1. Italian Organized Crime and the Albanian Connection
Unit 4- Chapter 6
Italian Organized Crime and the Albanian Connection

2. The Mezzogiorno
The southern Italian experience, which dates back more than a thousand years, led to the development of a culture that stresses the variables necessary for survival in a hostile environment

3. The Mezzogiorno Cont.
The southern Italian developed an ideal of manliness, omertá, that includes noncooperation with authorities, self-control in the face of adversity, and the vendetta—“blood washes blood”—which dictated that any offense or slight to the famiglia (family) had to be avenged, no matter what the consequences or how long it took

4. The Mezzogiorno Cont.
The family patriarch, the capo di famiglia, arbitrated all ambiguous situations
The family was organized hierarchically
The mezzogiorno, literally midday, but a nickname for southern Italy, never enjoyed a Renaissance, remaining mired in feudalism and dependant on agriculture, a legacy of political, social, and economic repression and exploitation

5. The Mezzogiorno Cont.
Vast government spending in the mezzogiorno, often on useless building projects that provide patronage opportunities, became a vehicle for Mafia infiltration
The mafioso adds nothing of value to his environment
Campania has become northern Italy’s garbage dump

6. The Mezzogiorno Cont.
This history led to the development of three different types of criminal organization
Neapolitan Camorra
Calabrian ‘Ndrangheta
Cosa Nostra
A fourth criminal organization, Sacra Corona Unita, is more recent

7. The Sicilian Mafia
The largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, Sicily lies almost at its center. As such, it was a bitterly fought over prize colonized by commercial powers
In 1860, Italy was freed of foreign rule and united by Giuseppe Garibaldi
The new Italian state was unable to establish a monopoly over the use of force in Sicily and, instead, violence became democratized

8. The Sicilian Mafia Cont.
Unwilling or unable to impose law and order, the government in Rome turned a blind eye through successive regimes as Mafia clans maintained a uniquely Sicilian form of order
Eventually the aristocracy collapsed and the administration of their lands fell to middlemen called gabelloti, managers who had already gained the reputation of uomi inteso—“strong men”

9. The Sicilian Mafia Cont.
The gabelloto ruled over the estate—latifondo— with brute force
The gabelloto was a patron to his peasants who labored on the latifondo
Headed by a capomafioso, each group of mafiosi is organized into a cosca (the plural is cosche) associated with a particular mandamento or district

10. The Sicilian Mafia Cont.
Mafia means “protection against the arrogance of the powerful, remedy to any damage, sturdiness of body, strength and serenity of spirit, and the best and most exquisite part of life”
Because kinship can strengthen cohesion, sons, brothers, nephews, and other relatives are frequently admitted to cosca membership

11. The Sicilian Mafia Cont.
In southern Italy an ethos of mistrust and suspicion pervades personal and business relationships—a dilemma the mafioso can overcome by offering himself as a guarantor
The mafioso brought order, albeit a conservative if not reactionary form, and dispensed primitive justice in a lawless society

12. The Sicilian Mafia Cont.
Every mafioso demands rispetto, indeed, is referred to as a uomo di rispetto—a man worthy of respect
The constitutional state and elected parliament that accompanied Sicily’s union with Italy provided a crucial step in the rise to power of the Mafia

13. Mussolini and the Mafia
Mussolini’s rise to power of in the 1920s had important implications for both the Sicilian and American Mafia
The impact of the Mafia can be seen by comparing the elections of 1922, when no Fascist was elected to Parliament from Sicily, with the elections of 1924, when thirty-eight Fascists were elected out of the fifty- seven representatives from Sicily

14. Mussolini and the Mafia Cont.
A totalitarian regime does not tolerate pockets of authority that are not under its control, and Mussolini quickly moved to destroy the Mafia
Mori assembled a small army of agents and set about the task of purging the island of Mafiosi
The Fascists replaced the Mafia as intermediaries and maintainers of Sicilian law and order

15. Mussolini and the Mafia Cont.
In 1928, Mori declared that the Mafia had been destroyed. However, the reality was otherwise, and the Mafia began to reassert itself by 1941
Many Mafia bosses assumed important positions within the regime, and the Fascists failed to significantly transform social and economic conditions upon which the Mafia depended
The campaign against the Mafia did succeed in driving some important mafiosi out of Sicily

