Mexico organizes a lottery to distribute Mafia assets
Italy confiscates drug barons' palaces and possessions
Palermo is known for its unique architectural style.
archival
El Chapo built an empire in Mexico from drug smuggling.
archival
picture
Outside the ancient city of Palermo, the skeletons of large houses cling to the hill of Monte Gallo, on the coast of Sicily, but there are no one in the houses except for birds and rats. A company linked to "mafia" boss Michel Greco began construction on the site in the late 1970s, and by the time public officials halted the project, 170 mansions were already under construction. Today, the group of concrete structures of the Mafia villas is known as “Pizzo Silla” or “Tell of Shame.”
And in countries such as Italy and Mexico, where crime syndicates wield great influence, gangsters and cartel leaders often play an important role in the cities where they were born. They participate in large construction projects as a means of profiting from bidding contracts or to launder money, and they build luxurious mansions as status symbols for themselves and their families. Some of these palaces even have elaborate underground bunkers and tunnels, built to aid in smuggling or as a means of emergency escape, or to live entirely underground, if necessary.
"Unfortunately, in most cities of southern Italy there are the remains of mafia houses, which changed the character of these places," says Sicilian photographer, Alessio Mamo.
He documented the villas and ruins of the "mafia" with his camera, which led to the creation of a photographic record of the extent to which the "mafia" changed the appearance of public places in the region.
Mexican architect and city planner Eloy Mendes, who researches "drug engineering" at the University of Puebla, agrees that "architecture and the drug trade are closely linked."
He says real estate investments from organized crime have created entirely new cityscapes in Latin America.
The grandiose structures are like “their own language, which they want to show off and distinguish themselves from others.”
Structures are often tasteless and excessive, Mendes adds.
A notable example is the cemetery of the Jardin del Homaya in Culiacan, the birthplace of the Sinaloa cartel.
Luxurious shrines
Drug lords and their families compete to build the most ostentatious shrines there, structures reminiscent of colonial-style temples and palaces.
They include elements such as domes, arches and columns.
Structures are also symbols of power, and their presence helps the "mafia" and cartels to control public space and control the surrounding areas.
But governments and civil society are trying to reclaim cities.
Since 1982, Italy has confiscated more than 36,000 properties owned by the "Mafia".
"Confiscation is one of the most effective tools in the fight against organized crime," says Zora Hauser, a researcher in "mafia" affairs at Oxford University, explaining that "depriving them of assets impedes their operations and acts as a deterrent."
Hauser believes that “the most influential is the return of assets, companies, property and buildings to society,” continuing, “It is a sign of the state and the people regaining control.”
In fact, the researcher says, it is what the gangsters fear most: losing control of their land.
According to the anti-mafia organization Beira, about 1,000 Italian municipalities have received buildings or property confiscated from the state for public use.
In addition, there are about 900 non-profit organizations or groups that manage the properties of the former "Mafia".
The Calabrian cooperative, the Güell, is also benefiting from the Italian strategy to redistribute the holdings of the former mafia.
The group currently uses three former mafia buildings, but they have also learned that gangs do not give up their property without a fight.
respond to threats
In Calabria, from which the brutal 'Ndrangheta mafia runs its global empire, farmers, business owners and others have joined together to form a cooperative to stand up to the mafia and respond to their threats and demands for protection money.
Güell also runs several social initiatives in areas such as organic farming, tourism, sustainable fashion, and organic cosmetics.
Thus, the cooperative group was able to provide employment opportunities for about 400 people, in one of the poorest and most corrupt regions in Europe, a place where the “mafia” is the largest employer, and where the state has largely lost control.
One building that was formerly owned by the Mafia houses Güell workers, while in another building, seamstresses work, producing clothes for the organic fashion label.
The most recent addition is a former villa owned by a mafia boss, which the initiative has turned into a hotel.
The city paid for the new furniture and guaranteed no rent for 10 years;
Water and electricity are also provided free of charge.
But 10 days after Goel won the bid for the building, the Mafia members moved in forcefully, damaging and stealing parts of the water supply system and causing €50,000 worth of damage.
Since then, the group's work team has been holding parties whenever the "Mafia" strikes.
Any anti-gang initiative should witness such attacks.
On one occasion, gang members burned down a farm, destroyed tractors, and destroyed warehouse stocks.
"When people despair and lose hope, it is easy to control them," said Vincenzo Linarello, head of the Guell group. "When the (mafia) attack us, we respond with festivals that give people courage."
On the other side of the globe, there will soon be a sweep of property confiscated from corrupt politicians and drug lords, in Mexico. In mid-September, a special "lottery" will be held, including a house in Culiacan used by Joaquín Guzmán, better known as "El Chapo", in 2014. As well as a villa near Mexico City, which was owned by Amado Carrillo, the former leader of the "Juarez" cartel. . For 250 pesos for each "lottery" ticket, equivalent to 11 euros, participants will have the opportunity to win a "drug house". The government plans to use the lottery proceeds to promote the vaccination campaign against the Corona virus. In addition, the Mexican plan does not appear to be welcomed by many.
Criminologist Edgardo Buscaglia thinks the clouds are just a 'show'.
He says the "lottery" will only "return some assets to the people".
However, Buscaglia says, Mexico lacks a national strategy and laws that require judges to redistribute all confiscated assets to civil society organizations, led by victims of organized crime, that help those who have been affected.
He says the return of such property is "not a gift".
They must be used to help victims reintegrate into the world of work and society.
construction frenzy
Gangs transformed Italian cities, razing landscapes with concrete to assert their power.
Mafia architecture, like all its activities, has its own structure, logic and function.
The "Mafia" has replaced magnificent houses and buildings, dating back to the nineteenth century, with concrete blocks.
This can be seen in the dozens of unfinished and dilapidated buildings on gorgeous beaches, where gangs with ties to public administrators have been allowed to launch urban projects.
By looking at the grotesque villas of the cartel leaders, each one is evidence of strength, just like dictatorships.
It was the result of a building frenzy in the '60s and '70s, when Vito Ciancimeno, a gangster from the violent Corleonesi clan, ordered the demolition of splendid antique mansions, to make way for massive concrete blocks.
Italian model
The Güell Group holds parties, collects donations, and organizes propaganda campaigns to highlight the methods used by the "Mafia".
"They seem to understand that they are making us stronger with each attack," says Vincenzo Linarello, head of the Guell Group.
Other regions sought to emulate the Italian model, such as Berlin.
And in the German capital, plans are taking shape in earnest, to give confiscated real estate to non-profit initiatives.
In 2018, officials confiscated 77 properties belonging to the "Remo" gang, including apartment buildings and apartments, as well as a villa and a private garden.
Plans call for the villa in Berlin's Neukölln district to be converted into a youth centre.
Despite this, officials must evict the current tenants, all of whom are members of the gang's family.
36,000 properties owned by the “mafia” have been confiscated in Italy since 1982.
900 non-profit organizations or groups that manage former Mafia properties.
Some of these palaces had elaborate underground bunkers and tunnels, built to aid in smuggling or to serve as a means of emergency escape, or to live entirely underground, if necessary.
Follow our latest local and sports news and the latest political and economic developments via Google news