Italy’s Anti-Mafia Commission reports criminal interests in gambling and money laundering
Regulation2 min read
In brief
- Italy's Anti-Mafia Commission approved a report on its 26 and 27 March 2026 mission to Puglia.
- The report says the Strisciuglio clan's interests include controlling gaming-machine distribution.
- It says criminal groups in the BAT province carry out robberies of gaming halls.
- It cites prefect figures on anti-mafia measures in gaming and betting.
Italy's parliamentary Anti-Mafia Commission has approved a report on its mission to Puglia on 26 and 27 March 2026. The report describes organised-crime groups' interests in gambling and money laundering.
According to the report, the Capriati clan is rooted in the Borgo Antico area of the city. The report says the clan is primarily engaged in drug trafficking, extortion and gambling.
The report describes the Strisciuglio clan as among the most active groups in organised crime in the Bari area. It says the clan's criminal interests extend to controlling the distribution of gaming machines. The report also lists usury and money laundering among the clan's interests.
On the province of Barletta-Andria-Trani (BAT), the report says local criminal groups extend their activities to predatory crimes. These include robberies of shopkeepers and gaming halls, according to the report.
On interdiction measures, the commission's report points to page 29 of the prefect's report. That document also records three collaborative prevention measures under article 94-bis of Legislative Decree 159/2011, aimed at two companies in gaming and betting and one real estate company. For 2025 it lists nine anti-mafia interdictions, four of which concern businesses operating in gaming and betting.
On money laundering, the report says that in recent years there has been extensive reinvestment of criminal proceeds. It names gambling, especially illegal gambling on illegal platforms, among the sources of those proceeds, alongside extortion.
The report says the Bari-area camorra clans have historically been engaged in smuggling and illicit betting. It also says the Parisi-Palermiti clan's younger generations used money laundering through the management of betting shops, based on findings from the "Codice interno" operation. The report says the State Police carried out 137 precautionary measures in that operation on 26 February 2024.
Colonel Pasquale Russo, the provincial commander of the Guardia di Finanza, said clandestine betting is among the other crimes committed by criminal organisations in the metropolitan area.
A separate report on the 'ndrangheta in northern Italy lists betting among the sectors indicated in hearings as areas of organised-crime activity.