Eavesdropping on the Mob: the functional diversification of Mafia activities across territories

Abstract

How do Mafias operate across territories? The paper is an in-depth study of the operations of a Neapolitan Camorra group. It relies on a unique data set of contacts manually extracted from the transcripts of phone conversations wiretapped by the police. The data show that the clan is indeed involved in the production and supply of extra-legal protection, but only in its territory of origin. The expansion abroad followed the lines of a functional diversification: branches were created to carry out specific activities but no large-scale international alliances were forged. The strategies underpinning the group’s operations differ greatly across territories. Overall, the clan is still highly dependent on the territory of origin. Finally, the paper argues against the concept of ‘transnational organized crime’ and proposes a new taxonomy that better accounts for the ways in which Mafia groups choose to operate outside their territories of origin.