There's a red thread—or rather, a thread as white as the dust that fuels it—that runs through the history of the Sicilian Mafia and forever reshapes its face: heroin trafficking. This thread is told in Il contagio, the new book by Massimiliano Iervolino, published by Marlin Editore (Al limite series, €16,90), which will be presented on Thursday, June 4, 2026, at 6:00 PM in the Salotto Comunale of the City Hall in Battipaglia (Square of Culture and Active Citizenship).
Enzo Maraio, Councilor for Tourism, Territorial Promotion, and Digital Transition for the Campania Region, and journalist Laura Naimoli will be in conversation with the author.
The book reconstructs a journey spanning over thirty years: from the historic meeting at the Hotel delle Palme in Palermo in 1957—when the American and Sicilian mafias sealed their alliance in drug trafficking—to the bombings of Capaci and Via D'Amelio, passing through clandestine refineries, the role of Lucky Luciano, and the global international drug dealing network.
It was during this period that Cosa Nostra ceased to be the post-war "peasant mafia" and transformed into a systemic and mass-murderous criminal machine, led by the Corleonesi—Riina, Provenzano, Bagarella—and their culture of unmediated oppression.
Iervolino, former Secretary of the Italian Radicals from 2019 to 2024 and a consultant to the Parliamentary Commission on Eco-Mafia, brings to this essay the same documentary flair that has characterized his previous works on waste, political crime, and misgovernance. Contagion, however, is not just a chronicle of bloodshed: it is, in the author's words, "the key to understanding the present."
Admission to the event is free until all seats are taken.
I find the article interesting, but not perfect; there are a few things that puzzled me. The author wrote short and fragmented sentences, and the analysis seemed rushed and lacked practical examples and concrete data. In some places, the terms used were difficult to understand.