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ORGANIZED

Howard Abadinsky. ORGANIZED. CRIME. Eighth Edition. CHAPTER. FIVE. ITALIAN ORGANIZED CRIME. BIRTH of the MAFIA An outgrowth of a centuries-old tradition of non-cooperation with authorities. Holds family to be the only basis of loyalty.

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ORGANIZED

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  1. Howard Abadinsky ORGANIZED CRIME Eighth Edition

  2. CHAPTER FIVE ITALIAN ORGANIZED CRIME

  3. BIRTH of the MAFIA An outgrowth of a centuries-old tradition of non-cooperation with authorities. Holds family to be the only basis of loyalty. Licensed to use violence by the ruling classes of the day. Founded on codes of honor, secrecy, silence. Brought order and dispensed more equitable justice than was provided by the state. Views issues not as who is “right” and who is “wrong.” Instead, “might makes right;” the victorious party prevails regardless of original conflict.

  4. MUSSOLINI and the MAFIA Beginning in 1924, Mussolini’s fascist forces swept into southern Italy to destroy the mafiosi. The mafiosi went underground, assumed key positions in local government, and bided time. Many fled to the U.S. Arriving in the midst of Prohibition, they took up important positions in emerging American criminal organizations. When fascism fell after World War II, the Nuovo Mafia—a “new” Mafia—emerged.

  5. POST-WAR ITALIAN OC Many Sicilian mafiosi became mayors under the Allied military government. When Rome granted Sicily autonomy in 1946, the mafiosi-supported Christian Democratic Party (CDP) took control and held power until the early 1990s. The CDP gave capomafiosi places of honor in the party, advertising the alliance between official power and the Mafia’s informal power.

  6. Cosa Nostra accumulated capital through robbery and kidnapping, then used the funds to enter lucrative heroin and cocaine trades. They also maintained territorial dominance by extorting protection money from businesses. The drug money changed the Mafia as they adopted the extravagant consumerism that incredible wealth permits. The Mafia remained strong through the early 1990s because of their ability to control the votes that kept the CDP in power.

  7. By 1993, increasing scandal and European communism’s collapse ended the CDP’s reign. This cost the Mafia their ability to act as brokers between peasants and officialdom. Suddenly, mafiosi were viewed as nothing more than urban gangsters, a la American OC. Their own excesses, aggressive anti-Mafia politicians, and increasing numbers of informers have combined to significantly weaken the Mafia in Sicily.

  8. STRUCTURE of the MAFIA • The center is the padrino or capomafioso, • around whom other mafiosi gather to form • a cosca. • The typical cosca has 15–20 members, with • a nucleus of 4 or 5 blood relatives. • The structure is a network of patron-client • relationships based on kinship, patronage, • and friendship. • Each village has a cosca; collectively, they • are the Mafia.

  9. The Mafia’s four levels of organization: • The famiglia, always the base unit • The cosca, an alliance of families • The consorteria, an alliance of cosche • The collective consorterie form in • solidarity as the oneratasocietá

  10. THE NEAPOLITAN CAMORRA Organized in Spanish prisons during Bourbon rule in early nineteenth century, eventually moved out to control Naples itself. Principal industries: extortion, smuggling, gambling, usury. More organized and disciplined than Mafia. Criminals in Naples are still identified as Camorra; there is no direct link to the past. Last boss of traditional Camorra died in 1989. Territorial control is crucial to Camorra, and is maintained by ruthlessness and extortion.

  11. THE ‘NDRANGHETA • Has popular support because of political • stance against the central government. • Active in kidnapping; vast-scale international • arms and drug trafficking; extortion, and control • of public contracts. • Extremely violent. • Women frequently play important roles, even • running family enterprises. • Basic structural unit is the andrine. • Has a commission that mediates disputes.

  12. SACRA CORONA UNITA /ALBANIANS In the late 1970s/early 1980s, local gangs in the Puglia region coalesced into the SCU. Has close ties to the Balkans, especially Albania, across the Strait of Otranto. Provides smuggling services to Mafia, Camorra, and ‘Ndrangheta. Active in the smuggling of heroin, hashish, cocaine, arms, and illegal immigrants. Extremely violent. Ties to Colombian, Russian, and Southeast and Southwest Asian criminal groups.

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