MAFIA, FOOD FRAUD AND OLIVE‑OIL COUNTERFEITING: SPECIALISED INVESTIGATIONS TO COMBAT THE “LIQUID GOLD” BUSINESS
MAFIA, FOOD FRAUD AND OLIVE‑OIL COUNTERFEITING: SPECIALISED INVESTIGATIONS TO COMBAT THE “LIQUID GOLD” BUSINESS

Summary/Abstract: The agrifood market represents a favoured investment sector for criminal organisations, particularly those of a mafia-type character. These organisations engage in practices that distort free competition, exert influence over price formation, product quality, and the labour market. Criminal organisations are employing increasingly sophisticated fraudulent practices that are difficult to detect through official scientific analysis, in order to generate high profit margins by taking advantage of the lower costs associated with using oils of inferior quality or of a different origin than that declared. The present article aims to examine the investigative techniques used by public prosecutors in the field of agrifood fraud, and olive oil fraud in particular, with the aim of providing an overview of the Italian criminal justice system to an international audience. The investigator is faced with an “invisible crime”, which cannot be detected by sight or taste and therefore requires accurate technical laboratory tests to be carried out promptly, using sampling methods that take into account the specific supply chain under investigation and the fraudulent methods actually used.

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