Mafia tightens grip on Italian agriculture, report claims

摘要

Thousands of farmers across Italy are struggling to keep their businesses afloat in the face of extortion, usury and theft by organised criminal gangs, according to a new report from the Italian Farmers Confederation (CIA). The document details a catalogue of criminality affecting more than 350 000 farmers and forcing the closure of some 25 000 farms over the past five years. Presenting the report, CIA president Giuseppe Politi said as many as 240 crimes are committed in the farm sector every day, earning organised criminals around 50 billion a year. Until recently, the phenomenon was largely limited to southern Italy, but the report -produced in association withFondazioneHumus - says crime has recently been "spreading like wildfire" throughout thecountry. Crimes range from theft of equipment and farm vehicles, to protection rackets, illegal hiring of farmer workers and counterfeiting of food products. Illegal slaughter, fraud against the European Union and the theft of livestock also contribute to what the report describes as illegal control of the food chain, from production to distribution.