Review: Gomorrah: A Personal Journey Into the Violent International Empire of Naples' Organized Crime System

Gomorrah: A Personal Journey Into the Violent International Empire of Naples' Organized Crime System by Roberto Saviano
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

The Camorra (here spelled "Gomorrah") is an Italian Mafia-type crime syndicate which arose in the region of Campania and its capital Naples. It is one of the oldest and largest criminal organizations in Italy, dating back to the 17th century. Unlike the pyramidal structure of the Sicilian Mafia, the Camorra's organizational structure is more horizontal than vertical. Consequently, individual Camorra "clans" act fairly independently of each other. This book explores much of that clan structure, which contribute to making this crime syndicate unique.

The Wikipedia Camorra article lists the following crimes typical of this organization:

* Racketeering
* drug trafficking
* waste management
* murder
* bid rigging
* extortion
* assault
* smuggling
* illegal gambling
* terrorism
* loan sharking
* prostitution
* money laundering
* robbery

I think all of these are touched on here, with special attention to infiltration of cement (construction) and garbage industries. It sounds like whole square miles of southern Italy as well as China are being polluted and turned carcinogenic by these practices. While this is appalling enough, I feel something not listed there deserves its own entry: Italy's Mob-controlled counterfeit fashion industry. From this book:

The workforce in clan operations is highly skilled, with decades of experience under Italy's and Europe's most important designers. The same hands that once worked under the table for the big labels now work for the clans…Which means that the clothes made by the clans aren't typical counterfeit goods…but rather a sort of true fake. All that's missing is the final step: the brand
name, the official authorization from the motherhouse.

This is also done in cahoots with Chinese partners and while intriguingly leading off the book, it does not get sufficient treatment later on and is probably worth its own book.

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