Italian policemen patrol in Torretta near Palermo in 2007. The Italian mafia, the country's organised crime network and biggest enterprise, has not been affected by the global economic crisis, a report by an Italian business association said Tuesday.(AFP/File/Marcello Paternostro)
Italian Mafia Untouched By Global Economic Crisis:
Business Group -- Yahoo News/AFP
Business Group -- Yahoo News/AFP
ROME (AFP) – The Italian mafia, the country's organised crime network and biggest enterprise, has not been affected by the global economic crisis, a report by an Italian business association said Tuesday.
The mafia has a turnover of 130 billion euros (163 billion dollars) -- surpassing any other Italian enterprise in 2008 -- and a profit approaching 70 billion euros, said the report by Confesercenti, a group of 270,000 businesses specialising in the tourism and service sectors.
"Unlike other businesses, the mafia has been little affected by the international economic and financial crisis," the report said.
That fact makes the mafia "even more dangerous," said the association's president Marco Venturi.
He said the mafia could use the current weakness in other businesses and the uncertainty in the economy to boost its position.
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