Sicilian mafia names. Camorra: the most ancient and bloodthirsty mafia in Italy

Sicilian Mafia boss Matteo Messina Denaro

He became one of the most influential leaders in Sicily in 2006, after the arrest of the main leader of Cosa Nostra, Bernardo Provenzano.
Matteo Messina Denaro was born on April 26, 1962 in Sicily, in the commune of Castelvetrano (province of Trapani) in the family of the Sicilian mafioso Francesco Messina. Already at the age of 14, Matteo’s father taught him to shoot a weapon. And he committed his first murder immediately after coming of age, at the age of 18.

In July 1992, Matteo killed his father's rival, mafia boss Vincenzo Milazzo from Alcamo, and strangled his beloved Antonella Bonomo, who was three months pregnant. With this murder he greatly increased his authority. In total, Matteo killed more than 50 people with his own hands. He even once spoke out about this: “The people I killed could fill a whole cemetery.” For this he was nicknamed the Devil.

There is a known case when Denaro personally killed the owner of a Sicilian hotel because he accused him of cohabiting with underage girls. However, it is still unclear whether these accusations were truly groundless or not, since the future boss of the Sicilian mafia led and leads a wild life.
He loves beautiful women, and has several Porsche sports cars in his garage. The wardrobe of the main mafioso of Sicily is represented by expensive haute couture items.

Matteo Messina Denaro in his youth

In the early 90s, the state began persecuting the mafia. Denaro and other Sicilian Mafia bosses staged a series of bombings in Milan, Rome and Florence to make the state fear the Mafia and abandon plans to arrest major mafiosi. By this they showed their power.

The explosions killed 10 innocent people and seriously injured more than 90. In 1993, Denaro was put on the wanted list by law enforcement agencies. But having failed to find the mafia, he was sentenced in absentia to life imprisonment for these crimes in 2002. But he remained free and held leadership positions in the mafia.
After the death of his father in November 1998, Matteo became CAPO in his home area, including Castelvetrano and surrounding towns, while Vincenzo Virga governed the city of Trapani and its surroundings.

After Virga's arrest in 2001, Matteo Denaro led the mafia in the province of Trapani. Under his leadership there were approximately 900 fighters. Moreover, he reorganized the 20 mafia families in Trapani into a single "mandamento" (district, region), separated from the rest of Cosa Nostra.

The Trapani Mafia is a major supporter of Cosa Nostra and is considered the most powerful, with the exception of the families in Palermo. Matteo Denaro invested his money in extensive racketeering and extortion, forcing businessmen to come under his protection and profiting from public construction contracts (the family owns significant sand quarries). Denaro is also involved in the international drug trade, joining forces with the Cuntrera-Caruana clan, which has attracted the attention of the US Federal Bureau of Investigation.

According to the Anti-Mafia District Directorate in Palermo, he maintains contacts with relatives in New York and with Vito Roberto Palazzolo, a fugitive Mafia Boss in South Africa.

He also has interests in Venezuela and is in contact with the Colombian drug cartels as well as the. His illegal network spread to Belgium and Germany.

Matteo Messina Denaro has close ties to the mafia families in Palermo, especially in Branaccio, the territory of the Graviano family.

In 2006, police arrested Cosa Nostra boss Bernardo Provenzano. The Sicilian mafia could not be without its main leader for long, and at the vote Matteo Denaro became the new boss, especially since Provenzano himself supported Denaro’s candidacy. His closest opponents in the vote could be other influential mafiosi - Salvatore Lo Piccolo and Domenico Racuglia. But in 2007, Salvatore Lo Piccolo was arrested, and two years later Domenico Racuglia was also arrested. So Matteo Messina Denaro became the “godfather” of the Sicilian mafia.

In 2009, Sicilian police arrested one of Matteo's mafia units involved in fraud in the field of agriculture. The structures controlled by Danero gave huge bribes to officials so that they would ensure the mafia wins in government tenders related to all sectors of agriculture. The mafia laundered huge amounts of money.
During the police operation, many businessmen, officials, etc. were arrested. Denaro's brother Salvatore was also arrested. But it was never possible to arrest the main ideologist and organizer of this business, Matteo Denaro.

