Italian mafia: history of appearance and activity. The names of the Italian mafiosi are the most famous gangsters in the world

There is no person in the world who has not heard of Italy. A beautiful country ... It surprises us with the architecture of the Vatican, citrus plantations, warm climate and gentle sea. But one more thing made this country popular all over the world - it's the Italian mafia. There are many large criminal groups in the world, but none arouses such interest as this one.

History of the Sicilian Mafia

Mafia is a purely Sicilian name for independent criminal organizations. Mafia is the name of an independent criminal organization. There are 2 versions of the origin of the word "mafia":

• It is an abbreviation of the motto of the Sicilian Vespers riot of 1282. It remains from the time when Sicily was the territory of the Arabs, and meant protection ordinary people from prevailing lawlessness.
• The Sicilian mafia takes its roots from the XII century. sects of the followers of St. Francis di Paolo. They spent their days praying, and at night they robbed the rich and shared with the poor.

There is a clear hierarchy in the mafia:

1. CapodiTuttiCapi is the head of all families.
2. CapodiCapiRe is a title given to the head of a family who has retired from business.
3. Capofamiglia is the head of one clan.
4. Consigliere is a consultant to the head. Has influence on him, but is devoid of serious power.
5. SottoCapo is the second person in the family after the head.
6. Capo is a mafia captain. Subdues 10 - 25 people.
7. Soldato - the first step on career ladder mafia.
8. Picciotto are people who want to be part of a group.
9. GiovaneD'Onore - friends and allies of the mafia. Often, not Italians.

Commandments of the Cosa Nostra

The "top" and "bottom" of the organization rarely intersect, they may not even know each other by sight. But sometimes the "soldier" knows enough useful information for the police about his "employer". The group had its own Code of Honor:

• Clan members help each other under any circumstances;
• An insult to one of the members is considered an insult to the entire group;
• Unquestioning obedience;
• The "family" itself administers justice and its execution;
• In case of betrayal by any of the members of his clan, he and his entire family are punished;
• A vow of silence or omerta. It is a ban on any cooperation with the police.
• Vendetta. Revenge is based on the principle of "blood for blood".

In the XX century. interest in the Italian mafia was shown not only by the police, but also by artists. This created a kind of romantic halo about the life of a mafia. But do not forget that, first of all, these are cruel criminals who profit from the misfortunes of ordinary people. The mafia is alive now, because it is immortal. Only changed a little.

Corleone family

Thanks to the novel "The Godfather", the whole world learned about the Corleone family. What kind of family is this and what do they have to do with the real Sicilian mafia?

The Corleone family (Corleonesi) was indeed at the head of the entire Sicilian mafia (Cosa Nostra) in the 80-90s of the XX century. They gained their power during the Second Mafia War. Other families underestimated them a little and in vain! The Corleonesi family did not stand on ceremony with the people who interfered with them; they had a huge number of murders on their conscience. The loudest of them: the murder of General Dalla Chiesa and his wife. General Chiesa is the prototype of the famous Captain Katani from the TV series Octopus.

In addition, there were many more high-profile murders: Communist Party leader Pio La Torre, family traitor Francesco Maria Manoia and his family, as well as very high-profile murders of rivals: the leader of the Riesi clan, Giuseppe Di Cristina, nicknamed "Tiger" and Michele Cavataio, nicknamed "Cobra" . The latter was the instigator of the first mafia war in the sixties of the twentieth century. The Corleone family dealt with him very easily. In addition to brutal murders, the Corleone family was famous for its well-organized and extensive mafia network.

Don Vito Corleone

Fictional character from The Godfather! who led the Corleone clan in Italy and the United States. The prototype of this character was Luciano Leggio, Bernardo Provenzano, Toto Riina, and Leoluca Bagarella - the famous leaders of the Corleone family.

