The Triangle of Death: the Mafia’s Impact on the Environment
Harava Rahardjo ’25
Victoria Kenton ’25
When one thinks about organized crime, the images that first come to mind are often scheming men in black suits with guns in hand, threateningly negotiating and planning illegal endeavors, including loansharking, illicit gambling, or drug dealing. One can imagine members of organized crime syndicates like mafias conniving elaborate under-the-table money-making ventures that would exploit and have dire consequences on regular people. One of the ways that organized crime can impact the everyday person is its impact on the environment. According to The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), mafias can make around US$20-30 billion from environmental crimes (Smith, 2001). A devastating example of a place ravaged by a crime-related environmental crisis is the “Triangle of Death” in Italy.
Located in southern Italy, north of Naples, and in the Campania province, the Triangle of Death contains Europe's largest illegal waste dump. Before the environmental crisis, Campania was famous for its fertile land, which was well-suited for agriculture. Even the Romans called it “Campania Felix,” translating to “the fertile countryside” (Zipfel, 2016). However, in the late 1980s and early 1990s, waste, particularly toxic waste, from all over Europe started being transported to this region for disposal. To this day, waste continues to be dumped in the Campania province of Italy. Today, approximately 11.6 million tonnes of toxic waste is buried or burned beneath vegetable fields (Zipfel, 2016). The accumulation of waste has severely affected the living conditions of the local people for nearly three decades. Yet, the core foundations of the issue, illegal waste dumping, poor disposal management, and insufficient action from the government, remain.
The leading cause of the excessive waste dumping in the Campania province is the illegal activity of the Camorra mafia local to the region (Ridet, 2010). Since the late 1980s, industrial companies in Europe have sought the most frugal ways to dispose of large amounts of waste products they make due to their operations. The official methods of disposing of special waste proved too costly for the companies, eager to minimize expenses to maximize profit. Therefore, they turned to the Camorra mafia, hiring them to handle their toxic waste cheaply. Once waste was transferred from the industries to the mafia, members of the Camorra would combine heavy metals, industrial waste, toxic chemicals, and other waste and dump them illegally around the Campania region. On a map, the area where the waste was disposed of resembled a triangle, thus giving the area its notorious name. They would also often burn the waste to hide their tracks, leading to an alternative name for the region, “Fireland.” The scheme was even aided by corrupt politicians in the region (Ridet, 2010). The violent, powerful presence of the Camorra mafia in the Campania region allowed it to continue its practice for decades, up to this day. Now, the locals are left to deal with the disastrous environmental consequences.
Due to irresponsible waste disposal and burning, severe soil and air pollution occurred (The Associated Press, 2023). The main source of this pollution is the highly toxic industrial waste such as dioxin, arsenic, and even radioactive material that is dumped (Zipfel, 2016). These wastes have resulted in putrid smells, toxic air, and widespread pollution, endangering the health of humans and the environment in the area. Today, approximately 550,000 people live in the Triangle of Death (Alberti, 2022). These people have to live with “poisoned underground wells” to irrigate their farmland and acclimate to the “spewing [of] toxic fumes” in the air because of the burning of waste (The Associated Press, 2023). Due to this, since the 1990s, mortality rates associated with cancer, whether its that of the stomach, liver, kidney, lungs, or others, and heart malformations have been reported to have significantly increased and exceeded the rates in regions outside of Campania (The Associated Press, 2023).
The government, so far, has failed to address the issue entirely. Some government officials like the Prime Minister of Italy in 2010, Silvio Berlusconi, argue that the problem “has been settled” despite the clear evidence that would say otherwise (Ridet, 2010). However, there seems to be hope with Giorgia Meloni, the Italian Prime Minister since 2022. After requests from locals, Meloni visited Caivano, a city in Campania, and implemented a police operation involving hundreds of officers targeting mafia activity in the area and has tasked three safety commissioners to oversee the area’s recovery from the impact of the mafia (Giuffrida, 2024). With new actions taken to stop the activity of the Camorra and restore the environment in the Triangle of Death, there hopefully will be significant improvement in the years to come.
References
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