Criminal capitalism: a new socio-economic formation.

The article focuses on the concept of criminal capitalism, a socio-economic formation where organized crime, particularly drug trafficking, plays a central role in wealth accumulation, social consensus, and political influence within contemporary capitalism. It highlights how transnational criminal organizations, or Transnational Mafias, have evolved from local extortionist groups into global actors that integrate illegal profits into the legal economy through sophisticated money laundering, facilitated by financial liberalization and globalization. The text provides extensive data on the scale of illicit markets—especially drug trafficking—and the mechanisms by which criminal wealth is laundered and reinvested, noting the complicity of political, bureaucratic, and professional classes. It concludes that criminal capitalism is deeply embedded in the global capitalist system, shaping social orders and challenging state sovereignty, with significant implications for economic development and governance worldwide.