Sicilian mafia today

Significant efforts are being made to eradicate such a phenomenon as the Sicilian mafia. Every week in Italy there is news about the arrest of another representative of the mafia clan. However, the mafia is immortal and still has power. More than a third of all illegal business in Italy is still controlled by representatives of Cosa Nostra. In the 21st century, the Italian police achieved significant success, but this only led to the fact that the conspiracy in the ranks of the mafiosi intensified. Now this is not a centralized group, but several disparate clans, the heads of which communicate only in exceptional cases.

Today, in Cosa Nostra, about 5,000 participants and seventy percent of Sicily's businessmen still pay tribute to the mafia.

Tour in the footsteps of the Sicilian Mafia

We offer a guided tour in the footsteps of the Sicilian mafia. We will visit the most iconic places of Palermo and the family nest of the Corleone family: the town of the same name. .

Photo of the Sicilian mafia

In conclusion, a few photos of the mafia

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Etc).

Etymology [ | ]

Until now, the origin of the word "mafia" (in the early texts - "maffia") has not been precisely established, and therefore there are many assumptions of varying degrees of certainty.

The Italian MP Leopoldo Franchetti, who traveled in Sicily and wrote one of the first authoritative accounts of the Mafia in 1876, described the latter as an "industry of violence" and defined it as follows: "The term Mafia implies a class of violent criminals, ready and waiting for themselves a name that would describe them, and, in view of their special character and importance in the life of Sicilian society, they are entitled to another name, different from the vulgar "criminals" in other countries. Franchetti saw how deeply the Mafia was ingrained in Sicily society and realized that it was impossible to put an end to it without a fundamental change in the social structure and institutions of the entire island.

Story [ | ]

The mafia was formed during the period of lawlessness and weakness of state power structures in Sicily during the reign of the Bourbon dynasty and the post-Bourbon period as a structure that regulates relations in Sicilian society (at the same time, a similar criminal structure of the Camorra is being formed in Naples). However, the socio-political prerequisites for the emergence of the mafia appeared long before that.

Arrests of mafia leaders in Italy[ | ]

Italian internal affairs bodies have been fighting the mafia with varying degrees of success for many decades. In November 2009, the Italian police arrested the second most important leader of the Sicilian mafia, Domenico Racciuglia. According to the Minister of the Interior of Italy, Roberto Maroni, this dealt one of the hardest blows to the mafia in recent years. Earlier, in October 2009, the Italian police managed to detain three of the most important leaders of the Camorra - the Pasquale brothers, Salvatore and Carmine Russo.

Typical "family" structure[ | ]

• Don(ital. don, ital. capomafioso) - the head of the family. Receives information about any "case" committed by each member of the family. Don is elected by vote capo. In the event of a tie in the number of votes, the Don's henchman. Until the 1950s, all family members generally participated in voting, but later this practice was abandoned because it attracted the attention of law enforcement agencies.
• underboss, or assistant(eng. underboss) - the "deputy" of the don, the second person in the family, who is appointed by the don himself. The henchman is responsible for the actions of all capos. In the event of the arrest or death of a don, the henchman usually becomes an acting don.
• Consigliere(Italian consigliere) - family adviser, a person whom the don can trust and whose advice he listens to. He serves as an intermediary in resolving disputes, mediates between the don and bribed political, trade union or judicial officials, or acts as a representative of the family at meetings with other families. The consigliere, as a rule, does not have its own "team", they usually have only one "soldier" under their command. Despite this, they still have significant influence in the family. However, the consigliere usually also has a legitimate business, such as practicing law or working as a stockbroker.
• Caporegime(ital. caporegime), capo, or captain- the head of a "team", or "combat group" (consisting of "soldiers"), which is responsible for one or more types of criminal activity in a certain area of ​​\u200b\u200bthe city and monthly gives the boss a part of the income received from this activity ("sends a share") . There are usually 6-9 such teams in a family, and each of them has up to 10 soldiers. The kapo is subordinate to an assistant or to the don himself. The introduction to the kapo is made by an assistant, but the kapo is personally appointed by the don.
• Soldier(eng. soldier, italian regime) - the youngest member of the family who was "introduced" into the family, firstly, because he proved his usefulness to her, and secondly, on the recommendation of one or more capos. Once selected, a soldier usually ends up on the team whose capo recommended him.
• Partner in crime(eng. associate) - not yet a family member, but already a person endowed with a certain status. He usually acts as an intermediary in transactions for the sale of, for example, drugs, acts as a bribed representative of a trade union or businessman, etc. Non-Italians are usually not accepted into the family and almost always remain in the status of accomplices. When a "vacancy" arises, one or more kapos may recommend that a useful accomplice be promoted to soldier. In the event that there are several such proposals, and there is only one vacancy, the don selects the candidate.

