How to Recognize the Mafia Abroad: Critical Notes on ’Ndrangheta Mobility

The influence and spread of clans and families within the ’ndrangheta - the Calabrian mafia - is international yet recognising their activities is not always easy, especially when considering mafia groups’ apparent ability to ’disappear’ when abroad. This book challenges existing myths about the mobility of this mafia group, emphasizing mafias’ interconnectivity and ubiquity both at home and abroad, while providing practical tools for law enforcement and organized crime practitioners.

It considers potential biases around ethnicities and surnames and the intergenerational diversification of mafias - for example, the use of encryption technologies. Combining theory with case studies drawn from Anna Sergi’s extensive fieldwork, the book sets out the policy and practice implications for combatting organized crime.

Anna Sergi was Professor of Criminology at the University of Essex until September 2025. From October 2025 she is Professor of Sociology of Deviance at the University of Bologna. She is the recipient of the 2023 Early Career Award by the European Society of Criminology.