Mafia Capitale: corruzione e regolazione mafiosa nel mondo di mezzo

The inquiry Mondo di mezzo uncovered a new criminal Roman organisation, named «Mafia Capitale». The judiciary wanted to define it as a mafia in its own right, by applying art. 416 bis of the Italian Penal Code which until now has exclusively used only for the groups by the most well-known mafias of the South. It has opened a wide public debate about the concept of new mafias, with reference not just on the expansion of older mafias (the groups that moves away from the South Italy), but into the genesis of new criminal organisations that demonstrate typical mafia characteristics. At the heart of this debate, in this essay we attempt to reconstruct «Mafia Capitale» as a large network of social cooperatives that penetrates (through intimidation and corruption) public administration and public-private companies to get tenders in the management of migrant reception centres. Here a process of marketisation is carried out in a context of de-regulation and emergency, generating an opaque «market of migrants». Without adequate controls, this market has led to a licentious mix among public and private dealings, where it is then difficult to draw a line between what is legal or illegal. In this frame, the Roman mafia is capable of networking with entrepreneurs, politicians and public administration officials in order to obtain significant expansions in the management of the migrant reception centres.