Sicily's Mafia rakes in more than €1-billion a year through extortion, according to a study to be published on Friday.
Between 2002 and 2006, the Cosa Nostra earned more than €6-billion from Sicilian businesses forced to pay "pizzo", according to extracts of the study published on Tuesday by the financial daily Il Sole 24 Ore.
The funds amount to 1,3% of the southern island's gross domestic product (GDP), the paper said, citing a study by sociologist Nino la Spina to appear on Friday.
"Of 2 246 businesses studied, 333 had to pay an average one-time sum of €25 000, while 646 companies paid pizzo every month for several years," the paper said.
Monthly pizzo averages €881, ranging from €32 for a tobacconist to €27 000 for a large supermarket, the study found.
Construction companies are hardest hit by Mafia extortion, paying an average of €2 000 a month.
mg.co.za
|
