Liborio Romano (27 October 1793 – 17 July 1867) was an Italian politician.
76-468: The Camorra ( Italian: [kaˈmɔrra] ; Neapolitan: [kaˈmorrə] ) is an Italian Mafia -type criminal organization and criminal society originating in the region of Campania . It is one of the oldest and largest criminal organizations in Italy , dating to the 18th century. The Camorra's organizational structure is divided into individual groups called "clans". Every capo or "boss"
152-634: A Mafia-type association in 2010, under Article 416 bis of the Italian penal code. Italy's highest court of last resort, the Supreme Court of Cassation , had ruled similarly on 30 March 2010. The word Mafia ( English: / ˈ m ɑː f i ə / ; Italian: [ˈmaːfja] ) derives from the Sicilian adjective mafiusu , which, roughly translated, means 'swagger', but can also be translated as 'boldness' or ' bravado '. In reference to
228-664: A businessman believed to be connected to the Di Lauro clan, Puca clan , Aversano clan, Mallardo clan, Verde clan, Perfetto clan and to the Scissionisti di Secondigliano. On 10 August 2019, an operation of the police arrested six important members of the Rinaldi clan, particularly members of the Reale faction. They are accused of drug trafficking, extortion and illegal possession of weapons . The organization, once considered one of
304-703: A disciplinary meeting of the Camorra, a tribunal known as the Gran Mamma . That year the first written statute of the Camorra, the frieno , was discovered, indicating a stable organisational structure in the underworld. Another statute was discovered in 1842, related to initiation rites and funds set aside for the families of those imprisoned. The organisation was also known as the Bella Società Riformata , Società dell'Umirtà or Onorata Società . The evolution into more organised formations indicated
380-512: A man, mafiusu ( mafioso in Italian) in 19th century Sicily signified 'fearless', 'enterprising', and 'proud', according to scholar Diego Gambetta . In reference to a woman, however, the feminine-form adjective mafiusa means 'beautiful' or 'attractive'. Because Sicily was once an Islamic emirate from 831 to 1072, Mafia may have come to Sicilian through Arabic , although the word's origins are uncertain. Possible Arabic roots of
456-756: A prominent affiliate of the De Luca Bossa clan , decided to move to the side of the State, becoming a pentito. According to reports, the De Luca Bossa clan, now the most powerful clan of Ponticelli and of much of the Vesuvian area, could soon crumble under the declarations of the new pentito. On 6 November 2019, the Carabinieri arrested Federico Rapprese, linked to the Rannucci clan and included in
532-429: A qualitative change: the Camorra and camorristi were no longer local gangs living off theft and extortion; they had a fixed structure and some kind of hierarchy. Another qualitative leap was the agreement between the liberal opposition and the Camorra, following the defeat of the 1848 revolution . The liberals realised that they needed popular support to overthrow the king. They turned to the Camorra and paid them because
608-458: A short interregnum. Nicknamed "The king of Naples" ("o rre 'e Napole"), he died in 1892. Following Italian unification in 1861, the government made attempts to suppress the Camorra. From 1882, it conducted a series of manhunts. The Saredo Inquiry (1900–1901), established to investigate corruption and bad governance in Naples, identified a system of political patronage run by what the report called
684-541: A total of 354 years' imprisonment. Enrico Alfano , the main defendant and nominal head of the Camorra, was sentenced to 30 years. The Camorra has never been a unified, centralised organisation, but instead a loose confederation of different, independent clans, groups or families. Each group is bound by kinship ties and controlled economic activities that took place in its particular geographic territory. Each clan takes care of its own business, protects its territory, and sometimes tries to expand at another group's expense. There
760-605: Is believed to be the Camorra's local paymaster. The Italian state confiscated €30 million including real estate in Luxembourg belonging to Angelo Grillo, a businessman from Marcianise , considered very close to the Belforte clan. Grillo also owned the company Lynch Invest SA based in the country. In the name of this company, he purchased real estate in Campania and Sardinia . In November 2018, Italian police announced
836-568: Is done with assurance of impunity, as the Camorrists will have the protection of successful politicians, who realize that they cannot be chosen to office without paying toll to the Camorra." Unlike the Sicilian Mafia, which has a clear hierarchy and a division of interests, the Camorra's activities are much less centralised. This makes the organisation much more difficult to combat through crude repression. In Campania, where unemployment
