A deadly turf war is unfolding inside Italy’s fast fashion supply chain. In April 2025, Chinese gangster Zhang Dayong was shot dead in Rome, an alleged professional hit linked by investigators to rival syndicates battling for control of logistics, transport, and even clothes hangers. Because in an industry that moves millions of units, shaving a few cents per piece translates into massive profits and power.

Senior Analyst Ruggero Scaturro (Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime) explains how Chinese criminal networks built near monopolies over road transport and warehousing, the landmark “China Truck” operation led from Florence, and why these groups are now recognized in Italy as mafia-style organizations. We explore their role in counterfeit goods, informal banking, intimidation, and how they cooperate functionally with Italian mafias like the ’Ndrangheta and Camorra. The episode also looks at the epicenter around Prato, the challenges of infiltration and interpretation, and what rising violence says about who really controls Europe’s fast fashion backbone.

Chapters

00:00:00 - Italy’s “War of Hangers”

00:00:32 - The hanger market: economics, logistics monopoly, rising violence

00:02:31 - What “War of Hangers” means in the fast-fashion ecosystem

00:03:02 - The Dayong shooting and the Zhang Naizhong case

00:03:33 - Operation “China Truck”: transport monopoly and mafia-style structure

00:04:45 - Foreign criminal actors in Italy

00:09:00 - Counterfeit markets in Italy: scope and impact

00:12:26 - How Chinese criminals gain control

Guest: Ruggiero Scaturro, Senior Analyst, Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime

Host: Thin Lei Win

Learn more: Global Organized Crime Index — ocindex.net

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Criminal groups that once focused primarily on the cocaine trade are now diversifying into illegal gold mining, logging, and the wildlife trade - activities that are devastating the environment.

The Amazon’s tri-border region (where Brazil, Colombia, and Peru meet) has become a hotbed for trafficking. The neighboring cities of Leticia and Tabatinga lie at its center, caught in a violent turf war between Brazil’s two largest criminal organizations: the Red Command and the PCC. Both are vying for control of the Amazon’s highly profitable illicit markets.

Speaker: Gabriel Funari, Amazon Basin Coordinator at GI-TOC

Host: Thin Lei Win, Investigative Journalist and Podcast Host

👉 Learn more: ocindex.net

📖 Read the report: globalinitiative.net/analysis/illicit-frontiers-criminal-governance-in-the-amazons-tri-border-region

Organized criminal gangs were deployed by politicians to counter peaceful protests in Nairobi in June, triggering worries of violence in Kenya ahead of the 2027 general elections.

On June 25, gangs unleashed terror on people, who took to the streets in a peaceful march to commemorate the lives of 60 people who were killed one year earlier, in a historic Gen Z uprising against punitive taxes. Just a week earlier, on June 18, gangs had also violently confronted protesters demanding justice for Alfred Ojwang, a 31-year-old teacher and political blogger who died in police custody. While mainstream media calls them "hired goons", evidence shows these were organised gangs, funded and protected by powerful politicians to silence dissent.

We speak to Ken Opala, who went out and talked to police, gang members, and security officials about what happened - and who was really behind it.

Check out Ken's article: Ghosts of violence past: Hired gangs unleashed on demonstrators in Nairobi

Learn more about criminality in Kenya on the Global Organized Crime Index.

Hosted by Thin Lei Win.