Italian organized crime
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Since their appearance in the mid of 1800s, the Italian criminal organizationsn have infiltrated the social and economic life of many regions in South Italy, to later expand in some foreign countries (mainly the U.S).
Sicilian Mafia is one of the most notorious criminal organizations.
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[edit] Italian mafias
There are five known mafia organizations in Italy, all based in the former Kingdom of Naples, in South Italy. Sicilian mafia, 'Ndrangheta and Camorra, are rather old: they started to develop circa 1850. Recently, two new organizations, Stidda and Sacra Corona Unita have appeared. Furthermore, because of immigration, many foreign mafias, from Eastern Europe, Africa and Asia, has started to develop, even in Northern Italy and Central Italy, historically free from mafia incidents.
[edit] Sicilian Mafia (Cosa Nostra)
Based in Sicily
The Sicilian Mafia formed in the mid-1800s to unify the Sicilian peasants against their enemies. In Sicily, the word Mafia tends to mean "manly" and a Mafioso considers himself a "Man of Honor." However, the organization is known as "Cosa Nostra" -- Our Thing -- or Our Affair. The Sicilian Mafia changed from a group of honorable Sicilian men to an organized criminal group in the 1920s. In the 1950s, Sicily experienced a massive building boom. Taking advantage of the opportunity, the Sicilian Mafia gained control of the building contracts and made millions of dollars. Today, the Sicilian Mafia has evolved into an international organized crime group. Some experts estimate the Sicilian Mafia is the second largest organization in Italy, second only to the Fiat Corporation. The Sicilian Mafia specializes in heroin trafficking, political corruption and military arms trafficking and is the most powerful and most active Italian Organized Crime Group in the United States with estimates of more than 2,500 Sicilian Mafia affiliates located there. The Sicilian Mafia is also known to engage in arson, frauds, counterfeiting, and other racketeering crimes.
The Sicilian Mafia is a dual organization. The "high Mafia" consists of lawyers, financiers, and professionals and seeks power and resources by bribing or pressuring politicians, judges and administrators. The "low Mafia" is the violent Mafia of thugs and bandits who threaten and kill to keep the victim population in line. Sometimes the two are hard to keep apart, but the two tendencies can always be distinguished.
The Sicilian Mafia, high and low, is infamous for its aggressive assaults on Italian law enforcement officials. In Sicily the term "Excellent Cadaver" is used to distinguish the assassination of prominent government officials from the common criminals and ordinary citizens killed by the Mafia. Some of their high ranking victims include police commissioners, mayors, judges, police colonels and generals, and Parliament members. On May 23, 1992, the Sicilian Mafia struck Italian law enforcement with a vengeance. At approximately 6:00 p.m., Italian Magistrate Giovanni Falcone, his wife, and three police body guards were killed by a massive bomb. Falcone, Director of Prosecutions (roughly, District Attorney) and for the court of Palermo and head of the special anti-Mafia investigative squad, had become the organization's most formidable enemy. His team was moving to prepare cases against most of the Mafia leadership. The bomb made a crater 30 feet in diameter in the road Falcone's caravan was traveling. This became known as the Capaci Massacre. Less than two months later, on July 19, 1992, the Mafia struck Falcone's replacement, Judge Paolo Borsellino, also in Palermo, Sicily. Borsellino and five bodyguards were killed outside the apartment of Borsellino's mother when a car packed with explosives was detonated by remote control as the judge approached the front door of his mother's apartment.
In 1993 the authorities arrested Salvatore "Totó" Riina, believed at the time to be the capo dei capi and responsible directly or indirectly for scores if not hundreds of killings, after years of investigation which some believe was delayed by Mafia influence within the police and Carabinieri. After Riina's arrest control of the organization fell to Bernardo Provenzano who had come to reject Riina's strategy of war against the authorities in favor of a strategy of bribery, corruption and influence-peddling. As a consequence the rate of Mafia killings fell sharply but Mafia influence not only in the international drug and white slavery (prostitution) trade but locally in construction and public contracts in Sicily continued. Provenzano was himself captured in 2006 after being wanted for 43 years.
[edit] Development of Sicilian Mafia
These enterprises evolved over the course of 3,000 years during numerous periods of invasion and exploitation by numerous conquering armies in Italy. Over the millennia, as a coping mechanism, the Sicilians became more clannish and began to rely on familial ties for safety, protection, justice, and survival. An underground secret society was formed initially as resistance fighters against the invaders. They would exact frontier vigilante justice against what they considered oppression. The Man Of Honor (Uomo d' Onore) gained the respect and admiration of the people, because he protected his family and friends and kept silent even unto death. If this secret group also profited from their actions, the Sicilian people were not concerned since it was at the expense of the oppressive authorities. These secret societies eventually grew into the Mafia.