16. Nuovo Mafia/Cosa Nostra
The end of WWII brought a Mafia renaissance in Sicily as a vacuum in local leadership was filled by former capomafiosi
In 1946 the government in Rome announced Sicilian autonomy

17. Nuovo Mafia/Cosa Nostra Cont.
The new mafioso is not bound by the traditions of the rural cosca
The New Mafia—called Cosa Nostra by its members— has a distinctly American tint, the result of American gangsters being deported to Sicily

18. Nuovo Mafia/Cosa Nostra Cont.
Initially, Cosa Nostra resorted to robbery and kidnapping to accumulate the capital necessary to be a player in legal endeavors such as the construction industry and in the illicit heroin and cocaine marketplaces
The New Mafia has also continued the pizzo, protection money extorted from large and small businesses

19. Nuovo Mafia/Cosa Nostra Cont.
The contrast between the “Two Mafias” is evidenced by a conflict between the capomafiosi of Corleone in the immediate postwar years
At the age of nineteen, Leggio became the youngest gabelloto in the history of Sicily

20. Nuovo Mafia/Cosa Nostra Cont.
The Old Mafia benefited from feudal conditions, living off control of the land and cheap labor
During the 1960s, the emerging cosche engaged in a bitter struggle for dominance
In 1967, the Mafia war led to the trial of 114 mafiosi, and Leggio emerged as the most powerful capomafioso

21. Nuovo Mafia/Cosa Nostra Cont.
When Leggio died in 1993, his right-hand man, Salvatore (Totò) Riina, became head of the Corleone cosca
Riina formed private alliances with rising members of many cosche, planted his own men in others, and then with a reign of terror came to dominate the Mafia

22. Politics and the Mafia
Mafia voting strength is based on the circle of family and friends that each mafioso can deliver as many as forty to fifty votes
Mafia is able to control votes because in the environment in which it operates there is always fear of reprisals
The leveling of political traditions and an absence ideology among the political parties, leads voters almost naturally, without any forcing, to respect the “marching orders” given by the Mafia

23. Politics and the Mafia Cont.
In 1987, angry over the government’s maxitrial, the fugitive capo di tutti i capi Totò Riina ordered a switch in votes
In 1992, the Mafia murdered the Sicilian head of the Christian Democratic Party in a Palermo suburb
By 1993, increasing scandal and the collapse of European communism finally led to the demise of the CDP

24. The Structure of the Mafia
At the center of the Mafia is the padrino or capomafioso, around whom other mafiosi gather, forming a cosca
The typical cosca rarely has more than fifteen or twenty members, and at the center are four or five blood relatives
The cosca is devoid of any rigid organization

25. Structure Cont.
The members are gli uomini qualificati (“qualified men”)
Flexibility prevents the cosca from becoming bureaucratic
The mafioso succeeds because he commands a partito, a network of relationships whereby he is able to act as an intermediary—a broker— providing services, which include votes and violence for the holders of institutionalized power

26. Structure Cont.
The initiation ceremony is similar to that used by American Mafia Families
Once initiated into the cosca, the mafioso became a compadre
Each village has its own cosca, larger ones have more, and collectively they are the Mafia

27. Four Levels of the Mafia
The first, the famiglia, constitutes the nucleus
The second level consists of a group of several families who come together to form a cosca
In the third level the cosca establishes working relationships with other cosche, respecting territories and boundaries

28. Levels Cont.
The fourth level is achieved when cosche join in an alliance called consorteria, in which one cosca is recognized as supreme and its leader is the leader of the consorteria—capo di tutti capi, the boss of all bosses

29. Structure Cont.
The New Mafia has a membership in excess of 5,000, each with his own network
Each cosca is held together by a core of blood relatives and encompasses a membership of twenty-five to thirty persons
The cosca is hierarchical

30. Structure Cont.
In contrast with crime Families in the United States, many Mafia and ’Ndragheta chieftains provide their members with salaries and there is a common fund to deal with legal expenses to support the families of imprisoned members
Despite its weakened condition, the pool of Mafia prospects remains strong

