Facilitating the Italian Mafia: The Grey Zone of Complicity and Collusion

ABSTRACT Despite structural and operational differences, Italian mafias share an ability to expand and infiltrate global economies whilst remaining rooted within their local territory. They are not only the product of specific socio-economic and political conditions but also of the extensive complicity on which they can count. It is this fertile ‘grey zone’ of mafia relations with accomplices identified as enablers, facilitators, sponsors and helpers that is analysed here. Engaging with the existing literature and using a range of new judicial sources, including evidence from mafia trials, this article develops in-depth case studies to identify and examine the hidden face of Italian mafias.