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#1732765876816912-497: Is gold." The boss of the Casalesi clan , Gaetano Vassallo, admitted to systematically working for 20 years to bribe local politicians and officials to gain their acquiescence to dumping toxic waste. The triangle of death and the waste management crisis is primarily a result of government failure to control illegal waste dumping. The government had attempted to mandate recycling and waste management programs, but were unable, causing
988-484: Is high and opportunities are limited, the Camorra has become an integral part of the fabric of society. It offers a sense of community and provides the youth with jobs. Members are guided in the pursuit of criminal activities, including cigarette smuggling , drug trafficking, and theft. The government has made an effort to combat the Camorra's criminal activities in Campania. The solution ultimately lies in Italy's ability to offer values, education and work opportunities to
1064-462: Is now serving a life sentence after a criminal career which included arms trafficking, bomb attacks, armed robbery, and murder. Michele Zagaria , a senior member of the Casalesi clan, was arrested in 2011 after eluding police for 16 years. He was found in a secret bunker in the town Casapesenna, near Naples. In 2014, clan boss Mario Riccio was arrested for drug trafficking in the Naples area. Around
1140-467: Is some minimal coordination to avoid mutual interference. The families compete to maintain a system of checks and balances among equal powers. One of the Camorra's strategies to gain social prestige was and remains political patronage. The family clans became the preferred go-betweens of local politicians and public officials because of their grip on the community. In turn, the family bosses used their political sway to assist and protect their clients against
1216-406: Is the head of a clan, in which there may be tens or hundreds of affiliates, depending on the clan's power and structure. The Camorra's main businesses are drug trafficking , racketeering , counterfeiting , and money laundering . It is also not unusual for Camorra clans to infiltrate the politics of their respective areas. Since the early 1980s and its involvement in the drug trafficking business,
1292-443: Is to ask the local mafioso to oversee the transaction, in exchange for a fee proportional to the value of the transaction but below the legal tax. If the butcher cheats the grocer by selling rotten meat, the mafioso will punish the butcher. If the grocer cheats the butcher by not paying on time and in full, the mafioso will punish the grocer. Punishment might take the form of a violent assault or vandalism against property. The grocer and
1368-684: The Secondigliano Alliance . The latter is an alliance of the Licciardi , Contini and Mallardo clans. The origins of the Camorra are unclear. It may date to the 17th century as a direct Italian descendant of a Spanish secret society, the Garduña , founded in 1417. Recent historical research suggests that the Garduña did not exist and its legendary status was based on a 19th-century fictional book. According to historian John Dickie
1444-452: The camorristi were the leaders of the city's poor. The new police chief, Liborio Romano , appealed to the head of the Camorra, Salvatore De Crescenzo, to maintain order and appointed him as head of the municipal guard. In a few decades, the Camorra had developed into power brokers. In 1869, Ciccio Cappuccio was elected as the capintesta (head-in-chief) of the Camorra by the twelve district heads ( capintriti ), succeeding De Crescenzo after
1520-404: The "high Camorra" was an integral part of the Camorra proper. Although the inquiry did not prove specific collusion between the Camorra and politics, it did reveal the patronage mechanisms that contributed to corruption in the municipality. The society's influence was weakened, which was exemplified by the defeat of all of their candidates in the 1901 Naples election. In the early 20th century, given
1596-470: The "high Camorra": The original low camorra held sway over the poor plebs in an age of abjection and servitude. Then there arose a high camorra comprising the most cunning and audacious members of the middle class. They fed off trade and public works contracts, political meetings and government bureaucracy. This high camorra strikes deals and does business with the low camorra, swapping promises for favours and favours for promises. The high camorra thinks of
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#17327658768161672-526: The 1911–12 trial, Fabroni gave testimony on how complicated it was to successfully prosecute the Camorra: "The Camorrist has no political ideals. He exploits the elections and the elected for gain. The leaders distribute bands throughout the town, and they have recoursed to violence to obtain the vote of the electors for the candidates whom they have determined to support. Those who refuse to vote as instructed are beaten, slashed with knives, or kidnapped. All this