The boss of bosses received his next major blow in 2013, when his sister, two cousins ​​and a nephew were arrested. They were charged with participation in an organized criminal group and racketeering.
Relatives of the mafia leader were detained as part of a large-scale operation to combat organized crime, which was carried out in the vicinity of the city of Trapani in western Sicily. In total, approximately thirty people were taken into custody. At the same time, money amounting to about five million euros was confiscated, which allegedly belonged to Denaro and his family.
Until now, Denaro has been wanted for 22 years and is one of the most wanted criminals. Now 53 years old, he continues to lead the Sicilian mafia.

Until 1963, the Italian mafia was something of a myth for other countries; even the FBI did not recognize its existence, until a certain Cosa Nostra small fry, Joe Valachi, in order to avoid the death penalty, exposed the mafia, detailing all its ins and outs. By the way, then, for violating the vow of silence, angry mafiosi tried to “sew” a traitor who was in prison until his death.

We can say that the mafia was a secret society, about which only rumors circulated among ordinary people; the entire system was shrouded in an aura of secrecy.

After Valachi's confession, the Italian mafia became a truly fashionable phenomenon, its image romanticized in media, literature and cinema. The most famous book about the Italian mafia, “The Godfather” by Mario Puzo, was written 6 years after the exposure; later, a whole saga about the Corleone family was based on it. The prototype of Vito Corleone was Joe Bonanno, the godfather of one of the “Five Families” that control organized crime in New York.

Why did crime families come to be called "mafia"?

Historians still argue about what the word “mafia” means. According to one version, it is an abbreviation of the motto of the uprising of 1282, which promoted the slogan: “Death to France! Breathe, Italy!” (Morte alla Francia Italia Anelia). Unhappy Sicily was forever besieged by foreign invaders. Others believe that this word appeared only in the 17th century and has an Arabic root meaning “protector”, “refuge”.

Strictly speaking, the mafia is precisely a Sicilian group; in other parts of Italy and the world, clans called themselves differently (for example, “Camorra” in Naples). But with the increasing influence of the mafia on other regions of Italy and throughout the world, the word has become a household word; now they are used by any major criminal organization: Japanese, Russian, Albanian mafias.

A little history

Under the guise Robin The Hood crime families protected the poor from pirate raids, foreign aggressors, and oppression by feudal lords beginning in the 9th century. The government did not help the peasants, they did not trust foreigners, so the poor had no one to rely on except the mafia. And although the mafiosi also took considerable bribes from them and imposed their own laws, there was still order with them and guaranteed protection.

The mafia was finally formed as an organization in the 19th century, and the peasants themselves placed criminals “on the throne”, not wanting to obey the exploiters who ruled at that time - the Bourbons. So in 1861 the mafia officially became a political force. They got into parliament and got the opportunity to control the political situation in the country, and the mafiosi themselves turned into a kind of aristocracy.

Once upon a time, the mafia extended its influence only to agriculture. But already at the beginning of the 20th century, mafiosi began to actively interfere in city affairs, helping one or another deputy win elections, for which he generously rewarded them. Now the influence of the mafia has spread to mainland Italy.

Maybe the mafiosi would have lived without knowing anyone’s refusal, swimming in money and enjoying unlimited power, but in 1922 the fascists came to power. The dictator Mussolini did not tolerate the mafia as a second power, and then indiscriminately imprisoned thousands of people as involved in mafia affairs. Of course, such a tough policy bore fruit for several decades; the mafiosi lay low.

In the 50s and 60s, the mafia again raised its head and the Italian government had to begin an official fight against crime; a special body was created - the Antimafia.

And the mafiosi turned into real businessmen. Most often, they acted according to the iceberg principle: at the top there is legal low-budget activity, and under the water there is a whole block hidden, drug trafficking, “protection” of business or prostitution. This is how money is laundered to this day. Over time, many families have developed the legal side of the business so much that they have become successful entrepreneurs in the restaurant business and food industry.