"Ten Commandments"[ | ]

According to other sources, the Ten Commandments do not have a traditional history and were written by Lo Piccolo himself as an instruction to the younger generation.

American mafia[ | ]

In the late 19th century, all four branches of the Italian mafia took root on the East Coast of the United States. In Italy in -1945, the mafia, represented by the authoritative boss of the BAC in both the USA and Sicily, actively helped the anti-fascists and the Anglo-American troops. The influence of the Italian mafia in the USA reached its highest point in the middle of the 20th century. The tandem of the mafia and trade unions in the mid-1950s forced the government to make concessions to the latter. Since the 1960s, the mafia in the United States has been in fierce competition with organized crime groups of African Americans, Mexicans, Colombians and Chinese, and has maintained contacts with Slavic organized crime groups and the Aryan Brotherhood.

FBI investigations in the 1980s significantly reduced her influence. Currently, the mafia in the United States is a network of criminal organizations in the country, using their position to control much of the Chicago and New York criminal business. She also maintains links with the Sicilian mafia.

The current structure of the Italian-American mafia, which on the whole repeats the Italian one, as well as the ways of its activities, were largely determined by Salvatore Maranzano - "boss of bosses" (Killed by Lucky Luciano six months after his election). The latest trend in family organization is the emergence of two new "positions" - Street Boss(eng. street boss) and family messenger(eng. family messenger), - introduced by the former boss of the Genovese family, Vincent Gigante.

Criminal communities in various countries of the world[ | ]

Italian communities[ | ]

Leading Organizations[ | ]

Other organizations[ | ]

Italian American communities[ | ]

• " Detroit partnership" (eng.) (eng. Detroit partnership)
• " Chicago organization" (eng.) (eng. Chicago Outfit)
• Cleveland "family"
• Purple Gang of East Harlem ("The Sixth Family")
• "Family" from Buffalo
• "Family" Buffalino
• DeCavalcante family (New Jersey)
• "Family" from Los Angeles
• "Family" from New Orleans
• Family from Pittsburgh
• "Family" from St. Louis
• "Family" Trafficante
• Philadelphia "family"

Other ethnic communities[ | ]

• Azerbaijani mafia (USA, Europe, Russia, Turkey)
• Armenian mafia (see Armenian Power) (United States, Eastern Europe, Western Asia, Africa,)
• (Russia, Europe)
• Colombian drug cartels: Medellin Cartel, Cali Cartel, North Valley Cartel
• Mexican mafia (Mexico, USA). Not to be confused with Mexico's drug mafia: Tijuana Cartel, Juárez Cartel, Golfo Cartel, Sinaloa Cartel, Los Setas, etc.
• Salvadoran Mafia (Countries of North and Central America)
• OPG (Russia) - Balashikha, Luberetskaya, Orekhovskaya, Solntsevo, Chechen and other organized crime groups.
• Triad (China)
• (Turkey, Netherlands, Germany, Belgium, Balkans, Austria, England, USA)
• (Ukraine), (USA), (Europe)
• Yakuza (Japan)
• Raskola (Papua New Guinea)
• Premany (Indonesia)

Influence on popular culture[ | ]

The mafia and its reputation are firmly rooted in American popular culture, being depicted in movies, television, books, and magazine articles.

Some see the mafia as a set of attributes deeply rooted in popular culture, as a "way of being" - "the mafia is the awareness of one's own worth, the great idea of ​​individual power as the sole judge in every conflict, every clash of interests or ideas" .

