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Criminals have long discovered agriculture as a lucrative business field. A new study from Italy outlines the extent.
The Mafia. The word alone brings to mind protection money, drug trafficking, and mafia clans. Don Corleone sends his regards. But the picture is incomplete. The Mafia's structures have long reached into agriculture as well. In Italy's agriculture and food industry, criminal networks are heavily involved. On May 20, Coldiretti, Italy's largest farmers' association, together with the research institute Eurispes, presented a new report on agrarian mafia. The result is alarming: within ten years, the business volume controlled by criminal structures in the agricultural and food sector has nearly doubled. The volume now stands at 25.2 billion euros. This is no small matter: Germany Trade&Invest reported in April 2024 that Italian agricultural production increased by 1.4% in 2024, reaching a volume of 74.6 billion euros.
This is a worrying development that should not leave German farmers indifferent. Where agricultural markets function globally, organized crime does not stop at national borders. The agrarian mafia is now more than just an Italian problem. It exemplifies a silent but growing threat to the entire European agriculture: illegal labor relations, money laundering, food fraud. All of this happens under the guise of legal structures. The perpetrators deliberately exploit the complexity of the food chain. From cultivation to processing to distribution, there are entry points for illegal activities everywhere. Particularly focused on are wine, edible oil, rice, and animal feed. Here, unauthorized substances are often used, or foreign products are upgraded with counterfeit organic certificates.
Aside from trade, the exploitation of workers is also a cause for concern. The so-called Caporalato system represents the systematic exploitation of agricultural workers. According to Coldiretti, mafia networks increasingly recruit workers from countries like India and Bangladesh. Under the guise of cooperatives, they place these workers on farms. All this without their own land, without control. While farmers pay properly to the cooperative, the wages passed on are sometimes 40% below the standard level. Last year, an accident occurred in which such a farm worker died.
The perpetrators are increasingly utilizing transnational structures. Besides Italy, countries like Germany, Austria, Spain, Belgium, or the Netherlands are affected. The common denominator is the lack of or inadequate control. Even though Germany has not yet presented its own figures on agrarian mafia, traces of mafia practices are evident here as well. Goods with questionable origins reach German supermarkets through European distribution channels. This affects prices, competition, and consumer protection. For farmers, this means that those who operate cleanly find it harder to compete with dumping offers. Additionally, these structures undermine trust in genuine organic products and fairly paid produce. This is a risk that carries weight not only economically but also ethically.
The developments in Italy cast a shadow on Europe's agriculture. Those who have the agrarian mafia on their radar realize: this is not just about Italy but a system that relies on exploitation, manipulation, and fraud and is increasingly interconnected on a European level. For agricultural businesses in Germany, this means keeping an eye on partners, origins, and labor mediators. Fair competition requires transparent structures and a united European approach against criminal networks in agriculture.