An authoritative scientific bibliography (Albanese 1999; Armao 2000, Lupo 1996; Ruggiero 1996, 1999; Sciarrone 1998), based on the results of a great amount of judiciary cases and on declarations of some State witnesses, outskirts the complex picture of mafia-like criminal organizations structurally rooted in the different areas of the South of Italy. These groups, historically belonging to the different territories, are characterized by a core-group of single persons linked by secret ties of criminal solidarity, often tightened by affinities and kinship. This group is supported by a wider base of subjects with executive functions, who collaborate to carry out criminal goals. Besides, a thick intertwining of links with the world of economy, of politics and institutions secure what has been defined a "perfect mafia network" (Allum/Siebert 2003; Nelken 1998; Sciarrone 2002; Sterling 1990, 1994; Williams 1998). The three main groups operating in this wide area of our country (Cosa Nostra, Camorra and ‘Ndrangheta) have often intertwined their activities and destinies, though they have preserved in time some original peculiarities of behaviour, of culture and organization. Researchers and scholars have therefore investigated on the relationship that has built an alliance which on one hand has produced omologation, osmothic exchange or, on the other hand, resistance and conservation. The relationship between Cosa Nostra and Camorra dates back a long time ago. More recently, at the end of 1980es, the Mafia boss Giuseppe Di Cristina, before being murdered in the mafia war, had hinted at the links between the Mafia family of Corleonesi and the Camorra family of Nuvolettas; his declarations would find later confirmation in the testimonies of Tommaso Buscetta and in those of Salvatore Contorno. According to Buscetta, the Nuvolettas - belonging to an historical Neapolitan Camorra group- had been "combinati" (recruited in a ritual way) as proper men of honour and were at the direct dependence of Michele Greco; as Buscetta had learnt by Gaetano Badalamenti, the Nuvolettas had relationships with the Corleonesi so good that they had provided safe refuges in Campania for the hiding of men of Luciano Leggio and Salvatore Riina. Similarly Salvatore Contorno declared he took part in two meetings (in 1974 and 1979) in the Nuvolettas' estates in Marano of Naples in order to discuss how the Sicilian and the Neapolitan families together should manage the cigarettes smuggling. Besides, in the records of the first "maxi trial" links between the family of Nuvolettas and the men of Cosa Nostra are very often confirmed. For example bank transactions have been spotted between Michele Greco and Domenico Di Maro, exchanging cheques which were used by the Grecos to buy the estate "Verbumcaudo"; in this case Di Maro played the role of the man of straw, while the operation could be traced back to the Banca Fabbrocini, linked to the Nuvolettas. Furthermore, during a search in the house of one of the Di Carlo brothers, men of honour of the family of Altofonte, the investigators found a photograph in which, beyond other Sicilian men of honour, there appeared Lorenzo Nuvoletta too. And still at the end of the ‘80s, further elements of confirmation of the links between the two criminal organizations were to be found in the business name of the business association "Stella d'oriente s.r.l.", whose shareholders moved all in the criminal orbit of the Corleonesi and around some Camorra families of the province of Naples. Not less ancient and rooted is the link between Cosa Nostra and ‘Ndrangheta from Calabria (Ciconte 1996). Peculiar is, for example, the role that the Commission of Cosa Nostra played in the feud that broke out among the groups of ‘Ndrangheta at the end of October 1974, that was considered the first war of Calabrian mafia and that came to an end thanks to the intermediation of the Sicilian men of honour. The criminal activity planned by the two criminal cliques has been developed - according to a well tried scheme- by two different and autonomous organizing and acting entities which were respectively rooted in their original territory and coordinated as a joint venture. The international drug trafficking, involving both the Mafia groups, has always been carried out by a sort of substructure different from the two separate entities, but nevertheless referable to the tops of organized crime. Mafia families and Calabrian ‘ndrine, have turned into the most advanced enterprise models, specializing in some activities, and have developed as flexible structures, able to adapt to the needs of the market, by exploiting all the opportunities and minimizing risks and by planning together the illegal activities (Lupo 2002; Becchi 2002). This way, for example, at the beginning of the ‘80s the big traffic of drugs was carried out together by the Mafia family Ferrera (Cavadduzzi, little horses) from Catania and some Calabrian ‘ndrine, which were directly in touch with traffickers from Lebanon. The scheme has not changed anyway still today, as the most recent judiciary activities witness: a classical example is the operation "Cartagena" (warrant of arrest nr.1364/94 RG Gip Trib. Torino) that has managed to disarticulate a ferocious organization exporting cocaine from South America. It has been assessed that between 1991 and 1994, 11 