Intelligence is a key instrument in the fight against organised crime. With the advent of globalisation, their role has only increased. The transformed structure and modernised methods of operation of organised crime have created new types of threats to national security. Criminal intelligence was originally designed to fight crime and restore order. The origins of this discipline date back to the 1920s. Today, the discipline is considered as a key tool for the prevention of organised crime. The aim of this master thesis is to highlight the importance of criminal intelligence based on Italian criminal organisation ‘Ndrangheta. The primary objective is to examine the nature of the relationship between the Italian state, the intelligence services and the criminal organisation ‘Ndrangheta. This is followed by a discussion of the challenges facing the Italian criminal intelligence system, including legal constraints, corruption and the flexibility of ‘Ndrangheta in order to evade law enforcement efforts. Given that organised crime groups have increased their presence across the European continent, cooperation with Europol and the rest of the international organisations is of paramount importance.
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