Italian authorities have seized assets worth more than €200 million from a network linked to the 'Ndrangheta, the Calabrian mafia. The operation, coordinated by the European Union Agency for Law Enforcement Cooperation (Europol), marks a significant escalation in the continent's fight against organised crime. Homes, businesses, and luxury vehicles were confiscated in raids across Italy, with additional property frozen in Spain and Portugal.
The seizure targets the Morabito clan, one of the most powerful families in the 'Ndrangheta, which controls much of Europe's cocaine trade. Police say the assets were accumulated through drug trafficking, extortion, and money laundering. The operation involved hundreds of officers and drew on intelligence shared through Europol's European Financial and Economic Crime Centre.
For families in the impoverished regions of Calabria, the mafia's grip on daily life is both a curse and a crutch. Unemployment is high, and the 'Ndrangheta offers jobs in legitimate businesses, from construction to catering. But these enterprises are fronts for illegal profits. The state struggles to convince people that severing these ties is worth the short-term pain.
Europe's crackdown is raising the stakes. The European Commission has proposed new rules to harmonise anti-money laundering laws across member states. A new EU authority, the Anti-Money Laundering Authority (AMLA), will oversee the bloc's financial system. The message is clear: the days of laundering dirty cash through shell companies and property markets are numbered.
But critics argue that the assets seized are a fraction of the mafia's annual revenue, estimated at billions. They say law enforcement must go after the economic and social roots of organised crime: poverty, corruption, and weak institutions. For now, though, the operations offer a glimpse of what can be achieved when police work across borders. The money seized will be reinvested in local communities, a small step towards breaking the cycle of crime and deprivation.
