Mafia poison and the European law of silence

1989 is considered a kind of “birth year” of Calabrian toxic waste scandals involving the local mafia, the ‘Ndrangheta: 60 tons of low-level radioactive hospital waste were discovered by chance in the province of Cosenza, which was to be illegally incinerated. Almost 600 waste dumps in Calabria are now under state surveillance. The harmful, toxic and radioactive substances come from northern Italy, Germany and France, among other countries. The environmental organization “Legambiente” has been warning for decades that Calabria is degenerating into “Europe’s garbage dump”. Nothing has happened. A powerful coalition of interests consisting of mafiosi, secret service agents, politicians and entrepreneurs is still obstructing the investigation. Journalist Sandro Mattioli sets off in Germany, France and Italy in search of clues.

Robert Geisendörfer Prize
2018