02012nam a2200181 4500 19954 19954 20050707u y0pory50 ba eng Old and new actors in the italian drug trade ethnic succession or functional specialization? The article analyses Italian and foreign organized crime involved in the drug market from two perspectives. The first, called "criminal succession", assumes that the great presence of foreign criminal groups into this illegal market would represent a menace to the traditional hegemony exercised by Mafia-type associations in Italy. From a different perspective, defined as "functional specialisation", the involvement of foreign criminal groups in the drug market could also be seen in terms of criminal "labour force" tending to follow the same mechanisms occurring in the general market at large, where immigrants fill low-paying jobs not requested by the local population. Through the analysis of data provided by the Italian Central Antidrug Bureau and recent court records the article tests these two perspectives. In particular, the in-depth analysis of three case studies from northern, central and southern Italy - i.e. Milan, Florence and Naples - has allowed us to identify the main changes that occurred in the drug market since the early 1990s. In effect, in Milan and Florence, we register the emergence of foreign criminal actors in the high- and mediumlevel positions of the local drug trade, while in Naples, where Camorra clans hold very strong positions, it leaves small areas of autonomy to foreign criminal groups. V.10,n.4 2004 p.257-283 European Journal on Criminal Policy and Research Netherlands GRUPOS VIOLENTOS CRIME ORGANIZADO MAFIA ASSOCIAÇÃO MAFIOSA TRÁFICO DE DROGA ITÁLIA BECUCCI Stefano P.275 0 P__275_000000000000000 2021-12-17 23283 DGRSP DGRSP P.275 2021-12-17 0 AP