Long-tested mutual trust lets drugs and payment travel on separate couriers

Evidence

Mafiosi were attractive intermediaries because of their strong connections with the Sicilian Americans running the market in the United States. These ties allowed greater flexibility and safety. “In the relationships between mafioso organizers and the halo-American gangs receiving the merchandise, where there is mutual trust tested over time, it is possible for one courier to arrive from America with the money while the merchandise itself is entrusted to another courier” (CPM: 1023-24). Since no such privileged bonds existed between Sicilians and Middle Eastern suppliers, importing was a more cumbersome operation. A Sicilian envoy had to travel to the source and test the drug, and pay a large percentage in advance (CPM: 1023-24, 1694). — Diego Gambetta, The Sicilian Mafia The Business of…, 632

Categorization

• XREF: Directly evidences Milgrom et al.’s point that reputation/trust tested through repetition substitutes for formal contract enforcement — the Hall-Hitchins-Bartos best-shot problem of simultaneous exchange solved by trust rather than institutions.