Italy's Other Mafia

I’m currently reading a book called Gamorrah – Italy’s Other Mafia. It’s a little bit of a slow read for me since there is so much information that needs to be communicated and explained. Italians will have a better understanding of some of the terms since they are used more frequently, however, someone like myself may not recognize the meaning behind some of the words, such as, The Director, The System or the Secondigliano System, in an everyday conversation.

This book originally started out with this journalist/author doing a report on Italian Organized Crime in the spring of 2006. Roberto Saviano went undercover and actually worked for the Gamorrah which opened up a whole new world where he discovers how much of the world is controlled by the Mafia. This book goes into so much detail and revealing family names and what they do, what the Director is/does that this book became an international bestseller. Once the movie came out about it (released a year ago and you can probably rent it now) the Gamorrah was determined to have him killed by Christmas 2008. From a newspaper article I read a year ago, he was forced to separate from his wife and children and go into hiding due to this threat. I haven’t heard whether he is in the hands of the Gamorrah but the information so far is mind blowing.

I won’t go into too much detail about the book and if you are truly intrigued by it I would suggest you pick up a copy. I actually bought my copy of the book while I was in the Rome Airport last year waiting for my flight home.

To give you a snippet of one of the chapters I will try my best to paraphrase the meaning behind - The Secondigliano System. Little do you or I know but we have probably contributed to it in a monetary value at some point in our consumption of life.

“The Secondigliano System has gained control of the entire clothing manufacturing chain, and the real production zone and business centre is the outskirts of Naples.”

The Director manages and coordinates the production of the Secondigliano System. What other clothing manufacturer’s try to do honestly with paperwork, legal information, material used, etc., the Secondigliano System slips through and has touched every corner of the globe with their product. They have made imitation clothing that is so close to the original they refer to it as a ‘true fake’. The names on the labels are perfect BUT not the real thing. Brand names such as Valentino, Ferre, Versace and Armani could be imitations and sold all over the world.

Top designers also work for The System as well. There is one chapter entitled ‘Angelina Jolie’ because she wore a white suit to an Academy Award event made by a designer that didn’t even know it was for her.

If you think you aren’t affected by this or haven’t contributed to this you might want to think again. They’ve reached all of Europe and have touched the soil of Canada, US and South America. They have sold a particular pair of jeans in shops in New York, Miami Beach, new Jersey and Chicago and almost taking over Florida.

Naples is also the largest port at which everything or a majority of the world’s manufacturing goods are shipped out of. Not all of the containers will be inspected and therefore capital is astronomical and ‘amounts unimaginable for any legal industrial conglomeration.’

It truly amazes me that organized crime is SO intertwined in as simple as a pair of jeans but they make their millions and doing a great job of it.
Well, I haven’t finished the book but thought I’d share a very small portion of how much the Gamorrah actually control….and I’m only on page 40!