I don't see how I can't understand the Italian situation if I'm not living in Italy. The link I posted in my previous comment was from a "real newspaper". There are hundreds of links like that, all from "real newspapers" documenting the damage that the Camorra/Ndrangheta/Sicilian Mafia has done and how they're even expanding and threatening European mainland. I stopped buying Italian olive oil because odds are it's been tampered with by the clans. Even the Italians I know in Northern Europe prefer buying Greek and Spanish oil!
You may not like Saviano but a lot of what he has written and predicted in his book has been validated. The fact that he unmasked Camorra at grave risks to his own life makes it hard for me to see him as "gaining" or exploitative. He lives his life in hotel rooms or police barracks under constant guard [1].
[1] https://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/jan/14/-sp-roberto-sa...