The lucky number doesn’t seem like a lot, but perhaps it is only the beginning. In addition to the 13 arrests of members of organized Chinese crime throughout Italy, a “USD 3.9B fraud scheme [was] uncovered” (Asia News International, August 5, 2025).
Italian authorities have apprehended 13 individuals in a nationwide operation targeting Chinese organised crime syndicates, delivering what officials referred to as a “double blow” to criminal organisations involved in drug trafficking, labour and sex exploitation, and money laundering, as reported by The Epoch Times.
Extensive coordinated actions took place across 25 provinces, including Milan, Rome, Florence, Prato, and Catania, focusing on Chinese clans that employ mafia-like intimidation and territorial dominance….
Another initiative, spearheaded by the Guardia di Finanza, dismantled a tax-fraud scheme valued at USD 3.9 billion, seizing USD 858 million, shutting down 266 shell companies, and freezing 400 bank accounts across the regions of Marche, Lombardy, and Piedmont….
This crackdown occurs amid increased scrutiny of Chinese influence in Italy, along with investigations into “overseas police stations” managed by Chinese authorities. The human rights organisation Safeguard Defenders reported in 2022 that Italy is home to the most clandestine centres, totalling 11 in cities including Rome, Milan, Venice, Florence, Sicily, and Prato.
The ANI story also notes the prevalence of ties between the Chinese organized crime in Italy and the Chinese Communist Party in China, ties that are being examined by the Anti-Mafia Commission of the Italian parliament.
For years, Italian investigators have been looking into covert Chinese banking systems used “to channel billions of euros from counterfeit operations, prostitution, and tax evasion back to China.”
The organized CCP–organized Chinese crime connection is a problem for many countries, including the United States. In 2024, ProPublica and The Frontier “revealed connections between Chinese diplomats and organised crime figures in the United States, while other analyses have tracked the involvement of Chinese triads in supplying Mexican cartels with precursor chemicals for fentanyl.”
Also see:
Safeguard Defenders: “14 Governments Launch Investigations into Chinese 110 Overseas Police Service Stations” (November 6, 2022)
ProPublica: “A Diplomat’s Visits to Oklahoma Highlight Contacts Between Chinese Officials and Community Leaders Accused of Crimes” (March 22, 2024)
“After a mass murder at a marijuana farm, a Chinese diplomat visited an organization that has been the subject of investigations. The meetings reflect an international pattern of contacts between Chinese officials and suspected criminal networks.”
The Frontier: “Fields of Green: A Frontier and ProPublica investigation into Oklahoma’s medical marijuana black market” (April 8, 2024)
StoptheCCP.org: “State and Non-State Crime in the PRC”