31. The Decline of the Mafia
As the political role of mafiosi changed, so too did their ability to act as brokers between peasant and officialdom
The New Mafia reflects the emerging mezzogiorno
Since 1971, the Nuovo Mafia has assassinated investigative, judicial, and political officials, something that was anathema to the old Mafia

32. The Decline Cont.
As the Mafia was reduced to a marginal role in society, many mafiosi reacted in a manner similar to other marginalized persons
Following the assassinations of government officials, the New Mafia lost the support of important elements of Italian society

33. The Decline Cont. In 1992, Italy enacted a witness protection law
Officials arrested leading Mafiosi
Excesses at home, the vigorous government response, and the increasing number of informers have weakened the Mafia

34. The Neapolitan Camorra
Whereas the Mafia began as more of an idea than an organization and evolved along cultural lines in western Sicily, the Camorra was deliberately structured as a criminal society
The Camorra as an organization developed in Spanish prisons during the Bourbon rule of the Two Sicilies (the Mezzogiorno) early in the nineteenth century

35. The Neapolitan Camorra Cont.
Although burglary and other remunerative felonies were not neglected, extortion was the principal industry; and the assassination of an inconvenient person could be purchased by anyone with the price
The Camorra was highly organized and disciplined

36. The Neapolitan Camorra Cont.
The camorrista was a flamboyant actor whose manner of walking and style of dress clearly marked him as a member of the societá.
The old Camorra did not survive Mussolini because, like the Mafia, it required weak government control

37. The Neapolitan Camorra Cont.
In the countryside Camorra gangs began to emerge as soon as the Allied forces withdrew
The earlier versions of Camorra were not directly involved in politics, but during the 1980s the new Camorra began to penetrate the local political scene, and some members hold local elected offices

38. The Neapolitan Camorra Cont.
Camorra clans form alliances, enterprises mixing legitimate business, such as construction, with illegitimate, such as drug and arms trafficking
A growing population and rampant poverty led to the development of new Camorra gangs that operated for many years without direct conflict with their older and more established brethren who often had Sicilian Mafia ties

39. The Structure of the Camorra
Compared with its predecessors, the modern Camorra has a ‘fragmented’ and widespread structure, made up of a number of gangs [more than 100] which easily band together and then split up, sometimes peacefully, but more often after bloody wars

40. Structure Cont.
The modern Camorra is less structured and less family based than the Mafia is
There is a general absence of rituals, although the NCO used a century-old ceremony to initiate members
Territorial control is reputedly essential to Camorra clans

41. Structure Cont.
Camorra groups dominate illegal gambling and usury within their territorial hegemony, although some of their gambling operations reach northern cities
Camorra leaders have engaged in violent struggles that have taken the lives of dozens of people

42. Structure Cont.
The clans maintain military wings comprised of salaried retainers and many of the killings are perpetrated by young men—twelve to seventeen— enlisted by the military branch of the clans
Dozens of camorristi have become pentiti— government informants

43. The ’Ndrangheta
Italy’s poorest province, Calabria has a population in excess of two million people; the capital city, Reggio di Calabria, is home to about 200,000
Much of the housing stock was built illegally by criminal groups, the fearsome Onerate Societá (“Honored Society”) or ‘Ndrangheta (“Brotherhood”) which in the early twentieth century established groups in Canada and Australia

44. The ’Ndrangheta Cont.
In Calabria the term ’ndrangheta, “society of men of honor,” is used to indicate a high degree of heroism and virtue as embodied in the ’ndranghetisti, men who are governed by omertá
There is a Mafia-type hierarchy in each andrine or ’ndrina —equivalent to a cosca—and members take a blood oath

45. The ’Ndrangheta Cont.
’Ndrangheta gained popular support because of its political stance against the central government
’Ndrangheta had no positive program; its sense of social justice was basically destructive
The ’ Ndrangheta sometimes referred to as the “Calabrian Mafia,” consists of 85 to 144 to160 andrine, some exceeding 200 members, with a combined membership of 5,000 to 6,000

46. The ’Ndrangheta Cont.
’ Ndrangheta clans are based on blood ties, allowing for a high degree of internal cohesion which protects against informants
At its core, a ’ndrina is composed of one or two biological families and their network of artificial kinships
’Ndrangheta women frequently play important roles, maintaining family traditions and running family enterprises