In the 1980s, a brutal clan war began, in which so many people died that the new generation of mafiosi chose to engage only in legal business, while maintaining mutual responsibility and other signs of a secret organization.

But don’t think that the Italian mafia is living its last days. In March 2000, a scandal erupted in Italy: the police had to arrest several Sicilian judges suspected of close collaboration with the mafia.

Although the mafiosi were partly legalized, they did not leave the scene at all. In the south of Italy it is still impossible to open your own business without enlisting the support of local authorities. Over the past 10 years, the Italian government has been actively fighting the mafia, conducting “cleanses” and removing mafiosi from key positions.

How did the mafiosi end up in America?

Due to terrible poverty, from 1872 until the First World War, Sicilians emigrated to America in droves. Luckily for them, Prohibition was just introduced there, which helped them develop their illegal business and accumulate capital. The Sicilians completely recreated their customs on the new land and earned so much that their total income was several times higher than the income of the largest American companies. American and Italian mafiosi never lost touch with each other and faithfully preserved common traditions.

In America, the organized crime that emerged from Sicily is called “Cosa Nostra” (in Italian this means “our business” - they say, don’t stick your nose into someone else’s issue). Now the entire Sicilian mafia is often collectively called “Cosa Nostra”. One of the Sicilian clans that returned to their homeland from America also bears this name.

Structure of the Italian mafia

The boss or godfather is the head of the family. Information flows to him about all the affairs of his family and the plans of his enemies. The boss is elected by voting.

The underboss is the first deputy godfather. Appointed solely by the boss himself and responsible for the actions of all capos.

The consigliere is the family's chief adviser, whom the boss can completely trust.

A caporegime or capo is the head of a "team" that operates in a single family-controlled area. Teams are required to give the boss a portion of their income every month.

The soldier is the youngest member of the family who has recently been “inducted” into the organization. Soldiers are formed into teams of up to 10 people, led by capos.

An accomplice is a person who has a certain status in mafia circles, but is not yet considered a family member. It can act, for example, as an intermediary in the sale of drugs.

Laws and traditions respected by the mafiosi

In 2007, the influential godfather Salvadore Lo Piccolo was arrested in Italy and a secret document called “The Ten Commandments of Cosa Nostra” was seized. Basically from it we know the traditions of the Italian mafia.

• Each group “works” in a certain area and other families should not meddle there.
• Initiation ritual for newcomers: a recruit’s finger is wounded and his blood is poured over the icon. He takes the icon in his hand and it is lit. The beginner must endure the pain until the icon burns. At the same time, he says: “Let my flesh burn, like this saint, if I break the laws of the mafia.”
• The family cannot include: police officers and those who have police officers among their relatives; That, Whocheating on his wife or among his relatives there are those Whochange spouses; as well as people who violated the laws of honor.
• Family members respect their wives and never look at their friends' wives.
• Omerta is the mutual responsibility of all clan members. Joining the organization is for life, no one can leave the business. At the same time, the organization is responsible for each of its members; if someone has offended him, she and only she will administer justice.
• For an insult, the offender must be killed.
• The death of a family member is an insult that is washed away in blood. Bloody revenge for a loved one is called “vendetta.”
• The kiss of death is a special signal given by mafia bosses or capos that means that a family member has become a traitor and must be killed.
• Code of silence - a ban on disclosing the secrets of the organization.
• Betrayal is punishable by the murder of the traitor and all his relatives.

Contrary to established ideas about the mafia, the “code of honor” is often violated: mutual betrayals, denunciations of each other to the police are no longer uncommon today.

In conclusion let's say...