Italian mafia appeared in the show "Deadly Warrior", where she fought the Yakuza.

In film and television[ | ]

• Crime stories (TV series, 1986-1988)

The world has long been fighting the state against criminal clans, but the mafia is still alive. Currently, there are many criminal gangs, each of which has its own boss and mastermind. Criminal authorities often feel unpunished and create real criminal empires, intimidating civilians and government officials. They live by their own laws, the violation of which often leads to death. This article presents 10 famous mafiosi who really left a noticeable mark on the history of the mafia.

1. Al Capone

When the family moved to the US in search of a better life he had to work hard. He worked in a pharmacy and a bowling alley, and even in a candy store. However, Al Capone was attracted to the nocturnal lifestyle. At 19, while working at a pool club, he made a cheeky comment about the wife of felon Frank Galuccio. After the ensuing fight and stabbing, he was left with a scar on his left cheek. Daring Al Capone learned to skillfully handle knives and was invited to the "Gang of Five Trunks". Known for his brutality in the massacre of competitors, he organized the Massacre on Valentine's Day, when, on his orders, seven tough mafiosi from the Bugs Moran group were shot dead.
His cunning helped him get out and avoid punishment for his crimes. The only thing he was jailed for was tax evasion. After leaving prison, where he spent 5 years, his health was undermined. He contracted syphilis from one of the prostitutes and died at the age of 48.

2. Lucky Luciano

Later, he became the leader of the Cosa Nostra and controlled all areas of activity in the criminal environment. Maranzano's gangsters tried to find out where he was hiding drugs and for this they tricked him into taking him to the highway, where they tortured, cut and beat him. Luciano kept the secret. The bloody body with no signs of life was thrown to the side of the road and after 8 hours it was found by a police patrol. In the hospital, he received 60 stitches and saved his life. After that, they began to call him Lucky. (Lucky).

3. Pablo Escobar

At 22, Escobar has already become a famous authority in poor neighborhoods. The poor supported him as he built cheap housing for them. Becoming the head of a drug cartel, he earned billions. In 1989, his fortune was more than 15 billion. During his criminal activities, he was involved in the murders of more than a thousand policemen, journalists, several hundred judges and prosecutors, various officials.

4. John Gotti

5. Carlo Gambino

9. Vincent Gigante

Hearing the word "mafia", today's law-abiding citizen will imagine a number of associations: he will simultaneously remember that crime in the world has not yet been defeated and is found literally at every step, then he will smile and say that the "Mafia" is funny psychological game, so beloved by students, but in the end imagines severe men of Italian appearance in raincoats and wide-brimmed hats and with the same Thompson submachine guns in their hands, simultaneously losing the legendary melody of the composer Nino Rota in his head ... The image of the mafiosi is romantic and sung in popular culture, but at the same time we despise the guardians of order and the victims of their crimes (if they, by a lucky chance, remained alive).

The term "mafia" and the traditional idea of ​​mafiosi as "men in raincoats and hats" appeared thanks to people from Sicily who moved to New York in the 19th century and took control of it in the 30s of the 20th century. As for the origin of the word "mafia" is being a large number of disputes. The most common opinion about the etymology of the word is its Arabic roots ("marfood" in Arabic "outcast").

Mafia moves to the USA

It is known that the first Sicilian mafia who arrived in the United States was Giuseppe Esposito, who was accompanied by 6 more Sicilians. In 1881 he was arrested in New Orleans. In the same place, 9 years later, the first high-profile murder organized by the mafia in the United States took place - a successful attempt on the life of New Orleans police chief David Hennessy ( last words Hennessy: "The Italians did it!"). In the next 10 years in New York, the Sicilian mafia will organize the "Gang of Five Points" - the first influential gang of the city, which took control of the "Little Italy" area. At the same time, the Neapolitan Camorra gang is gaining momentum in Brooklyn.