good tons of cocaine were introduced in the national territory. The supplies from Colombia were guaranteed by Alfonso Caruana, member of the Mafia family Caruana- Cuntrera, who took care of the contacts with the South -American producers. The buyers of drugs were, on the contrary, representatives of the most dangerous gangs of the Jonian Calabrian strip, that is Giuseppe Mazzaferro, Giuseppe Pesce, Giuseppe Cataldo, Giuseppe Morabito and some representative of family Barbaro. The criminal organization used the Port of Genoa to disembark the loads of drugs, that, concealed in big lorries or containers, were later sorted to the pushers in the area of the province of Turin. It's impossible not to mention, then, the alliance between ‘Ndrangheta and Camorra. Here we quote, only to give an example, what the State witness Pasquale Galasso said to the President of the Antimafia Parliamentary Commission during the sitting on 13/7/1993: "…if Mafia members want to kill a person in Campania, they do it straight away….this thanks to the relationship between Cutolo and De Stefano Paolo from Reggio Calabria. They killed a very faithful person to Paolo De Stefano, Mr Canali in Marigliano, near Naples" (Antimafia Commission page 2306). The numerous judiciary inquiries and the investigating activities carried out in Campania and in Calabria have stressed the pattern of the relationships between the Calabrian families and the Camorra groups, which is not a mere exchange of favours. In fact, in some areas controlled by ‘ndrangheta, the interests of representatives of Camorra too have been recorded, above all in the field of building industry. Their presence in areas and in economic important fields, usually monopolized by the ‘ndrine (Calabrian groups), lets us assume important and meaningful agreements and accords. Pasquale Galasso himself, in order to give an idea of the strong intertwining between the two criminal entities, explained that "…the area of Scalea is under the influence of Camorra people, Pepe Mario, Visciano Angelo from Boscoreale and Maiale. …. They have built a lot of buildings, above all in Scalea (Antimafia Commission, sitting of 13/7/1993, page 2331)".
From the remarks made above, it follows that in our research we will adopt an interdisciplinary approach from the fields of social anthropology, political science and law, which will attempt to decodify and study whether and how change imposed by globalisation of the markets, by the introduction of new routes and new networks of drug trafficking, by the diffusion of the illegal economy and by the introduction of new markets of illegal exchanges, have modified even the criminal networks, the cultural context from which they emerge, the business partnership between the three historical mafia organisations of Southern Italy - Cosa Nostra, Camorra and ‘Ndrangeta. The questions are therefore: if the context within which these criminal organisations operate and their modalities has changed, have the relationships between them changed? Have their cultural values changed? Have their criminal exchanges, their accomplices, their interests, their techniques and their objectives, those which they have had for more than half of a century and which formed a criminal pact of exchanges, a powerful and illegal cartel of business and crime changed? Our starting point/hypothesis is the following: 1) the relationship between the three criminal organisations has changed over time, keeping however its substantial continuity, made visible by some macro/micro elements/variables and also political and legislatives factors of Italy. 2) the three criminal organisations have produced and exported their criminal and cultural networks, organising them in other Italian regions and transporting them aboard, imposing similar criminal techniques that they use in the Mezzogiorno rgions but adapting a winning and efficient formula to the challenges of globalisation. The aim of this research project is also to verify and understand if parallel to the change in the relationship between these three criminal organisations, there have also been other processes of interaction with other criminal organisations active in the criminal market (place) operating in the legal and illegal economy. Or have other forms of interaction with actors from the legal economy intervened, with the objective of controlling the last phases of money-laundering operations. We will concentrate on, in particular, the relationship between economic crime and organised crime because there is a growing trend of white collar crime. The close connection of financial markets makes it, infact, necessary to have, locally, support areas rooted in the territories; so mafia's criminal organizations - strong for their traditional control of territories - have become very desiderable subjects for those men who, even if formally out of the same criminal organizations, want to embark, without excessive risks, on economic speculations in the international context, moving in borderline markets between lawfullness and unlawfullness. The outcomes of this verification, coming from a stratified and deep analysis, could be useful elements to understand the transformations inside the great criminal organizations, but also the possible homologation's forms and the links with homogeneous and etherogeneous elements, from the outside.