPORT ALL THESE MAFIA OUT OF ITALY? A: Like with the home grown Italian mafia, authorities are finding it difficult to locate the kingpins of the criminal networks. It is thought that those in charge came to Italy in the 80s and 90s and are, by now, Italian residents. The foot soldiers carrying out the wicked tasks of smuggling women into the country and sending them out on to the streets to work are often undocumented migrants themselves. They live in the shadows and Italian police most often can't find them. Women who have been trafficked rarely turn their captors in to police for fear of retribution. Tassos Platis Q: What are Nigerians doing in Italy in the first place? I'm so confused.... A: Africa is very close to Italy. In fact, the Sicilian island of Lampedusa is closer to Libya than it is to mainland Italy. Migrants seeking to settle in Europe often use Italy as their transit country. j_t Q: Unfortunate sistuation, much cruelty/misery. How can government abandon part of their own country? A: Castel Volturno was abandoned by all levels of Italian Government back in the late 1980s when some of those responsible for the 800,000 square metres of illegal developments were arrested. Each election cycle all sides of politics promise to help rehabilitate the city but the cost of doing so becomes too prohibitive.
-
I always believe that no MAFIA or CRIMINALS organisation can rule or survive without help of political connection/ support or some corrupt police support
-
“Has the Italian mafia met its match?” Pure comedy right there.
-
“Has the Italian mafia met its match?” You can almost hear the Sicilian mobsters laugh their asses off when they heard that.
-
In the documentary: ”Have the italians met their match” Also in the documentary: ”the nigerians pay the italians to operate there” lol
-
As a Ghanaian immigrant living in Naples, I feel so ashamed of this act. I think it's about time the Italian government begin to fish all these mofos out and deport them. You can't go to someone's land and act as if you own the whole place. Nobody does that
-
Nigerians are not even allowed to pick tomatoes without permission from the “Camorra” !
-
Not a mafia. More of a gang then anything. Mafia has connections in all aspects of society.
-
This is so heartbreaking for me as my grandparents live in Palermo and througout my childhood and as a teenager I always went to Balarò market with my Nonno and I never expected it to be like that during the night, nowadays I live outside of italy but it is still touching the problems this once-glorious-place is dealing with :(
-
This beautiful woman had a horrifying life... There are no words. She is so strong. Hope her life is now better.
-
28:18 When she said "life goes on" , I can feel her. May u have a peace throughout your life. God bless you dear sister.
-
I wish the young lady a great future and happiness with her shop and studies, one has to have a deep rooted courage to do what she has done .
-
Just coming to this in 2024. I am English, living in Ireland and have recently become an ardent follower of ABC documentaries and reporting. Thank you for the terrific work you do. This story, showing the growth of foreign mafias in Italy, has been a real eye opener and is clearly an enormous challenge for the authorities. I wish those women who have managed to break free, every success and hope many more will join them. Thank you for bringing this story to the wider world.
-
A true Christian pastor does not deal in blood oaths and all of that occultic voodoo rituals, let alone betray people and send them into sex slave, etc. That is horrible.
-
I don't know if anyone at ABC is reading these comments, but I recently found the channel and I am thoroughly enjoying them. Excellent job
-
Emma - thank you for the work that you do. What an eye-opening story.
-
"To be silent is to be complicit."
-
oh man the keyboard warriors defending the honour of an italian mafia they've never interacted with in their life are so cringy
-
I'm so glad joy managed to get out. I wish her the best.
-
Excellent documentary! You have a new subscriber! PS Great respect for the filmakers, the reporters and above all Ms Ejekiel, Mr Saviano & Mr Genovese !