1748-682: The 1980s, the Camorra has taken over the handling of waste disposal in the region of Campania . By December 1999, all regional landfills had reached capacity. Reports in 2008 stated that the crisis was caused at least in part by the Camorra, which created a lucrative business in the municipal waste disposal business, mostly in the triangle of death . With the complicity of industrial companies, heavy metals, industrial waste , and chemicals and household waste are frequently mixed together, then dumped near roads and burned to avoid detection, leading to severe soil and air pollution. According to Giacomo D'Alisa et al., "the situation worsened during this period as
1824-435: The Camorra control the milk and fish industries, the coffee trade, and over 2,500 bakeries in Naples. In 1983, Italian law enforcement estimated that there were about a dozen Camorra clans. By 1987, the estimate had risen to 26, and in the following year to 32. Roberto Saviano , an investigative journalist and author of Gomorra , an exposé of the activities of the Camorra, says that this sprawling network of clans now dwarfs
1900-468: The Camorra diversified their illegal waste disposal strategy: 1) transporting and dumping hazardous waste in the countryside by truck; 2) dumping waste in illegal caves or holes; 3) mixing toxic waste with textiles to avoid explosions and then burning it; and 4) mixing toxic with urban waste for disposal in landfills and incinerators ." A Camorra member, Nunzio Perella was arrested in 1992, and began collaborating with authorities; he had stated "the rubbish
1976-604: The Camorra has acquired a strong presence in other European countries, particularly Spain. Usually, Camorra clans maintain close contact with South American drug cartels, which facilitates the arrival of drugs in Europe. According to Naples public prosecutor Giovanni Melillo, during a 2023 speech of the Antimafia Commission , the most powerful groups of the Camorra in the present day are the Mazzarella clan and
2052-411: The Camorra more resilient when top leaders are arrested or killed, as new clans and organisations emerge from the remnants of old ones. Clan leader Pasquale Galasso stated in court, "Campania can get worse because you could cut into a Camorra group, but another ten could emerge from it." In the 1970s and 1980s, Raffaele Cutolo made an unsuccessful attempt to unify the Camorra families in the manner of
2128-431: The Carabinieri police, the three were captured in small villas on the coast of Naples. All three had been on Italy's 100 top most wanted list. Police seized assets valued at over 100 million euros and also weapons, including two AK-47 assault rifles that may have been used in the shooting of six Africans on 18 September 2008. Police found pistols, Carabinieri uniforms and other outfits that were used to disguise members of
2204-472: The Garduña was a fictional organisation that appeared from nowhere in a very popular French pulp novel published in 1845. The author probably based the story on Miguel de Cervantes ’ short story Rinconete and Cortadillo . An Italian translation in 1847 spread the myth in Italy. More likely, the Camorra developed in the 18th century. Officials of the Kingdom of Naples may have introduced the organisation to
2280-620: The Mafia's function in the Sicilian economy. Suppose a grocer wants to buy meat from a butcher without paying sales tax to the government. Because this is a black market deal, neither party can take the other to court if the other cheats. The grocer is afraid that the butcher will sell him rotten meat. The butcher is afraid that the grocer will not pay him. If the butcher and the grocer cannot get over their mistrust and refuse to trade, they would both miss out on an opportunity for profit. Their solution
2356-658: The Puca clan and nephew of Giuseppe Puca , was sentenced to life in prison. Puca is held responsible for the murder of Francesco Verde, known as ‘o negus, then leader of the Verde clan, happened in 2007. Between the end of the 1980s and the 1990s, the Verde clan fought with the Puca and Ranucci clans, a clash to which numerous murders were attributed. In October 2019, the Direzione Investigativa Antimafia seized €1.5 million belonging to Annalisa De Martino,
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2432-492: The Section of Criminal Police cites "impressive results" against the Camorra in recent years, yet the Camorra continues to grow in power. In 1998, police took a leading Camorra figure into custody. Francesco Schiavone was caught hiding in a secret apartment near Naples behind a sliding wall of granite. The mayor of Naples, Antonio Bassolino, compared the arrest to that of Sicilian Mafia chief Salvatore Riina in 1993. Schiavone
2508-492: The Sicilian Mafia or the Italian-American Mafia and sometimes Italian organized crime in general (e.g., Camorra , 'Ndrangheta , etc.). Today the 'Ndrangheta, originating in the southern Italian region of Calabria , is widely considered the richest and most powerful Mafia in the world. The 'Ndrangheta has been around for as long as the better-known Sicilian Cosa Nostra, but was only recently designated as
