[From article]
The owner of a successful cement business near the small town of Palmi, Saffioti in 2002 became one of only 30 people to turn state's witness against Calabria's 'Ndrangheta.
That year, out of deference to the mobsters or fear, 55 of his 60 employees quit, local banks closed his accounts, and his clients shunned him. His company's sales fell 97 percent, and he and his family have lived under 24-hour armed guard ever since.
[. . .]
While the 'Ndrangheta (pronounced en-DRANG-eta) flourishes, Calabria, the poorest of Italy's 20 regions with a population of almost 2 million, has seen no benefit for its local economy.
Calabria is a natural and historical treasure. It has almost 500 miles (800 km) of pristine beaches. The Apennine mountains rise thousands of feet in the interior, and hillsides tumble down to the sea, covered in cacti and century-old olive groves.
Once at the heart of the Greek and Roman empires, evocative ruins dot the coastline. The Riace bronzes, considered two of the most spectacular sculptures of the ancient world, were pulled out of the crystal clear waters of the Ionian coast.
But like the rest of the Mezzogiorno -- Italy's six southern regions plus the islands of Sicily and Sardinia -- Calabria has suffered seven straight years of recession and is challenging Prime Minister Matteo Renzi's efforts to fuel a recovery.
[. . .]
Thanks to Saffioti's testimony and closed circuit video recordings he made when he paid the mob, 48 'Ndrangheta members from nine different crime families went to jail. According to his own records and testimony, he paid the equivalent of 2.5 million euros in extortion over 18 years.
He could have fled and assumed a new identity as part of the witness protection program, but he chose to stay.
Now both his home and adjacent business are surrounded by 4-metre (13-foot) concrete walls, barbed wire, towering spotlights and dozens of video cameras. Four police stand on duty.
[. . .]
Over the past two decades, the 'Ndrangheta, which takes its meaning from 'strong man' in ancient Greek, has eclipsed its more storied Sicilian cousin Cosa Nostra by becoming Europe's biggest cocaine broker and establishing criminal colonies across the globe, prosecutor Cafiero de Raho told Reuters.
[. . .]
"Whoever is born here must follow the unwritten rules of a parallel state. To buy or sell a property or open a business, you go to the 'Ndrangheta, not the bureau of commerce," Saffioti said, adding that no deal was too small.
Before he turned state's witness, he had a job pouring concrete in the nearby town of Polistena. Though he was going to earn only some 250 euros ($280) for the work, the local boss, Giovanni Longo, demanded his cut.
"He told me it wasn't a question of money, but of respect. He said: 'It's like when you go visit someone's home, you knock on the door. You don't just walk in."
In 2001, a mafia hit man shot Longo dead.
http://news.yahoo.com/thriving-mafia-sucks-hope-italys-struggling-south-124231039--business.html
Thriving mafia sucks hope from Italy's struggling south
By Steve Scherer and Francesca Piscioneri
September 23, 2015
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