Since the 1900s, thousands of IOC figures have come illegally to the United States, most of those being Sicilian Mafiosi. Many of those Mafia members who fled to the U.S. in the early 1920s helped establish what is known today as the Cosa Nostra or the American Mafia. Charles "Lucky" Luciano, a Mafioso from Sicily, came to the U.S. during this era and is credited for making the American Cosa Nostra what it is today. Luciano structured the La Cosa Nostra after the Sicilian Mafia. When Luciano was deported back to Italy in 1946 based on his conviction for operating a prostitution ring, he became a liaison between the Sicilian Mafia and the La Cosa Nostra.
[edit] Camorra or Neapolitan Mafia
Based in Naples
The word "Camorra" means gang. The Camorra first appeared in the mid-1800s in Naples, Italy. It started as a prison gang. Once released, these members formed "clans" in the cities and continued to grow in power. The Camorra made its fortune in reconstruction after a powerful earthquake ravaged the Campania region in 1980. The Camorra is considered the second largest IOC group with over 100 clans and approximately 5,000 members. The Camorra specializes in cigarette smuggling and receives payoffs from other criminal groups for any cigarette traffic through Italy. In the 1970s, the Sicilian Mafia convinced the Camorra to convert the cigarette smuggling routes into drug smuggling routes with the Sicilian Mafia's assistance but not all Camorra leaders agreed. This brought about the Camorra Wars between two factions and almost 400 men were murdered. Those opposed to drug trafficking lost the war. It is believed that nearly 200 Camorra affiliates reside in the United States. Many came to the USA during the Camorra Wars. The Camorra conducts money laundering, extortion, alien smuggling, robbery, blackmail, kidnapping, political corruption, and counterfeiting.
[edit] 'Ndrangheta or Calabrian Mafia
Based in Calabria The word "'Ndrangheta" is of Greek origin meaning courage or loyalty. The 'Ndrangheta formed in the 1860s when a group of Sicilians were banished from Sicily by the Italian government. They settled in Calabria and formed small criminal groups. The 'Ndrangheta consists of 160 cells and approximately 6,000 members and specializes in kidnaping and political corruption. The 'Ndrangheta cells are loosely connected family groups based on blood relationships and marriages. 'Ndrangheta presence in the United States is estimated between 100 and 200 members and associates. The majority of that presence is in New York and Florida. The 'Ndrangheta is also known to engage in cocaine and heroin trafficking, murder, bombings, counterfeiting, gambling, frauds, thefts, labor racketeering, loansharking, alien smuggling, and kidnapping.
[edit] Sacra Corona Unita (Apulian Mafia)
Based in Apulia.
Law enforcement became aware of the Sacra Corona Unita in the late 1980s. It also started as a prison gang and as its members were released, they settled in the Puglia region and continued to grow and form links with other Mafia groups. The Sacra Corona Unita is headquartered in Brindisi, located in the southeastern region of Puglia. The Sacra Corona Unita consists of about 50 Clans with approximately 2,000 members and specializes in smuggling cigarettes, drugs, arms, and people. The Sacra Corona Unita collects payoffs from other criminal groups for landing rights on the southeast coast of Italy. This territory is a natural gateway for smuggling to and from post-Communist countries like Croatia, Yugoslavia, and Albania. Very few Sacra Corona Unita members have been identified in the United States, however there are some links to individuals in Illinois, Florida and possibly New York. The Sacra Corona Unita is also involved in money laundering, extortion, and political corruption.
[edit] Stidda
Based in Sicily
La Stidda (Sicilian, star) is the name given to the organization started by criminals Giuseppe Croce Benvento and Salvatore Calafato, both of Palmi di Montechiaro, Agrigento province. The Stidda's power bases are centered in the cities of Gela and Favara, Caltanissetta and Agrigento provinces. The organization's groups and activities have flourished in the cities of Agrigento, Catania, Siracusa and Enna in the provinces of the same name, Niscemi and Riesi of Caltanissetta province and Vittoria of Ragusa province, located mainly on the Southern and Eastern coasts of Sicily. The Stidda has extended it's power and influence into the mainland Italy provinces of Milano, Genova and Torino. The members of the organization are called stiddari in Caltanissetta province and stiddaroli in Agrigento province. Stidda members can be identified and sometimes introduced to each other by a tattoo of five greenish marks arranged in a circle, forming a star called "i punti della malavita" or "the points of the criminal life".