2584-485: The Sicilian Mafia, by forming the New Organized Camorra ( Nuova Camorra Organizzata or NCO ). Drive-by shootings by camorristi often result in casualties among the local population but such episodes are often difficult to investigate because of the widespread practise of omertà (code of silence). According to a report published in 2007 by Confesercenti, the second-largest Italian trade organisation,
2660-761: The Sicilian Mafia, the 'Ndrangheta and southern Italy's other organised gangs, in numbers, in economic power and in ruthless violence. In 2004 and 2005, the Di Lauro clan and the so-called Scissionisti di Secondigliano fought a bloody feud which came to be known in the Italian press as the Scampia feud . The result was over 100 street killings. At the end of October 2006 a new series of murders took place in Naples between 20 competing clans, costing 12 lives in 10 days. The Interior Minister, Giuliano Amato , decided to send more than 1,000 extra police and carabinieri to Naples to fight crime and protect tourists. Despite this, in
2736-640: The alliance. The historical female boss Maria Licciardi managed to escape from the arrest in the operation, and is now considered a fugitive. Seven members of the organization were arrested in Spain, Netherlands, South America and in the Balkans , places where they were running illicit business on behalf of the Alliance. On 12 July 2019, the Italian police confiscated €300 million, including 600 houses, lands, 16 cars and bank accounts belonging to Antonio Passarelli,
2812-716: The arbitration of disputes between criminals, as well as the organization and enforcement of illicit agreements between criminals through the use of threat or violence. Mafias often engage in secondary activities such as gambling , loan sharking , drug-trafficking , prostitution , and fraud . The term Mafia was originally applied to the Sicilian Mafia . Since then, the term has expanded to encompass other organizations of similar methods and purpose, e.g. "the Russian Mafia" or "the Japanese Mafia". The term
2888-470: The area, or it may have developed gradually from small criminal gangs operating in Neapolitan society near the end of the 18th century. The first official use of camorra as a word dates from 1735, when a royal decree authorised the establishment of eight gambling houses in Naples. The word is likely a blend, or portmanteau, of " capo " (boss) and a Neapolitan street game, the " morra ". After gambling
2964-457: The arrest of Antonio Orlando, suspected of being a major figure in the Camorra. In February 2019, Ciro Rinaldi, boss of the Rinaldi clan , was arrested in a house in the region of San Pietro a Patierno , he is accused of the double murder of Raffaele Cepparulo, member of a small gang linked to the Mazzarella clan , and Ciro Colonna, an innocent victim. Rinaldi is also considered responsible for
3040-417: The businessman trying to win a contract to a worker looking for a job in a factory; from a professional who wants more clients or greater recognition to somebody looking for an office job; from somebody from the provinces who has come to Naples to buy some goods to somebody who wants to emigrate to America; they all find somebody stepping into their path, and nearly all made use of them. Scholars dispute whether
3116-520: The butcher both fear the mafioso, so each honors their side of the bargain. All three parties profit. Introduced by Pio La Torre , article 416-bis of the Italian Penal Code defines a Mafia-type association (Italian: associazione di tipo mafioso ) as one where "those belonging to the association exploit the potential for intimidation which their membership gives them, and the compliance and omertà which membership entails and which lead to
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3192-445: The committing of crimes, the direct or indirect assumption of management or control of financial activities, concessions, permissions, enterprises and public services for the purpose of deriving profit or wrongful advantages for themselves or others". Mafia-proper can refer to either: Italian criminal organizations include: [REDACTED] The dictionary definition of mafia at Wiktionary Liborio Romano Liborio Romano
3268-615: The end of the Kingdom, on 14 July 1860 he was named Minister of the Interior and Police: Romano, realising the inevitability of the end, began secret contacts with Count Cavour , the Piedmontese Prime Minister, and Garibaldi , preparing the switching of southern Italy into Savoy's hands. He suggested to King Francis that he move to the fortress of Gaeta , in order to avoid riots, destruction and useless suffering to
3344-549: The expansion of opportunities for illegal activities, which caused further barriers to solve the waste crisis. In November 2013, a demonstration by tens of thousands of people was held in Naples in protest against the pollution caused by the Camorra's control of refuse disposal. Over a twenty-year period, it was alleged, about ten million tonnes of industrial waste had been illegally dumped, with cancers caused by pollution increasing by 40–47%. The Camorra has proven to be an extremely difficult organisation to fight within Italy. During
