As Italy struggles to pull its economy through the coronavirus crisis, the Mafia is gaining local support by distributing free food to poor families in quarantine who have run out of cash, authorities have warned, reports the Guardian.
In recent weeks, videos have emerged of known Mafia gangs transporting basic goods to Italians hit hard by the coronavirus emergency opposite the poorest southern regions of Campania, Calabria, Sicily and Puglia.
“For over a month, shops, cafés, restaurants and pubs have been closed,” Nicola Gratteri, anti-mafia investigator and head of the prosecutor’s office in Catanzaro, told the Guardian. “Millions of people work in the grey economy, which means that they haven’t received any income in more than a month and have no idea when they might return to work. The government is issuing so-called shopping vouchers to support people. If the state doesn’t step in soon to help these families, the mafia will provide its services, imposing their control over people’s lives.”
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