Mafias on the Move

Acknowledgments vii Chapter One: Introduction 1 Chapter Two: Mafia Transplantation 13 Chapter Three: The 'Ndrangheta in Piedmont and Veneto 31 Chapter Four: The Russian Mafia in Rome and Budapest 65 Chapter Five: Lessons from the Past: Sicilian Mafiosi in New York City and Rosario, circa 1880-1940 101 Chapter Six: The Future of the Mafias? Foreign Triads in China 146 Chapter Seven: Mafia Origins, Transplantation, and the Paradoxes of Democracy 188 Notes 203 References 237 Index 263

Federico Varese is professor of criminology at the University of Oxford. He is the author of The Russian Mafia and editor of Organized Crime

It is hard not to feel sympathy for some of the Mafiosi Federico Varese describes in his meticulous study of mafia transplantation, as they struggle to make an impact in a foreign country where they don't speak the language and nobody is interested in the protection they have to offer. If Varese is right--and it would be hard to dispute his evidence--most mafia groups seeking new turf eventually either go back home with their tails between their legs or give up being gangsters and take up a less disreputable profession... Varese is one of the most acute students of global organised crime and a gripping storyteller. -- Misha Glenny London Review of Books [Varese] is careful, painstaking, willing and able to pore through police, local authority and parliamentary files in search of hard facts. Yet he is as reckless as a freelance reporter out to make his name in the global badlands--trekking about the tougher areas of his native Italy, delving into the vicious gangs that emerged after the collapse of the Soviet Union and patiently acquiring on-the-ground knowledge of the Chinese crime world, growing at the same breakneck speed as the economy it both assists and corrupts. -- John Lloyd Financial Times Few books on organized crime blend academic theory and popular interest as well as this book... [T]his is an excellent study... Choice Mafias on the Move offers a compelling and cautionary tale of the unintended consequences of state actions... Varese provides an insightful challenge to the conventional wisdom on the impact of globalization and an essential contribution to the literature on organized crime. -- H. Richard Friman Perspectives on Politics Mr. Varese's quest leads him from Prohibition-era Manhattan to mid-century Italy to modern-day China... [Mafias on the Move] tells a compelling story that is as much about politics as crime. Wall Street Journal Varese has successfully blended a diversity of sources, including archival and government documents from several