'Ndrangheta: Difference between revisions

The 'Ndrangheta is a criminal organization in Italy centered in [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Calabria Calabria] (near [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sicily Sicily]). Despite not being as famous abroad as the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sicily Sicilian] Cosa Nostra, and having been considered more rural compared to the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Naples Neapolitan] [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Camorra Camorra] and the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apulia Apulian] [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sacra_Corona_Unita Sacra Corona Unita], the 'Ndrangheta managed to become the most-powerful crime syndicate of Italy in the late 1990s and early 2000s (decade). While commonly lumped together with the Sicilian Mafia, the 'Ndrangheta operates independently from the Sicilians, though there is contact between the two, due to the geographical proximity, and shared culture and language of Calabria and Sicily. A US diplomat estimated that the organization's [[Illegal Drug Trade|drug trafficking]], [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Extortion extortion] and money-laundering activities accounted for at least 3 percent of Italy's [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GDP GDP].<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-cp130111_1-0">[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%27Ndrangheta#cite_note-cp130111-1 ]</sup>Since the 1950s, the organisation has spread towards the north of Italy and worldwide.