Trouble in paradise? Italian mafia spreads in Switzerland

Switzerland has always been a key destination for Italy's mafia bosses to launder their assets or hide their cash, but recent probes show that Italian organised crime is broadening its activities there.

Some groups, in particular the 'Ndrangheta from southern Italy's Calabria region, are also investing in property and businesses here, as well as trafficking arms and drugs through Switzerland, sparking alarm among Swiss law enforcers.

Keen to stop the mafia from spreading its reach in the Swiss economy, federal police this year made the fight against Italian organised crime a priority.

"The 'Ndrangheta is a clear priority of the work of the federal criminal police this year," Stefan Kunfermann, a spokesman of the Federal Police Office (Fedpol), said.

They have been "moving into investments in construction, property and restaurants" not just in Ticino — the canton bordering Italy — but also other cantons, he noted.

Switzerland is also being used for " drug trafficking on a large scale" and as a hideout for mafia members, he added.
He cited a case before the courts in 2009 of a trafficker who had brought over 200kg of cocaine to Switzerland and was sentenced to 10 years in prison.