3420-467: The following year there were over 120 murders. In 2001, the businessman Domenico Noviello from Caserta testified against a Camorra extortionist and subsequently received police protection. In 2008 he refused further protection and was killed one week later. In recent years, various Camorra clans have been allegedly using alliances with Nigerian drug gangs and the Albanian mafia . Augusto La Torre ,
3496-657: The former La Torre clan boss who became a pentito , is married to an Albanian woman; the first foreign pentito, a Tunisian, admitted to being involved with the feared Casalesi clan of Casal di Principe . The first town in which the Camorra sanctioned stewardship by a foreign clan was Castel Volturno , which was given to the Rapaces, clans from Lagos and Benin City in Nigeria. This allowed them to traffic cocaine and women in sexual slavery before sending them across Europe. Since
3572-480: The former partner of the boss Giuseppe Gallo. The Gallo clan has control over illegal activities such as extortion, drug trafficking and money laundering in the areas of Boscotrecase , Boscoreale and Torre Annunziata . De Martino was considered to be in charge of the financial management of the organization. On 23 October 2019, the Italian police dismantled the Montescuro clan, arresting 23 important members of
3648-494: The groups and families that comprise the Sicilian Mafia that other criminal groups are given the label. Giovanni Falcone , an anti-Mafia judge murdered by the Sicilian Mafia in 1992, objected to the conflation of the term Mafia with organized crime in general: While there was a time when people were reluctant to pronounce the word "Mafia" ... nowadays people have gone so far in the opposite direction that it has become an overused term ... I am no longer willing to accept
3724-710: The habit of speaking of the Mafia in descriptive and all-inclusive terms that make it possible to stack up phenomena that are indeed related to the field of organized crime but that have little or nothing in common with the Mafia. Scholars such as Diego Gambetta and Leopoldo Franchetti have characterized the Sicilian Mafia as a cartel of private protection firms whose primary business is protection racketeering : they use their fearsome reputation for violence to deter people from swindling, robbing, or competing with those who pay them for protection. For many businessmen in Sicily, they provide an essential service when they cannot rely on
3800-445: The heads of the major Neapolitan families became power brokers in local and national political contexts, providing Neapolitan politicians with broad electoral support, and in return receiving benefits for their constituency. Compared to the Sicilian Mafia 's pyramidal structure, the Camorra has more of a 'horizontal' structure. As a result, Camorra clans act independently of one another and are more prone to feuding. This, however, makes
3876-413: The law and public trust. The inquiry introduced the terminology of "high Camorra", as having a bourgeois character, and distinct from the plebeian Camorra proper. The two groups were in close contact through the figure of the intermediary ( faccendiere ). From the rich industrialist who wants a clear road into politics or administration to the small shopowner who wants to ask for a reduction of taxes; from
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#17327658768163952-701: The list of the most dangerous fugitives. Rapprese was wanted since February 2018, accused of the attempted murder of Antonio Marrazzo, brother of the head of the Marazzo clan, happened in December 2006. Mafia " Mafia ", as an informal or general term, is often used to describe criminal organizations that bear a strong similarity to the original Mafia in Sicily , to the Italian-American Mafia , or to other organized crime groups from Italy . The central activity of such an organization would be
4028-423: The local authorities. Through a mixture of brute force, political status, and social leadership, the Camorra clans gained ground as middlemen between the local community and bureaucrats and politicians at national level. They granted privileges and protection, and intervened in favour of their clients, in return for their silence and connivance against local authorities and the police. With their political connections,
4104-594: The most prominent, suffered hard blows in 2019, with the arrests of most of its leaders and important figures. On 21 August 2019, Giuseppe Chirico, included in the list of the most dangerous fugitives in Italy, was arrested in the Ciampino airport , where he landed after a brief holiday abroad. Chirico is considered a prominent member of the Scarpa, linked to the powerful Gallo-Cavalieri clan from Torre Annunziata , dedicated in particular to international drug trafficking. He
