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"When you ask about the different Mafia methods, perhaps in the 1980s I could have drawn up a list: They're going to set up a very specific clientelistic exchange, etc. Whereas, now, they don't need to do that because they're already there. They have the political contacts, and they have the businessmen in place, so they just have to be the invisible partner. They don't have to do anything spectacular, and that's when it becomes more difficult to trace. It's not necessarily these criminal families going into local councils, shooting everybody, and saying, 'Give us the contracts.' It's much more subtle. They've managed to impose themselves on specific markets, perhaps by previously using violence, corruption, or lending money to companies in need, but they're now an established force. They don't need to do anything particularly Mafia-like."Rather than threats in dark rooms, accidents on building sites, and briefcases bursting with bills, the modern Mafia employs more business-like tactics. Instead of images of The Godfather, a better analogy might be the Panama Papers. Massive, billion euro businesses hiding their influence and money in a complex web of companies until you're unable to tell where the legitimate economy ends and the illegitimate begins. With reconstruction and profiting from earthquakes, Dr. Allum suggests this infiltration comes from a slightly surprising source: cement.It's not necessarily these criminal families going into local councils, shooting everybody, and saying, 'Give us the contracts.' It's much more subtle.
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