HALF-YEAR REPORT
2st half of 2022

The Report on the activities carried out and the results achieved by the Direzione Investigativa Antimafia in the second half of 2022 has been published. The Report, which was submitted by the Minister of the Interior, analyzes the mafia-style organized crime phenomena referring to the second half of 2022.

The Report gives an overview of the criminal scenario with an emphasis on the development and transformations of mafia-style organized crime groups, making use of charts that outline the evolutionary trends of the main organized crime groups – as ascertained by the investigations concluded by the DIA and the law enforcement agencies – and gives an account of the information contained in the orders requesting the dissolution of local government authorities.

Moreover, the Report focuses its attention on the resilience of organized crime groups and their capacity to immediately seize the opportunities offered by the technological and economic-financial changes at the global level. They are capable of exploiting any opportunity for profit and remarkably increasing their speculative trading, also making use of the technological means linked to the metaverse, the encrypted communications platforms and the web in general (both the Internet and the dark web), as well as of other less known digital tools.

The Report highlights the core role played by international cooperation, encouraging to use of the important project of the @ON Anti-Mafia Operational Network, which was increased further by the data coming from the encrypted communications platforms seized by many foreign authorities, which were provided by EUROPOL. Based on these data it was possible to trace back the wide criminal dynamics developed by well-structured and widespread crime groups not only in the European Union.

The report has a specific FOCUS on encrypted communications platforms and another FOCUS on Albanian organized crime groups, which over the time have integrated into the domestic crime groups becoming – not only in Italy – one of the most complex and  multifaceted crime groups. They act as partners and provide criminal services to other groups thanks to the reputation of being highly reliable, above all in the drug trafficking field.

*** Senate of the Republic

Abstract English version2