ROME: As Italy mourns nearly 11,000 dead from coronavirus, and braces for the devastation of the eurozone鈥檚 third-largest economy, investigators in the country believe that organized crime is looking to capitalize on the situation.

The Economist Intelligence Unit last week said it expects Italy鈥檚 gross domestic product to contract by a colossal 7 percent for the year.
Italian experts believe that some 65 percent of small and medium businesses in the country are at risk of bankruptcy. That is music to the mob鈥檚 ears.
Italy鈥檚 mafias, from the historic Cosa Nostra in Sicily to the immensely powerful 鈥楴drangheta in Calabria and the trigger-happy Camorra in Naples, were 鈥渃aught on the back foot by the virus, but are now organizing themselves,鈥� Bologna鈥檚 Chief Prosecutor Ignazio de Francisci told Arab News.
Last weekend, Italy鈥檚 secret service warned the government of potential riots in the country鈥檚 south, fomented by organized crime, should the virus epicenter move from north to south.
The mob was believed by some crime experts to have orchestrated revolts in jails nationwide early on in the pandemic, with prisoners demanding early release, fearful of catching the disease in overcrowded facilities.
鈥淭he mob will be looking for loopholes in the system. We鈥檒l have to keep our eyes open for suspicious operations, the creation of new companies, dummy corporations,鈥� said De Francisci, who was a member of the anti-mafia judiciary established in the Palermo Court by Judge Giovanni Falcone, who was killed along with his wife and three security escorts in 1992 when a bomb exploded under their car on a Sicilian motorway.
Giuseppe Pignatone, a former mafia-hunter in the city of Reggio Calabria who was recently appointed by Pope Francis as chief justice in the Vatican, said the epidemic will 鈥渋nevitably make the judiciary鈥檚 job more difficult over the coming weeks and years.鈥�
Italian anti-Camorra author Roberto Saviano, who lives under police protection, said in an article in La Repubblica daily: 鈥淛ust look at the portfolio of the mafias, to see how much they can earn from this pandemic.鈥�
He added: 鈥淲here have they invested the last few decades? Multi-service companies (canteens, cleaning, disinfection), waste recycling, transportation, funeral homes, oil and food distribution. That鈥檚 how they鈥檒l make money. The mafias know what you have, and will need, and they give it, and will give it, on their own terms.鈥�
Saviano, who wrote 鈥淕omorra,鈥� a bestseller on the illegal activities of the Camorra, recalled the last big epidemic in Italy, the 1884 cholera outbreak in Naples, which killed more than half of the city鈥檚 inhabitants.
At the time, the government paid out immense sums for a cleanup, most of which went straight into the Camorra鈥檚 pockets.
It could be the same story this time. 鈥淭he mafia is already carefully planning ahead to when the economy will start to be rebuilt,鈥� said De Francisci.
Mafias are believed to be selling medical-grade masks originally intended for hospitals on the dark web, and they also have influence in the supply of groceries. They have an estimated turnover of 鈧�120 billion ($133 billion) per year.

And they are preparing for a cocaine boom when people come out of quarantine. According to a police report, mafia-linked drug dealers are already dodging the strict limits on movements placed on Italians by posing as pizza drivers and doing home deliveries.
A wave of mafia-linked extortion rackets is also predicted in the wake of the financial disaster caused by the virus.
The closures of restaurants and hotels will have a devastating effect. If money does not come from the state soon, many will fail. And in order not to fail, business owners could turn to criminal organizations.
Despite the nation鈥檚 public debt and its difficult relations with the EU and the European Central Bank, Italy鈥檚 government has already started pumping billions of euros to subsidize those who are not receiving a salary due to the closure of the businesses in which they were employed.
And Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte announced that mayors this week will issue food vouchers to help low-income people cope with the economic consequences of coronavirus.
Using an initial 鈧�400 million fund, and with an advance payment of 鈧�4.3 billion, the government wants to help the poorest sections of society.
Local municipalities will have to use this fund to buy food, medicines and other essential goods for citizens with low incomes.
This came after police with batons and guns moved in to protect supermarkets in Sicily after reports of looting by locals who could no longer afford food.
A group of locals ran out of a supermarket in the city of Palermo without paying. 鈥淲e have no money to pay. We have to eat,鈥� someone reportedly shouted at the cashiers.
Palermo Mayor Leoluca Orlando, who is recognized worldwide as one of the most engaged politicians against organized crime, told Arab News: 鈥淲e鈥檙e sure that the mafia is behind all this. The state has to be watchful and provide municipalities with enough financial resources so that those in need won鈥檛 go to the mob for protection and support.鈥