Irregular migration to or across Italy is usually associated with the idea of
hundreds, sometimes thousands, of migrants crossing the Mediterranean
crammed in long-worn ships barely staying afloat. Such journeys are often
taken as evidence of the existence of hierarchically integrated, centralized,
sophisticated, worldwide active, criminal cartels. The only problem with
such received wisdoms is the fact that it is radically at odd with the available
evidence, as it has little to do with the empirical reality of irregular
migratory systems. This paper reviews a number of Italian Court files concerning
a variety of organizations operating across both land and sea borders.
It is shown how such organizations operate within a variety of local
specificities and structural constraints.