47. The ’Ndrangheta Cont.
’Ndrangheta has a commission that recognizes territorial hegemony and mediates disputes in an effort to reduce the high level of violence for which Calabresi are noted
In 1999, the Carabinieri captured the man reputed to be the most powerful ’Ndrangheta boss; Giuseppe Piromalli was convicted of murder in absentia and had been a fugitive since 1993

48. The ’Ndrangheta Cont.
The organization exhibits its criminal skills mainly in kidnapping, vast-scale international arms and drug trafficking, extortion from almost all profit-making activities, and control of public contracts
Like the Mafia, the ’Ndrangheta has been active in provincial politics, but unlike the Mafia, until 2005 the ’Ndrangheta avoided direct confrontations with the Italian state

49. The Sacra Corona Unita and the Albanian Connection
The Puglia (Apulia) region at the heel of the Italian boot forms an elongated peninsula on the Adriatic and Ionian Seas
The Sacra Corona Unita (SCU), Sacred United Crown, evolved in the region already noted for Camorra and ’Ndrangheta activities

50. The Sacra Corona Unita and the Albanian Connection Cont.
The origins of the SAC are traced to Giuseppe Rogoli who, while a prisoner serving a life sentence for murder, reportedly established the organization as a ritual brotherhood on Christmas day 1983 at least in part as a response to the expansionist plans of Camorra leader Raffaele Cutolo

51. The Sacra Corona Unita and the Albanian Connection Cont.
The SCU is organized horizontally with a series of about forty-five autonomous clans accountable to the common interests of the organization
Total membership is estimated at about 2,000, and women often play important roles in its business operations
The SCU has close ties to the Balkans

52. The Sacra Corona Unita and the Albanian Connection Cont.
Organized crime in the largely rural countries of the Balkans has its roots in the traditional clan structure based familial ties for protection and mutual assistance
Clan relationships operate under the kanun, or code, which values loyalty and besa, or secrecy

53. The Albanian Connection
Since 1992, ethnic Albanian organized crime groups have profited greatly from instability and war in the Balkans to become the fastest growing ethnic criminal presence in Europe, with operations reaching as far as Australia and the United States

54. The Albanian Connection Cont.
Albania is distinguished by its strong sense of familial and clan ties and the country’s criminal groups (fis) have much in common with their southern Italian colleagues, including concepts of omertá and famiglia
Albanian influence in the mezzogiorno dates back to the migration of Albanians driven from their country by the Ottoman invasion in the fifteenth century

55. The Albanian Connection Cont.
Once the most isolated country in Europe, Albania became a haven for local and foreign criminal groups after the collapse of its Stalinist regime in the early 1990s
From the firm hand of Stalinesque communism to unbridled freedom—anarchy—criminal groups quickly filled the power vacuum

56. The Albanian Connection Cont.
Taking advantage of a weak central government and a great deal of political chaos, SCU clans were quick to establish a presence in Albania, linking up with local criminal groups

57. The Albanian Connection Cont.
Massive migration of Albanians abroad during the 1990s and the drastic increase of the Albanian Diaspora in the USA, Canada, and Europe, provided a perfect cover for Albanian criminals who brought with them a strong sense of extended family

58. The Albanian Connection Cont.
Albanian crime groups are very violent, their major source of income derived from trafficking in economic migrants, women, children, drugs, contraband, weapons and automobiles

59. The Albanian Connection Cont.
In neighboring Yugoslavia, ethnic Albanian crime Families were looking to widen their drug, prostitution and weapons smuggling rings. Some dispatched lieutenants to countries such as Italy, Germany and Slovakia

60. The Albanian Connection Cont.
Being a rather recent phenomenon not as strong as the Mafia or Camorra, SCU leaders apparently decided to join forces rather than run the risk of a conflict with Albanian groups who are known to be extremely violent

61. The Albanian Connection Cont.
A crackdown in Sicily led hundreds of mafiosi to relocate to the Albanian coastal town of Vlorë, and their Albanian counterparts are found throughout Italy

62. The Albanian Connection Cont.
With its strategic position on the Adriatic, the SCU is able to provide smuggling services to the Mafia, Camorra, and ’Ndranghetta
Albanian criminals are also involved in the traffic of illegal immigrants to Western Europe