Despite the seemingly fabulous wealth of the mafia leaders, it is mainly the poor from the Italian south who dream of such a career. After all, this is a very dangerous business and, upon closer examination, not so profitable. After paying off all the bribes, confiscating some of the illegal goods by the police, constantly spending money to protect yourself and your family, there is not much left. Many mafiosi are killed stupidly during banal drug deals. Today, not everyone can live according to the laws of honor, and there is no way back, contrary to the assurances of American melodramas like “Blue-Eyed Mickey.”

Hearing the word “mafia,” today’s law-abiding citizen will imagine a whole series of associations: he will at the same time remember that crime in the world has not yet been defeated and is encountered literally at every step, then he will smile and say that “Mafia” is a funny psychological game, so loved by students, but in the end he will imagine stern men of Italian appearance in raincoats and wide-brimmed hats and with the constant Thompson machine guns in their hands, simultaneously playing the legendary melody of the composer Nino Rota in his head... The image of the mafioso is romantic and glorified in popular culture, but at the same time despised by the guardians of order and the victims their crimes (if by a lucky chance they survived).

The term “mafia” and the traditional idea of ​​mafiosi as “men in coats and hats” appeared thanks to immigrants from Sicily who moved to New York in the 19th century and took control of it in the 30s of the 20th century. There is a lot of debate about the origin of the word "mafia". The most common opinion about the etymology of the word is its Arabic roots (“marfud” in Arabic for “outcast”).

The mafia moves to the USA

It is known that the first Sicilian mafioso to arrive in the United States was Giuseppe Esposito, who was accompanied by 6 other Sicilians. In 1881 he was arrested in New Orleans. There, 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 (Hennessy's last words: “The Italians did it!”). In the next 10 years in New York, the Sicilian mafia will organize the “Five Point Gang” - the city’s first influential gangster group, which took control of the “Little Italy” area. At the same time, the Neapolitan Camorra gang is gaining momentum in Brooklyn.

In the 1920s, the Mafia experienced rapid growth. 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 Benito Mussolini’s struggle with the Sicilian mafia, which led to mass immigration of Sicilians to the United States. In New York in the 20s, two mafia clans, Giuseppe Masseria and Salvatore Maranzana, became the most influential families. As is often the case, the two families did not properly divide the Big Apple, leading to the three-year Castellammarese 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 the police mugshot.

It was Lucky Luciano who should be considered the founder of the so-called “Commission” (1931), the goal of which is to prevent brutal gang wars. The “Commission” is a native 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 a place on the commission, among whom 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 activities are 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 the fact that the Genovese family had a bounty on his head).

Genovese family

Don Vito Genovese

The founders are conspirator Lucky Luciano and Joe Masseria. The family was nicknamed the "Ivy League of the Mafia" or the "Rolls Royce of the Mafia". The man who gave the family his last name was 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 sentenced to 15 years for drug trafficking and died in prison in 1969. Today's boss of the Genovese clan Daniel Leo rules his family from prison (his sentence expires in January 2011). The Genovese family became the prototype of the Corleone Family from the film “The Godfather”. Family activities: racketeering, complicity in crimes, 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, his period of rule lasted until 1976 (he died of natural causes). In 1931, Gambino held the position of caporegime in the Mangano family (a caporegime is one of the most influential mafiosi in each family, reporting directly to the boss of the family or his deputies). Over the next 20 years, he climbed the “career ladder” of the mafia, eliminating enemies and competitors with great ease, and while in power, he spread the influence of his Family over a vast area.

...and a few days before his death

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

Lucchese family

Don Gaetano Lucchese

Since the beginning of the 20s, the Family was created through the efforts of Gaetano Reina, after whose death in 1930 his work was continued by another Gaetano, by the name of Galliano, who remained in power until 1953. The third consecutive 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 had a rather lavish wedding that year). Since 1987, de jure the family has been led by Vittorio Amuso, and de facto by a commission of three Caporegimes: Agnello Migliore, Joseph DiNapoli and Matthew Madonna.

