The Italian Mafia extorted grieving families to use particular funeral companies to bury their loved ones during that country’s recent Covid-19 crisis. This is according to a report in the Financial Times.
According to the newspaper the Mafia somehow gained access to medical records and knew which patients were likely to die. Often the Mafia knew before the families that their loved one had passed away. The Mafia would then intimidate families to ensure that they used the ‘correct’ burial company.
The report said that a number of hospitals had been infiltrated by the ‘Ndrangheta, described as ‘one of the most dangerous, internationally active and financially sophisticated criminal enterprises in the western world’.
Some law enforcement agencies believe the group’s annual turnover is higher than that of all the Mexican drug cartels combined.
According to the Financial Times report the ‘Ndrangheta had made ‘vast profits’ as their front companies had been awarded contracts ranging from ambulance services, to transporting blood and dead bodies. All services are billed to the country’s centrally funded health service, which the Financial Times describes as an ‘unrivalled prize’ for criminals. Reportedly the ‘Ndrangheta had infiltrated some hospitals to such an extent that doctors had to wait to be granted access to wards by Mafia enforcers.
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