Sand is becoming a scarce resource. It is also heavy and so expensive to transport. That creates an opportunity for local mining gangs; if they can mine sand in areas close to building operations, they can sell it on cheaper than legitimate suppliers.
Being part of a “sand mafia” can seem attractive because it is a low-risk, high-profit enterprise that doesn’t require much specialist equipment. It is also a legal grey area. There are no coherent international laws forbidding sand mining. Where local regulations exist, they aren’t always enforced, especially in remote areas. In India, for example, sand mining requires a licence, but some local governments turn a blind eye to illicit operations because they provide an income for otherwise destitute people.
The term “mafia” conjures up the idea of a well-organised group that dominates a territory. But that isn’t always appropriate, says criminologist at the University of Southampton, UK. Many groups operate opportunistically in small areas. In some cases, including in Morocco, child labour is involved.
We know most about sand mafias in India and Italy, thanks to by Lavorgna and of Temple University in Philadelphia. Here mafia is the right word.
In Italy, sand is simply a new strand of the traditional mafia’s activities. In India, the researchers found that groups are active in 12 of the country’s 29 states. They often mine other commodities such as manganese, which is used to make magnetic metal alloys, and sometimes they use extreme violence to exert control over resources. In June 2015, the burned body of a journalist who had been reporting on the…