Colombo family

Don Joseph Colombo

The "youngest" Family of New York. In operation 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 is depicted in a wheelchair). Even though Joseph Colombo only became boss in 1962 (with the blessing of Carlo Gambino), the Family was named after his last name, not Profaci. Joe Colombo actually retired in 1971 when he was shot three times in the head but survived. He lived for the next 7 years without waking up from a coma in a state that his accomplice Joe Gallo described as “vegetable.”

Today, the boss of the Colombo family is Carmine Persico, 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 Lucky Luciano conspiracy and the creation of the Commission, the Family was led by Joe Bonanno until 1964.

In the 60s, the Family survived the Civil War (which the newspapers wittily dubbed the “Bonanza Split”). The commission decided to remove Joe Bonanno from power and install caporegime Gaspar DiGregorio in his place. One part supported Bonanno (loyalists), the second was, of course, against him. The war turned out to be bloody and protracted; even the Commission's removal of DiGregorio from the post of boss did not help. New boss Paul Sciacca was unable to cope with the violence within the divided family. The war ended in 1968, when Joe Bonanno, who was in hiding, suffered a heart attack and firmly decided to retire. He lived to be 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 Family boss remains vacant, but Vincent Asaro is expected to take it.

The “Five Families” currently control the entire New York metropolitan area, including even northern New Jersey. They also conduct 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 cinema, 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 Sopranos", which tells about the connections of the DiMeo Family from New York. -Jersey with one of the New York families (appears under the name “Lupertazi Family”).

In the video game industry, the theme of the Sicilian mafia is successfully embodied in 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, released no more than a couple of months before the writing of this article , focuses on the criminal activity of the Three Families in a prototype New York City called Empire Bay back in the 50s. The cult game Grand Theft Auto IV also represents the “Five Families,” but in a modern setting and again under fictitious names.

The Godfather - Francis Ford-Coppola's cult film about the Sicilian mafia in New York

The Five Families of New York are a unique phenomenon in the world of organized crime. This is one of the most influential gang structures on the planet, created by immigrants (still the basis of every family is mostly Italian-American), which has developed a clear hierarchy and strict traditions dating back to the 19th century. The “Mafia” is thriving despite constant arrests and high-profile trials, 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

Is the mafia a gang, a group, or just a bunch of bandits? Let's try to figure out what exactly this word means.

The concept of “mafia” today refers to any ethnic criminal group, in structure and organization, reminiscent of the ancestor of such communities - the Sicilian criminal “family”, highly organized and having its own code of rules.

Where did this concept come from?

But the origin of the term is hotly debated. There are very original versions, for example the following: “Mafia” is an abbreviation for the words Morte Alla Francia, Italia Anela (“Death to all French; Italy, breathe freely!”) - a cry that was born during the uprising against the French in Sicily at the end 13th century.

According to Gabor Gellert, a journalist from Hungary who closely studied the topic (13 years of work on a book about the mafia), this word should be understood in a more global sense than an alliance of criminals. This is a socio-political-economic phenomenon, the emergence of which is natural in the world of capital. The meaning of the word “mafia” in the dictionaries in which it first appears (1868) is an action meaning insolence, boasting. Mafioso in the same dictionaries is a person who uses brutal violence, or poverty, scum.

There are also Arabic versions of the origin of the word "mafia". There are many consonant words with meanings: protection, refuge, security, chatterbox, gathering place. Alas, researchers have not yet gotten to the truth.

What does the mafia do?

Organized illegal activities are very diverse. Mafia crimes:

• Maintenance of dens.
• Arms trade.
• Drug trafficking.
• Making counterfeit money.
• Gambling, casino maintenance, gambling business.
• Pimping, content of porn sites.
• Buying stolen goods.
• Usury.
• Extortion, racketeering.
• Debt collection.
• Human trafficking, kidnapping.
• Contract killings.
• Smuggling, money laundering.

The sphere of interests of the largest and most influential groups is not limited to criminal activities. Their representatives are engaged in ordinary business (hotels, restaurants, etc.), lobbying, and politics.

