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Italian Organized Crime and the Albanian Connection

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Italian Organized Crime and the Albanian Connection CJUS 3310 Organized and Consensual Crime Italian Organized Crime and the Albanian Connection In this chapter we begin our examination of organized crime on the global scene, sometimes referred to as transnational organized crime. Our focus will be on criminal organizations that have affected, or have the potential to affect, the United States. We will begin our examination with four of these criminal organizations—Mafia, Camorra, 'Ndrangheta, and the Sacra Corona Unita (with its Albanian connection)— which have their roots in southern Italy, theMezzogiorno. THE MEZZOGIORNO The southern Italian experience dates back more than 1000 years. It led to development of a culture that stresses the variables necessary for survival in a hostile environment. To be respected meant to be entitled to the deference of others that came from the ability to use violence. Omertá: the southern Italian ideal of manliness--non-cooperation with authorities, self-control in the face of adversity, and the vendetta. THE MEZZOGIORNO (CONT.) The vendetta--"blood washes blood"--dictated that any offense or slight to the famiglia (family) had to be avenged. The only basis of loyalty was famiglia--"blood of my blood" (sangu de me sangu). Neither government nor church was to be trusted. The famiglia included all one's blood relatives, including distant cousins, traced through paternity. The famiglia was organized hierarchically under the patriarch, the capo de famiglia. THE MEZZOGIORNO (CONT.) The Mezzogiorno remained mired in feudalism and dependent on agriculture; a legacy of political, social, and economic repression; and exploitation. Government spending on building projects became a vehicle for Mafia infiltration. By corruption and intimidation, Mafia-controlled firms took a share of public contracts. 3 types of criminal organization emerged: the Neapolitan Camorra, Calabrian 'Ndrangheta, and The Mafia (Cosa Nostra). THE SICILIAN MAFIA Sicily is an island in the Mediterranean. In the 19th century, successive regimes of Mafia clans maintained a uniquely Sicilian form of order--brutal, at times protecting the landed elite, at other times protecting outlaws. The government in Rome imposed a tax policy that took money out of Sicilian agriculture to invest in the north. Landowners escaped high taxes. "Strong men" administered their lands and acted as patrons to the peasants on the lands, and were assumed to be mafiosi. MAFIA "Mafia" has Sicilian-Arabic roots. "Mafia" as a state of mind has a meaning shared by all Sicilians: aid each other, side with friends, fight common enemies, defend, avenge, keep secrets, and beware of authorities. "Mafia" could not flourish without "mafia," which represents a general attitude toward the state. A mafioso did not invoke state or law in his private quarrels, but made himself respected by winning a reputation for toughness and courage. The use of private violence in settling disputes was accepted, because there was no effective state policing. MUSSOLINI AND THE MAFIA An incident in a Sicilian town in 1924 between Il Duce and a mayor resulted in Mussolini's placing the brutal Prefect Mori in charge of purging the Mafia. Some mafiosi traveled to the US, arriving at an opportune time--Prohibition. In Sicily, the Mafia infiltrated Mussolini's Fascist regime, and when WWII ended, emerged as the Nuovo Mafia--a "new" Mafia..
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