from open violence to corruption and penetration of the upper world

After being on the run for thirty years, mafia boss Matteo Messina Denaro is in Italy arrested, the head of the Sicilian cosa nostra. He ordered some of the most gruesome murders in Italy. The mafia has changed a lot in thirty years. Now mafia clans operate underground as much as possible.

The 1980s and early 1990s were extremely bloody in Italy. Messina Denaro was involved in numerous murders, including those of anti-mafia magistrates and police officers. Mafia clans operated openly and violently, particularly in Sicily.

“Palermo was a war zone. There was a corpse on every street corner,” says researcher Laura Peters of the University of Groningen, who studies Italian mafia legislation. “Mafia violence has increased since the 1960s. Families and clans openly fought each other,” says Peters.

Mafia groups became involved in a wide variety of crime, including drug and arms trafficking, extortion and murder. They also maintained close ties with politicians and players in the legal economy. This allowed them to enjoy a measure of impunity.

Here’s a look back at the murders that shocked Italy in the 1990s:

The nadir of the open struggle, among themselves and against the government, was the murder of the investigating judges Giovanni Falcone and Paolo Borsellino in 1992. Their deaths were in response to the increasing anti-Mafia legislation in Italy, which had been initiated in the 1980s.

Then the state began to take nationwide action against the excessive violence. In the 1990s, that struggle intensified. Many prominent Mafia members were arrested and convicted, including Salvaore ‘Totò’ Riina, then leader of the cosa nostra.

“The new anti-mafia legislation made mafiosi realize that they had to become invisible,” says Peters. “If they were caught, they would face hefty prison sentences.” Membership in a mafia organization alone carries a minimum sentence of 10 years. Messina Denaro decided to go into hiding during that period.

“Historically, you see the mafia adapting quickly to circumstances,” says Peters. In the 19th century they were influential in agriculture. In the 20th century, they extorted shopkeepers and restaurateurs by asking for ‘protection money’. Now that has moved on.

Instead of using open violence, organized crime today focuses more on gaining influence and power through corruption and economic crime. That was the conclusion Anti-Mafia Investigation Directorate (DIA), the investigative arm of the Italian government that monitors the activities of the mafia. Mafiosi interfere in the legal economy, in sectors such as construction and healthcare.

The mafia is also targeting new online technologies. For example, organized crime is active in cybercrime, online fraud and bitcoin trade – writes the DIA. The Italian central bank estimates that 2 percent of gross domestic product comes from mafia activities.

The fact that the Mafia has become less visible has advantages and disadvantages, says Peters. “There are fewer deaths on the streets. Life has become calmer. But the invisible mafia connections can completely destroy and disrupt economic sectors. They get a grip on the economy and gain a monopoly. As a result, they destroy the legal economy. That is in the long term a major problem for society.”