Code of Practice

Any mafia, except perhaps the most low-grade ones, is a code of moral rules. For example, the code of honor of the Cosa Nostra organization included rules such as:

• Always be on time for your appointments.
• Do not look at the wives of friends (and a member who has family ties with a traitor or traitor was punished by expulsion from the gang).
• Don't go to bars and clubs.

Below we will look at examples of the most famous criminal communities. Let us immediately clarify that most of the information about such groups is hypotheses based on fragmentary and random information. It is clear that the leaders of such groups do not strive for widespread popularity.

Cosa Nostra

Many people who are familiar with the topic firsthand have a strong association: the mafia is Cosa Nostra. Let's try to figure out what these two words represent. The phrase “Cosa Nostra” in Sicilian means “our business”. This term became widespread and became associated with any Italian mafia or the mafia in general after the publication of the novel “The Godfather”.

Initially, Cosa Nostra was active in Sicily from the beginning of the 19th century. In one century, that is, by the beginning of the twentieth, it turned into an international organization. A little later it strengthened its position in America. It consists of 11 clans (families). It should be clearly distinguished: Cosa Nostra is a mafia of Sicilian origin, regardless of its modern geographical location.

Italian and Italian-American mafia

It makes sense to connect them, because the American mafia is mainly from Italy, or more precisely from Naples, Calabria, and Sicily. Today, the Italian mafia operates in at least 26 US cities.

Five families

An influential group within the American mafia. Its core consists of representatives of five families:

• Bonanno;
• Colombo;
• Gambino;
• Genovese;
• Lucchese.

Of these, the most numerous (although according to some sources it is inferior and influential is the Genovese family. Using its example, you can see what the Italian mafia is. The history of the family as a representative of the mafia began at the beginning of the 20th century.

Initially, it was an alliance of several small Sicilian street gangs that traded in extortion and bootlegging. Gradually, the family expanded its activities, subordinating large parts of the gambling, racketeering and usury markets. A fascinating multi-part film could be made about the changes in family leadership over the course of a millennium.

Groups

As mentioned above, the mafia is a highly organized union. Let's look at examples of groups that, in terms of the scope of their activities, are comparable to

• Camorra and 'Ndrangheta- these are the two largest groups of purely Italian mafia, without any admixture of “Americanism,” although both groups have an extensive network throughout the world. The core of the Camorra is located in Naples and its environs, the “head office” of the 'Ndrangheta is in Calabria. Both are extremely rich, influential, are among the ten richest mafia communities in the world, and consist of clans with powerful family and marriage ties.
• Bamboo Union. Area of ​​influence - Asia, Europe, America. This is the largest group in Asia, the main backbone is Taiwan. In addition to the fact that it is one of the richest criminal organizations in the world (the basis of its income is gambling, murder and debt collection), it stands out for its close ties to one of the main and influential parties in China (the Kuomintang), although these ties are actively denied.

• Tai Huen Chai, or the Triad. There is the least information about this group on the Russian Internet. The largest and most influential in China. The modern Triad is a huge underground criminal network about which little is known. Presumably the founder of this organization appeared before 200 BC under the name “Shadow of the Lotus” and traded in the slave trade and piracy.
• Tijuana cartel- one of the two oldest and most influential in Mexico. Considering that Mexico is a well-known transit point for the US drug market, it can be said that the Tijuana Cartel is one of the largest drug cartels in the world.
• Yamaguchi-gumi (yamaguchi-gumi)- Japanese mafia. This is not just one of the richest groups in the world. She is a leader in terms of income and number of active members(from 55 to 220 thousand).
• Sinaloa- a cartel operating in Mexico and Central America. The network covers some US cities. “Specialization” is drug sales. The organization is considered a leader in this segment of criminal activity. It has become famous for the particularly brutal nature of internal disputes; shocking footage of severed heads and enemies being dissolved in acid sometimes ends up on the Internet.

in Russia

It is believed that it appeared in the 60s of the last century, although in principle there cannot be a specific starting point. It is noteworthy that the words “Russian mafia” in the West can mean criminal groups not only from Russia, but from any country in the post-Soviet space.