The Mafia flourished in the 1920s. This was facilitated by factors such as prohibition (the name of the "King of Chicago" Al Capone has become a household name today), as well as the struggle of Benito Mussolini with the Sicilian mafia, which led to the mass immigration of Sicilians to the United States. In New York in the 1920s, two mafia clans, Giuseppe Masseria and Salvatore Maranzana, became the most powerful families. As is often the case, the two families did not divide the Big Apple properly, leading to the three-year Castellammares War (1929-1931). The Maranzana clan won, Salvatore became the "boss of bosses", but later fell victim to conspirators led by Lucky Luciano (real name - Salvatore Lucania, "Lucky" is, of course, a nickname).

"Lucky" Luciano in a police picture.

It was Lucky Luciano who should be considered the founder of the so-called "Commission" (1931), the purpose of which is to prevent cruel gang wars. "Commission" is a primordially Sicilian invention: the heads of mafia clans get together and solve truly global problems of mafia activity in the United States. From the first days, 7 people took their place in the commission, among which were both Al Capone and 5 bosses from New York - the leaders of the legendary "Five Families"

Five Families

In New York, from the thirties of the 20th century to the present day, all criminal activity is carried out by the five largest "families". Today, these are the “families” of Genovese, Gambino, Lucchese, Colombo and Bonanno (they got their names from the names of the ruling bosses, whose names became public in 1959, when the police arrested mafia informant Joe Valachi (he managed to live until 1971 and died his death despite a bounty being placed on his head by the Genovese family).

Genovese family

Don Vito Genovese

The founders are conspirator Lucky Luciano and Joe Masseria. The family was nicknamed "The Ivy League in the Mafia" or "Rolls Royce in the Mafia". The man who gave the family his last name is Vito Genovese, who became boss in 1957. Vito considered himself the most powerful boss in New York, but was easily "eliminated" by the Gambino family: after being in power for 2 years, he was imprisoned for 15 years for drug trafficking and died in prison in 1969. Today's boss of the Genovese clan Daniel Leo rules over a family from prison (his term expires in January 2011). The Genovese family is the inspiration for the Corleone Family in The Godfather. Family activities: racketeering, complicity in crime, money laundering, usury, murder, prostitution, drug trafficking.

Gambino family

Don Carlo Gambino in young age...

The family's first boss was Salvatore De Aquila, who served as boss of bosses until his death in 1928. In 1957, Carlo Gambino came to power, the period of his reign lasted until 1976 (he died a natural death). In 1931, Gambino held the position of caporegime in the Mangano family (caporegime is one of the most influential mafiosi in every family, reports directly to the family boss or his deputies). Over the next 20 years, he climbed the “career ladder” of the mafiosi, eliminating enemies and competitors with great ease, and while in power, extended the influence of his Family to a vast area.

... and a few days before death

Since 2008, the family has been led by Daniel Marino, Bartolomeo Vernache and John Gambino, a distant relative of Carlo Gambino. The Families' list of criminal activities does not stand out from similar lists of the other four families. Money is made on everything from prostitution to racketeering and drug trafficking.

Lucchese family

Don Gaetano Lucchese

From the beginning of the 20s, the Family was created by the efforts of Gaetano Reina, after whose death in 1930 another Gaetano, by the name of Galliano, continued his work, who remained in power until 1953. The third successive leader of the Family with the name Gaetano was the man who gave the Family his last name, Gaetano "Tommy" Lucchese. "Tommy" Lucchese helped Carlo Gambino and Vito Genovese achieve leadership in their Families. Together with Carlo, Gaetano took control of the "Commission" by 1962 (their children played a rather magnificent wedding that year). Since 1987, the de jure family has been led by Vittorio Amuso, and de facto by a commission of three Caporegimes: Agnelo Migliore, Joseph DiNapoli and Matthew Madonna.

