Mafia Inc. Makes Record Profit During Economic Crisis

Italian organized crime boomed as the country’s economy shrank last year, while Sicilian prosecutors today seized 550 million euros ($772 million) in Cosa Nostra assets in their latest anti-mob operation.

The country’s main crime groups boosted their profit by 12 percent to more than 78 billion euros ($110 billion) between 2008 and 2009, according to Rome-based anti-racketeering group SOS Impresa’s annual report.

Estimated revenue by Italy’s main mafia groups rose 4 percent to 135 billion euros. That exceeds the revenue of oil company Eni SpA, the country’s biggest company by market value, and is almost 9 percent of Italy’s gross domestic product.

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