How mafias make billions by targeting hotels, restaurants in Italy: "Tasty prey for criminal associations"

Italy's mafias make more than three billion euros a year from the tourism sector and are primed to pocket even more from large-scale upcoming events, a research institute warned on Tuesday.

Organized crime groups preying on vulnerable companies from hotels to restaurants are currently taking home 3.3 billion euros ($3.5 billion) a year and are set to cash in on the Catholic Church's Jubilee celebrations in Rome and the Winter Olympic Games, the Demoskopika research institute said.

"Italian tourism is under attack. The 2026 Milan-Cortina Olympics and the 2025 Jubilee whet the appetites of the mafia," Demoskopika president Raffaele Rio said in a report.