The results of the municipal elections in Italy confirm that the Imperia department has emerged from the influence of its former mayor, then deputy in the National Assembly, Minister of the Interior and Industry, and a strong figure of the right in the territory, Claudio Scaiola.
Prosecuted by the judiciary and recently imprisoned for influence and support to the economic activities of Calabrian crime, Claudio Scaiola has most likely forever lost his role as an influential man with the shift of the municipalities of Sanremo and especially Ventimiglia, which last Sunday elected candidates from the center-left party opposing him. Last year, in another partial election, he had already lost control of the Imperia town hall, his stronghold, previously considered impregnable by his adversaries.
But it is not the political future of this character that raises questions, but the economic consequences.
Without a political reference considered as a protector of the economic system managed by the Calabrian crime, which is strongly present and rooted in the cross-border territory, what will be the future options of the ‘Ndrangheta (Calabrian mafia)?
Finding a protector, if not an accomplice at least tolerant, will not be easy because some situations take years to build. Moreover, the political climate is no longer favorable to the equation: We provide votes to the party and have freedom of action in the stronghold.
Even the most unreserved leaders do not dare to defy a public opinion sensitive to these themes.
So? Since the criminal organization still exists, it will need to find an anchoring point for its activities and especially its “investments” considering the significant volumes of money to be laundered in one way or another.
Hence the question: Will it be on the French Riviera, where the presence of certain “businessmen” is already noted, and where one might imagine that the financing of certain activities, notably in real estate and commerce, could benefit from the typical porosity of tourist areas, where some operations are less conspicuous and enjoy a more favorable context?
Raising the question does not imply having the answer. However, it would be wise not to hide that the problem does indeed exist, and, on the contrary, not to lower the guard against an adversary as dangerous as it is organized.
On the contrary, keeping eyes wide open and maintaining careful monitoring seems to be the key to preventing the deviations from exceeding the only physiological threshold admitted in these cases.
The name of the French Riviera and its international reputation are at stake.