The mafia of union significance began its activities with small criminal groups of Jews who left the USSR in the 70-90s of the 20th century. Today, it makes sense to distinguish between the Russian mafia (its representatives have Russian citizenship and operate on Russian territory) and the mafia with Soviet roots.

The most famous group is the Solntsevskaya Bratva. It is considered one of the most dangerous and cruel in the world. The leader, according to rumors, is Sergei Mikhailov, nicknamed Mikhas.

Famous mafiosi

A well-organized structure, be it a mafia, a group or an alliance, is impossible without the accumulating power of the leader. Of course, most current leaders are shadow leaders. Below we will look at the names that are well-known and have become legends.

• Al Capone is a well-known name, but it is worth noting that it has long and firmly entered history, because this man died back in 1947 at the age of 48. The boss of the Chicago mafia, famous for his ability to build a real criminal empire.
• Pablo Escobar- the most famous Colombian drug lord, one of the most prominent, if such a word can be applied to a criminal, figures in the criminal world of the 20th century. He not only made money through crimes, but also administered his own justice, which earned him the favor of the poor and young people.
• Kray Brothers- Twins from London, Ronnie and Reggie Kray, have been distinguished by their lack of control since childhood. With their fists, aggression and high business skills, they managed to build an entire empire, and managed to successfully combine both shadow and legal business.

• Mayer Lansky(Belarus) - one of the few figures in the criminal world who lived to the respectable age of 80 (died in 1983). The Jew, originally from Tsarist Russia, was for many years one of the most authoritative people in the United States. Managed the largest shadow gambling syndicate. He became the prototype for the elderly Jewish mafioso Hyman Roth.
• Frank Costello- another outstanding one from the USA, but originally from Italy. For a very long time he was the head of the Genovese family and extremely successful in business. He gravitated towards bloodless types of criminal business, such as the illegal trade in alcohol and gambling. As a matter of principle, he was not involved in drug trafficking, believing that there were plenty of opportunities to make money without it. He also distinguished himself by actively establishing connections between the mafia and politics and succeeding in this more than any of the crime bosses.

Of course, these are not all well-known criminal communities. Suffice it to say that many of them have entered not only criminal history, but also the history of cinema, so remarkable is the activity of famous mafiosi from the point of view of analyzing human nature and the reasons for success, albeit in activities disapproved by the majority.

Therefore, initially, when the mafia appeared in the USA in particular, in the local underworld the Italians were perceived with a degree of irony, because They were engaged in petty robbery and racketeering, which was usual for them in Italy, without any special aspirations to control large business structures. At the time, major American cities were largely dominated by Jewish and Irish criminal gangs.

However, almost unquestioning loyalty to the code of honor - omerta, immediate vendetta (blood feud) against family offenders, discipline and loyalty to the family and incredible cruelty allowed Italian groups to quickly take leading roles in the American underworld.

Seize and control almost all areas of business, bribe most of the country's largest judges and officials. To kill competition in many industries, for example, the “twin towers” ​​were forced to pay a waste removal company controlled by the Italians 1 million 100 thousand dollars a year (in those years this was a huge amount). Moreover, the mafiosi did not do any intimidation, they simply did not allow other companies to enter this market, this company was the only such company in the New York market!

Gambino mafia family

Loyalty to tradition in the Italian mafia

Loyalty to tradition left its bright imprint on the criminal code of honor, since for the most part all family members were exemplary family men and cases of betrayal were quite rare, even despite the fact that the mafia controlled almost all entertainment businesses: prostitution, gambling, alcohol and cigarettes. Cheating on one's wife was perceived by the family as a slap in the face and was brutally suppressed. Of course, in the modern age everything has changed a lot, but this tradition lasted for quite a long time. Showing attention to the wives of friends and family members was strictly taboo.

Due to the fact that the profession of mafia members was accompanied by a certain risk to life, each family member knew perfectly well that in the event of his death, his family would be taken care of financially no worse than when he was alive.

