The New Mafia

‘Part memoir, part shoe leather investigative journalism, Mafiopoli is a vital exploration of how organised crime takes hold of a society from the bottom up and spreads around the world.’ -Miles Johnson, author of Chasing Shadows

‘Beautifully written, excellently researched.’ -Mick Van Wely

‘An exceptional investigation into the global muscle of the Calabrian mafia.’ -StrongWords book of the week

‘It’s easy to think you’re listening to a thriller or TV drama but this is real life… impeccably researched… [Sanne de Boer is] an unstoppable force’ -Bookriot

The ‘Ndrangheta mafia is one of the most powerful criminal organizations in the world. Bound together by blood ties, sworn to a code of silence and steeped in religious ritual, they are the force behind a litany of violence and corruption. In Mafiopoli, journalist Sanne De Boer takes us deep inside this extraordinary and ascendant criminal group.

The New Mafia is an engrossing insight into a brutal criminal organisation: the ‘Ndrangheta. Bound together by blood ties, sworn to a code of silence and steeped in religious ritual, they originated in Southern Italy but today are one of the most powerful networks in the world, and responsible for a litany of violence, drugs and corruption throughout Europe and beyond.

As investigative journalist Sanne De Boer settled into her new home on the Calabrian coast, she wondered who was behind the unsettling crimes in her neighbourhood – a car set alight in the middle of the night and, soon after, two men found shot dead. Speaking to people intimately connected to the ‘Ndrangheta and uncovering their links to the rest of the world, De Boer finds out how the group became so dominant, and how all our lives are increasingly – and shockingly – affected by the influence of organised crime.