Italian Organized Crime and the Albanian ConnectionCJUS 3310 Organized and Consensual CrimeItalian Organized Crime and the Albanian ConnectionIn this chapter we begin our examination of organized crime on the global scene, sometimes referred to as transnational organized crime. Our focus will be on criminal organizations that have affected, or have the potential to affect, the United States. We will begin our examination with four of these criminal organizations—Mafia, Camorra, 'Ndrangheta, and the Sacra Corona Unita (with its Albanian connection)—which have their roots in southern Italy, theMezzogiorno.THE MEZZOGIORNO- The southern Italian experience dates back more than 1000 years. It led to development of a culture that stresses the variables necessary for survival in a hostile environment.- To be respected meant to be entitled to the deference of others that came from the ability to use violence.- Omertá: the southern Italian ideal of manliness--non-cooperation with authorities, self-control in the face of adversity, and the vendetta.THE MEZZOGIORNO (CONT.)- The vendetta--"blood washes blood"--dictated that any offense or slight to the famiglia (family) had to be avenged.- The only basis of loyalty was famiglia--"blood of my blood" (sangu de me sangu).- Neither government nor church was to be trusted.- The famiglia included all one's blood relatives, including distant cousins, tracedthrough paternity.- The famiglia was organized hierarchically under the patriarch, the capo de famiglia.THE MEZZOGIORNO (CONT.)- The Mezzogiorno remained mired in feudalism and dependent on agriculture; a legacy of political, social, and economic repression; and exploitation.- Government spending on building projects became a vehicle for Mafia infiltration. By corruption and intimidation, Mafia-controlled firms took a share of public contracts.- 3 types of criminal organization emerged: the Neapolitan Camorra, Calabrian 'Ndrangheta, and The Mafia (Cosa Nostra).THE SICILIAN MAFIA- Sicily is an island in the Mediterranean.- In the 19th century, successive regimes of Mafia clans maintained a uniquely Sicilian form of order--brutal, at times protecting the landed elite, at other timesprotecting outlaws.- The government in Rome imposed a tax policy that took money out of Sicilian agriculture to invest in the north.- Landowners escaped high taxes. "Strong men" administered their lands and acted as patrons to the peasants on the lands, and were assumed to be mafiosi.MAFIA- "Mafia" has Sicilian-Arabic roots.- "Mafia" as a state of mind has a meaning shared by all Sicilians: aid each other, side with friends, fight common enemies, defend, avenge, keep secrets, and beware of authorities.- "Mafia" could not flourish without "mafia," which represents a general attitude toward the state.- A mafioso did not invoke state or law in his private quarrels, but made himself respected by winning a reputation for toughness and courage.- The use of private violence in settling disputes was accepted, because there wasno effective state policing.MUSSOLINI AND THE MAFIA- An incident in a Sicilian town in 1924 between Il Duce and a mayor resulted in Mussolini's placing the brutal Prefect Mori in charge of purging the Mafia.- Some mafiosi traveled to the US, arriving at an opportune time--Prohibition.- In Sicily, the Mafia infiltrated Mussolini's Fascist regime, and when WWII ended, emerged as the Nuovo Mafia--a "new" Mafia.NUOVO MAFIA/COSA NOSTRA- The end of WWII brought a Mafia renaissance in Sicily; a vacuum in local leadership was filled by former capomafiosi.- They were respected local figures and, as victims of Prefect Mori, they could pose as anti-fascists.- They violently thwarted the efforts of trade unionists, socialists, communists, and land reformers.NUOVO MAFIA/COSA NOSTRA (cont.)- The old mafioso prized power--rispetto. The old Mafia chief dressed in shirtsleeves and baggy pants, although he was a multimillionaire.- The new mafioso wants money, dresses like a wealthy businessman, and disregards the rural traditions.- The New Mafia has a distinctly American tint, the result of American gangsters being deported to Sicily, where they assumed leading positions in the hierarchy.- NUOVO MAFIA/COSA NOSTRA (cont.)- The New Mafia (Cosa Nostra) robbed and kidnaped to accumulate capital to bea player in the construction industry and the heroin and cocaine markets.- Drug money changed the functioning and mode of organization of the Mafia, which became urban entrepreneurs.- Totò "The Beast" Riina became head of the Corleone cosca, in 1974. With a reign of terror, he achieved dominance of the New Mafia.POLITICS AND THE MAFIA- Italy is the home of 3 world powers: the Italian government, the Catholic Church, and the Mafia.- From 1945-1993, the Christian Democratic Party (CDP) ruled Italy, and the party's bedrock was the mezzogiorno, especially the "friends" in Sicily.- Intimidation of voters is seldom necessary. Voters follow the Mafia's "marching orders" without force.- The vote simply indicates support for a clientele-type group.THE STRUCTURE OF THE MAFIA- The center of the Mafia is the padrino or capomafioso around whom other mafiosi gather, forming a cosca.- It is a network of 2-man patron-client relationships based on kinship, patronage, and friendship.- The mafioso succeeds because he commands a network of partnerships where he is able to act as a broker, providing services, including votes and violence for the holders of institutional power.- Flexibility prevents the cosca from becoming bureaucratic.THE STRUCTURE OF THE MAFIA- The mafioso serves as a guarantor for price rigging and collusive bidding on construction projects.- Kinship strengthens cohesion, so sons, brothers, and nephews are often admitted to cosca membership.- An affiliation ceremony creates ritual ties of brotherhood among the members of a cosca. Once initiated into the cosca, the mafioso is acompadre.- The New Mafia has a membership of 5,000+, each with his own network, divided into about 180 cosche.FROM UN UOMO DI RESPETTOTO GANGSTER- The mafioso was no longer un uomo di rispetto, but just an urban gangster in the American tradition.- In 1982, the archbishop of Palermo led Sicilian priests in a campaign against the Mafia. Since 1983, Palermo has elected and re-elected an anti-Mafia mayor.- In 1992, Prosecutors Falcone and Borsellino were killed.- Falcone's murder led to an anti-Mafia demonstration of 40,000 persons in Palermo.-