Long years of oppression of the Sicilians by an aggressive government have led to the fact that the word “policeman” can still get you a slap in the face in Sicily. One of the most important points of omerta is the complete lack of contact with the police, much less cooperation with them. A person will never be accepted into a family if his close relative serves in the police; even appearing on the street in the company of police officers was punishable, sometimes at the highest standard - death.

This tradition allowed the mafia to exist for a very long time without any problems with the US government. The US government did not recognize the existence of the Italian mafia until the mid-20th century, due to insufficient information about the structure and extent of penetration of organized crime into business and politics.

Mafia clans in the USA

Alcoholism and drug addiction were considered a vice, but despite the ban, many family members were addicted to both, one of the least observed laws of omerta, but family members who drank and stabbed themselves, as a rule, did not live long and died at the hands of their own comrades.

No person can enter the family by introducing himself as a capo or mafia don; the only way to get into the family is the recommendation of a family member and his willingness to introduce you to the family. There are no other ways.

Strict punctuality; you must not be late for any meeting; this is considered bad manners. The same rule includes showing respect for any meetings, including meetings with enemies. There should be no killings during them. One of the reasons that numerous wars between various families and clans of the Italian mafia quickly subsided, at meetings a truce was declared and often the dons of the families found a common language and solved the accumulated problems.

When talking with any family member, even the smallest lie is considered a betrayal; the obligation of each family member to tell the truth in response to a question, no matter what it is, naturally the rule applies only to members of one criminal group. The strictness of execution, in fact, was monitored at the lower levels of the hierarchical structure; naturally, in the upper layers of the hierarchy, lies and betrayal existed right up to the murder by the right hand of the head of the family.

Do not lead an idle lifestyle, full compliance with moral principles

No family member had the right to engage in looting and robbery without the approval of the boss or capo. Visiting places of entertainment without necessity or direct instructions was strictly prohibited. The law also allowed the mafia to remain in the shadows, because an intoxicated family member could blurt out a lot of things, where this information could cause significant damage to the family.

Appropriating other people's money without any instructions from the head of the family was a strict taboo. From childhood, young men were brought up within the framework of the laws of devotion to the family, that it is a great shame to be an outcast, that without a family a person’s life has no meaning. In this regard, in the circles of the Italian mafia, “lone wolves” were very, very rarely encountered, and if they were encountered, they did not live long; such behavior was punishable by immediate death.

Vendetta - blood feud

As justice for failure to comply with the laws of omerta, a vendetta awaited the violator, which in different clans could be accompanied by various rituals. By the way, blood feud against both a family member and any other offender or enemy of the family had to be quick and without unnecessary torment for the victim, such as: a shot in the head or heart, a wound with a knife in the heart, etc. Those. the victim did not have to suffer all according to the “Christian” canons, however, after death, the victim’s body could already be treated barbarously and with considerable cruelty to intimidate the enemy or educate other family members.

There were also different traditions in different clans: for excessive talkativeness, a cobblestone was inserted into the corpse’s mouth; for adultery, a rose was placed on the body; a wallet with a thorn placed on the victim’s body meant that the murdered person had embezzled other people’s money. You can hear a lot of different fables about this; now it’s difficult to discern where the truth is and where the lie is.

An interesting fact is that the laws of omerta fell into the hands of the police and journalists only in 2007, during the arrest of Salvatore La Piccola, one of the bosses of Cosa Nostra; they were found among the documents found during the search and poetically called in the press “10 Commandments of Cosa Nostra”. Until this moment, no documentary evidence of the rules of the code of honor of the Italian mafiosi existed, so secretly was the criminal network organized.

It is not surprising that such an organizational structure has taken root throughout all countries of Europe, North and South America, but oddly enough, the only European country where the Italian mafia does not have any serious influence is Russia and the countries of the former USSR. It is difficult to imagine what this is connected with, including the absence of emigrants of Italian origin, the language barrier and slightly different moral standards of the local population, and a fairly strong local criminal network.