Colombo family

Don Joseph Colombo

The "youngest" family in New York. It has been operating since 1930, from the same year until 1962, the boss of the Family was Joe Profaci (in the 1928 photograph that opened the article, Joe Profaci was captured in a wheelchair). Despite the fact that Joseph Colombo did not become boss until 1962 (with the blessing of Carlo Gambino), the Family was named after his last name, and not Profaci's. Joe Colombo actually retired in 1971 when he received three bullets in the head, but survived. For the next 7 years, he lived without leaving a coma in a state that his accomplice Joe Gallo described as "vegetable".

Today, the boss of the Colombo family is Carmine Persico, who is serving a life sentence (139 years) for extortion, murder and racketeering. Persico's so-called "acting" boss is Andrew Russo

Bonanno family

Don Joseph Bonanno

Founded in the 1920s, the first boss was Cola Schiro. In 1930, Salvatore Maranzano took his place. After the conspiracy of Lucky Luciano and the creation of the Commission by the Family until 1964, Joe Bonanno was in charge.

In the 60s, the family survived civil war(Which the papers wittily dubbed the "Bonann Split"). The commission decided to remove Joe Bonanno from power and replace him with Caporegime Gaspar DiGregorio. One part supported Bonanno (loyalists), the second was, of course, against him. The war turned out to be bloody and protracted, even the removal of DiGregorio from the position of boss by the Commission did not help. New boss Paul Schiacca couldn't handle the violence within the divided family. The war ended in 1968, when Joe Bonanno, who was in hiding, suffered a heart attack and decided to retire. He lived to the age of 97 and died in 2002. From 1981 to 2004, the Family was not a member of the Commission due to a number of "unacceptable crimes". Today, the position of the Family's boss remains vacant, but Vincent Asaro is expected to fill it.

The Five Families now control the entire New York metropolitan area, including even northern New Jersey. They also conduct their business outside the state, for example, in Las Vegas, South Florida or Connecticut. You can look at the zones of influence of families on Wikipedia.

In popular culture, the Mafia is remembered in many ways. In cinematography, this is, of course, The Godfather with its own Five Families of New York (Corleone, Tataglia, Barzini, Cuneo, Stracci), as well as the cult HBO series The Soprano Family, which tells about the connections of the DiMeo Family from New York. -Jersey with one of the families of New York (appears under the name "The Lupertaci Family").

In the video game industry, the theme of the Sicilian mafia is successfully embodied by the Czech game "Mafia" (the prototype of the setting is San Francisco in the thirties, in which the Salieri and Morello families are fighting), and its sequel, which was released no more than a couple of months before this article was written , is dedicated to the criminal activity of the Three Families in the prototype of New York called "Empire Bay" already in the 50s. The cult game Grand Theft Auto IV also presents the Five Families, but in a modern setting and again under fictitious names.

The Godfather - a cult film by Francis Ford-Coppola about the Sicilian mafia in New York

The Five Families of New York is a unique phenomenon in the world of organized crime. This is one of the most influential gangster structures on the planet, created by immigrants (still the basis of every family is mostly Italian-Americans), which has developed a clear hierarchy and strict traditions dating back to the 19th century. The "mafia" thrives despite constant arrests and high-profile lawsuits, which means that its history continues with us.

Sources:

2) Cosa Nostra - The History of the Sicilian mafia

5) Images taken from the portal "en.wikipedia.org"

http://www.bestofsicily.com/mafia.htm

So, the promised ... today I will talk about what excites the mind of a person as soon as the word Sicily is pronounced - about the famous Sicilian mafia. However, the fans Godfather Disappointment awaits: thanks to the tireless struggle of the prosecutor Falcone, the capital of Sicily today has become almost the quietest and most peaceful city in all of Italy. They say that the mafia is even more than that - it is very interested in tourists coming to Sicily and Palermo as well, because tourism makes up a significant part of the income for this island.

"Mafia" is an exclusively Sicilian concept. In other regions of Italy, similar organizations bore and bear different names ("Ndrangetta" - in Calabria, "Sacra Crown Unit" - in Apulia, "Camorra" - in Naples).