4180-505: The murder of Vincenzo De Bernardo, also linked to the Mazzarellas. At the time of his arrest, his clan was considered one of the most powerful clans of the Camorra, having all the eastern area of the city of Naples under its control and having as allies the Secondigliano Alliance . On 18 September 2019, Ciro Rinaldi was sentenced to life imprisonment, considered to be the mastermind behind the murders of Cepparulo and Colonna. According to
4256-403: The next generation. However, the government has been hard pressed to find funds for promoting long-term reforms that are needed to improve the local economic outlook and create jobs. Instead, it has had to rely on limited law enforcement activity in an environment that has a long history of tolerance and acceptance of criminality and is governed by the omertà. Despite the overwhelming magnitude of
4332-478: The operation. During the same week, a separate operation netted 26 additional suspects in Caserta . All were believed to belong to the powerful Camorra crime syndicate that operates in and around Naples. The suspects were charged with extortion and weapons possession. In some cases, the charges also included murder and robbery. Giuseppina Nappa, the 48-year-old wife of a jailed crime boss, was among those arrested. She
4408-532: The organisation. The clan was headed by the elderly boss Carmine Montescuro, nicknamed 'Zì Menuzzo' , a leader of remarkable criminal charisma, who for at least 20 years played the role of mediator in the wars between various clans. According to the investigations, due to his mediation skills, he was able to put the Missos , the Mazzarellas and the Continis at the same table when the war between their organisations
4484-499: The police and judiciary to enforce their contracts and protect their properties from thieves (this is often because they are engaged in black market deals). The [Sicilian] Mafia's principal activities are settling disputes among other criminals, protecting them against each other's cheating, and organizing and overseeing illicit agreements, often involving many agents, such as illicit cartel agreements in otherwise legal industries. Scholars have observed that many other societies around
4560-596: The poverty of Naples and the region, many camorristi emigrated to the United States. The Camorra received another blow with the Cuocolo Trial (1911–1912). The trial was ostensibly to prosecute those charged with the murder on 6 June 1906 of the Camorra boss Gennaro Cuocolo and his wife, who were suspected of being police spies. The main investigator, Carabinieri Captain Carlo Fabbroni, transformed
4636-487: The problem, law enforcement officials continue their pursuit. The Italian police are coordinating their efforts with Europol and Interpol to conduct special operations against the Camorra. The Carabinieri and the Financial Police ( Guardia di Finanza ) are also fighting criminal activities related to tax evasion, border controls, and money laundering. Prefect Gennaro Monaco, Deputy Chief of Police and Chief of
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#17327658768164712-458: The reports, Rinaldi reportedly ordered Cepparulo's death believing Cepparulo was planning to kill him to give "pleasure" to the Mazzarella clan, historical enemies of the Rinaldi clan. In March 2019, Marco Di Lauro , the second most wanted man in Italy, was arrested after spending 14 years on the run. He is the fourth son of ex-Camorra boss Paolo Di Lauro . In 2010, an informant said that he
4788-542: The same time 29 suspected Camorra members were also arrested in Rome. The arrests in the Campania region demonstrate that the police are not allowing the Camorra to operate without intervention. However, progress remains slow, and these minor victories have done little to loosen the Camorra's grip on Naples and the surrounding regions. In 2008, Italian police arrested three members of the Camorra crime syndicate on 30 September 2008. According to Gianfrancesco Siazzu, commander of
4864-426: The state bureaucracy as being like a field it has to harvest and exploit. Its tools are cunning, nerve and violence. Its strength comes from the streets. And it is rightly considered to be more dangerous, because it has re-established the worst form of despotism by founding a regime based on bullying. The high camorra has replaced free will with impositions, it has nullified individuality and liberty, and it has defrauded
4940-411: The term krysha . With the [Russian] state in collapse and the security forces overwhelmed and unable to police contract law, ... cooperating with the criminal culture was the only option. ... most businessmen had to find themselves a reliable krysha under the leadership of an effective vor . In his analysis of the Sicilian Mafia, Gambetta provided the following hypothetical scenario to illustrate
