Smuggling

Smuggling, for many border communities in the Stura Valley, was normal.
The journey began towards evening, they walked at night. Once at their destination, they just had to touch the door to get in the heat. He was expecting the night again to get home.
Many smugglers start the business between the age of 12 and 14. It’s a job mainly for men. He generally smuggled himself in, because it was harder to spot. However, real organized groups emerge, particularly in the Vinadio area. The places of exchange were fundamental: sometimes real smuggling markets took place.
Everything was exported: rice, shoes, typewriters. They cared about all kinds of skin to be tan, coffee, tobacco, salt. Livestock smuggling has also played a key role in the local economy. Sheep were smuggled into France; everything else – cows, mules...- walked the opposite path.
Livestock smuggling was among the most dangerous: there always was a risk of being discovered and be subjected to the animals' confiscation.