It is generally accepted that the mafia is a fairly complex branched criminal organization with its own strict laws and traditions, whose history goes back to the Middle Ages. In those distant times, people armed with swords and lances, hiding their faces under hoods, were hiding in the underground galleries of Palermo - members of the mysterious religious sect "Beati Paoli". The very name "mafia" appeared in the XVII century. It is assumed that the word is based on an Arabic root meaning "protection"; there are also other interpretations of it. - "refuge", "poverty", "secret murder", "witch" ... In the 19th century, the mafia was a brotherhood that protected "unfortunate Sicilians from foreign exploiters", in particular, from the time of the Bourbons. The struggle ended with a revolution in 1860, but the peasants, instead of their former oppressors, found new ones in the person of their compatriots. Moreover, the latter managed to introduce into the life of Sicilian society the relations and code of conduct that had developed in the bowels of a secret terrorist organization. The criminal orientation quickly became the cornerstone of the "brotherhood", the corruption with which it supposedly fought was in fact the basis of its existence, mutual assistance turned into mutual responsibility.

In general, after the death of Falcone and Borsellino, the most severe repressions were carried out on the island, aimed at destroying the mafia bosses, or at least ensuring that they were in prison. And they say that now the mafia has a female face, which means that the clans are controlled by the wives of mafiosi who are in prison, carrying out all activities at their direction.

For those who are interested, a bit of history... Today, Palermo Airport bears the names of Falcone and Borsellino, who have become a legend in today's Italy.

In the 1950s and 60s of the last century, the Italian government, under pressure from democratic forces, began an official fight against mafia crime. A special body was created - "Antimafia", a number of major leaders of this organization were arrested. The next wave of the fight against the mafia swept across the country in the late 70s and early 80s. Prosecutor Giovanni Falcone and his successor Paolo Borsellino, like no other, worked hard to clear Sicily of the mafia. Falcone, who became the prototype of the famous Commissioner of Catania, announced in 1980 that he was starting to fight the "curse of Sicily." For the first time, he ensured that the arrested criminal violated the omerta law - a conspiracy of silence that makes the mafia invulnerable - and testified against other mafiosi. Departure from the "omerta" according to the laws of the underworld is punishable by death. And Falcone convinced the state that people who testify against the mafia and their families need to be protected. By this, he somewhat dispelled the fear of the revenge of the powerful clans of Sicily. In addition, Falcone achieved the adoption of an article in the criminal code, according to which the mafiosi who ended up in prison must be kept in absolute isolation. Thus, the offender could not direct the actions of his family from imprisonment. In just one of the many trials against the mafia, Falcone sent 342 criminals to jail for a total of 2,665 years. Naturally, the activities of Falcone could not please the mafia, accustomed to considering itself the only real power in Sicily. And the criminal community has taken retaliatory steps. In 1992, Giovanni Falcone, along with his wife, was blown up in a car on their way from the airport to the city.

Today, mafia members aren't as flashy as we had the pleasure of seeing in The Godfather or Once Upon a Time in America, they don't roam the city in smart suits and polished shoes. Rather, all these attributes of wealth, of course, are present in the current members, but the mafia has firmly established itself in politics and business, having completely lost its former gloss. Today in Sicily there are no companies, either small or large, that do not deduct their percentage of the mafia, no matter who writes about this and what.

It is authentically known that small shops pay from 500 to 1000 euros per quarter, jewelry stores and others selling expensive goods - 2500-3000 euros, big shops pay 5000 euros. Shopkeepers whose family members are in prison are exempted from fees, as are those merchants whose relatives serve in the police. Store owners who lost loved one are exempt from payments for one quarter. If a person decides to open a new store in Sicily, then he has to pay a large amount of money in order to get permission from the mafia. Mafiosi who come to Sicily from other regions must give 3% of their income to local mafia bosses.

No one would ever dare, living on this island, to do something like this ... this is not my opinion, but heard from different people with whom we were able to talk on this topic. They all began to speak rather reluctantly, trying to keep quiet, but the husband knows how to chat with anyone, and people began to tell him their stories and how everything really is.

Mafia is alive! And there's nothing you can do about it!