5016-462: The trial into one against the Camorra as a whole, intending to use it to strike the final blow to the Camorra. The trial attracted much attention among newspapers and the general public, both in Italy and the United States, including by Pathé's Gazette . The hearings began in 1911. After 17 months, the often tumultuous proceedings ended with a guilty verdict on 8 July 1912 against defendants who included 27 leading Camorra bosses. They were sentenced to
5092-418: The use of the term Mafia began appearing in the Italian state's early reports on the phenomenon. The word made its first official appearance in 1865 in a report by the prefect of Palermo Filippo Antonio Gualterio [ it ] . The term Mafia was never officially used by Sicilian mafiosi, who prefer to refer to their organization as " Cosa Nostra ". Nevertheless, it is typically by comparison to
5168-670: The word include: The public's association of the word with the criminal secret society was perhaps inspired by the 1863 play I mafiusi di la Vicaria ('The Mafiosi of the Vicaria') by Giuseppe Rizzotto and Gaspare Mosca. The words Mafia and mafiusi are never mentioned in the play. The play is about a Palermo prison gang with traits similar to the Mafia: a boss, an initiation ritual, and talk of umirtà ( omertà or code of silence) and pizzu (a codeword for extortion money). The play had great success throughout Italy. Soon after,
5244-466: The world have criminal organizations of their own that provide the same sort of protection service. For instance, in Russia, after the collapse of communism, the state security system had all but collapsed, forcing businessmen to hire criminal gangs to enforce their contracts and protect their properties from thieves. These gangs are popularly called "the Russian Mafia" by foreigners, but they prefer to go by
5320-668: Was at its peak in the early 2000s. Montescuro also had a good relationship with Marco Mariano, boss of the Mariano clan in the 1990s. Despite his advanced age, the Court of Naples authorized his arrest and transfer to prison; however, after less than two weeks, he was transferred from jail to house arrest for health reasons. Montescuro was also known for his passion for gambling, and was often in Monte Carlo , where he reportedly spent large amounts of money. In November 2019, Raffaele Romano,
5396-573: Was born in Patù , near Santa Maria di Leuca ( Apulia ), then part of the Kingdom of Naples . He studied at Lecce and graduated in law at Naples , soon beginning to teach in the same university. Frequenting the Carbonari , Romano adhered to the Risorgimento ideals. In 1820 he took part to the riots against the Neapolitan government, being imprisoned and exiled. In 1848 he returned to Naples and
5472-532: Was coined by the press and is informal; the criminal organizations themselves have their own names (e.g. the Sicilian Mafia and the related Italian-American Mafia refer to their organizations as "Cosa Nostra"; the "Japanese Mafia" calls itself "Ninkyō dantai", but is more commonly known as " Yakuza " by the public; "Russian Mafia" groups often call themselves " bratva "). "Chinese Mafia" groups are often referred to as Triads . When used alone and without any qualifier, "Mafia" or "the Mafia" typically refers to either
5548-538: Was instrumental in the events leading King Ferdinand II to issue a Constitution . On 15 May 1848 Romano was again arrested and condemned to death, but managed to turn it into exile, moving to Montpellier in France . Romano returned in 1854. Six years later, with Giuseppe Garibaldi 's Expedition of the Thousand ongoing, he was appointed Prefect of Police by King Francis II . While Garibaldi's victories were nearing
5624-649: Was prohibited by the local government, some people started making the players pay for protection against the attentions of passing police. The Camorra emerged during the chaotic power vacuum between 1799 and 1815, when the Parthenopean Republic was proclaimed on the wave of the French Revolution and the Bourbon Restoration . The first official mention of the Camorra as an organisation dates from 1820, when police records detail
5700-611: Was responsible for at least four murders. In June 2019, the Italian police arrested more than 120 members of the Secondigliano Alliance, the alliance created by the Licciardi , Contini and Mallardo clans, in an anti-Camorra operation. The police also confiscated €130 million. Among those who were arrested were the wives of the bosses of the Bosti , Mallardo, Licciardi and Contini clans, but also their lieutenants, children, grandchildren and entrepreneurs who worked for
5776-634: Was wanted since January 2018 and was using a fake identity at the time of his arrest. On 24 September 2019, the Italian police arrested Salvatore Ferro, step brother of Gaetano Beneduce, head of the historical Beneduce-Longobardi clan, based in Pozzuoli . Ferro, according to investigations, led the Ferro faction of the clan since the death of his brother Rosario Ferro, known as 'Capatosta, in 1998. Now he will serve two years and five months in prison. In September 2019, Pasquale Puca, known as ‘o minorenne, head of
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