The Cosa Nostra wars of the late 1970's and early 1980's that brought the Corleonesi Clan and it's vicious and ruthless leaders Luciano Leggio, Toto Riina and Bernardo Provenzano into power caused disorganization and disenchantment inside the traditional Cosa Nostra power base and values system, leaving the growing Stidda organization to counter Cosa Nostra's power, influence and expansion in Southern and Eastern Sicily. The Stidda membership was reinforced by Cosa Nostra men of honor such as those loyal to slain Capo Giuseppe DiCristina of Riesi who had defected from Cosa Nostra's ranks due to the bloodthirsty reign of the Corleonesi clan. The organization also looked to enlarge it's membership by absorbing local thugs and criminals (picciotti) who were at the margins of organized crime to gain more power and credibility in the Italian underworld. From 1978 to 1990, former Corleonesi clan leader and pretender to the Cosa Nostra's "Capo di Tutti Capi" title, Toto Riina, waged a war within Cosa Nostra and against the Stidda spreading death and terror among mafiosi and the public in his quest for a crime dictatorship, leaving over 500 in Cosa Nostra and over 1000 in La Stidda dead, including Stidda Capos Calogero Lauria and Vincenzo Spina. With the 1993 capture and imprisonment of Toto Riina, along with the currently jailed Bernardo Provenzano's, "Cosa Nuova", following a new, less violent and low key approach to criminal activities the Stidda has gained power, influence and credibility among the longer established criminal organizations within Italy and around the world, making itself an undeworld player in the United Sates, Canada and Germany. The Stidda is sometimes called the "Fifth Mafia".
[edit] Mala del Brenta or La Mafia del Brenta
Based in Veneto
The Mala del Brenta, also known as the Mala del Piovese or Malavita del Brenta has been in operation throughout the Veneto region, across Northern Italy and into Croatia/Yugoslavia, Malta, Hungary and possibly Austria for the past twenty years.
According to Article 416-bis cp[1], introduced into Italy in 1982, the Malavita del Brenta falls into the category of mafia-type organisation displaying all the characteristics described therein.[2] This is in spite of it's origins in the Northern Italian region of the Veneto, and it's North Italian membership base. Having originally spawned from the Southern Italian organised crime syndicates, whom had operated and infiltrated the Veneto region during the 70's, their vision of unifying Veneto banditry into a mafia-style syndicate was first realised under the leadership of Felice "Angel Face" Maniero[3] throughout the 1980's and 90's.
These original Sicilian mafiosi, controlled much of the mafia activity in the Veneto, throughout the 60's and 70's, and included most notably: Salvatore "Totuccio" Contorno, Gaetano Fidanzati, Antonino Duca and Gaetano & Salvatore Badalamenti and Giuseppe Madonia.[4] Veneti malavitosi, or underworld figures and bandits, learned from these Sicilians the necessary means for organising themselves and taking the reins of control from the successive two decades.
Often referred to as the other fifth and smallest of the Mafia organisations across Italy, it operates under the sanction of the Corleonesi clan from Sicily and has strong links with other Cosa Nostra families, the 'Ndrangheta, Camorra and La Stidda[5].
[edit] Italian crime in U.S. and other foreign countries
Those currently active in the United States are the Sicilian Mafia, Camorra or Neapolitan Mafia, 'Ndrangheta or Calabrian Mafia, and Sacra Corona Unita or "United Sacred Crown". The FBI refers to them as "Italian Organized Crime" (IOC).
The FBI estimates the size of the four IOC groups to be approximately 25,000 members and 250,000 affiliates worldwide. There are more than 3,000 members and affiliates in the United States scattered mostly throughout the major cities in the Northeast, the Midwest, California, and the South. However, their largest presence centers around Boston, New York, northern New Jersey, and Philadelphia. Their criminal activities are international with members and affiliates in Canada, South America, Australia, and parts of Europe. These organizations are also known to collaborate with other international organized crime groups from all over the world.
The major threat to American society posed by IOC groups centers around drug trafficking and money laundering. IOC groups have been involved in heroin trafficking for decades. Two major investigations which targeted IOC drug trafficking in the 1980s are known as the "French Connection" and "Pizza Connection." These and other investigations have documented their cooperation in drug trafficking with other major drug trafficking organizations. IOC groups are also involved in illegal gambling, political corruption, extortion, kidnapping, frauds, counterfeiting, infiltration of legitimate businesses, murders, bombings, and weapons trafficking. Industry experts in Italy estimate that their worldwide criminal activity is worth more than $100 billion annually.
