MAFIA – How The Mafia works

This article is about the criminal society

Mafia

 

The Italian mafia is the first one which pops into the head of any one who hears the word "Mafia". It is the only true Mafia. The Italian Mafia, or the family (not Cosa Nostra), are respected and loved by their people. A "mafioso" as some refer to them as, does his job to make the life of his people easier.

Any criminal acts taking up by the mafia are done for the good of their people. Anyone who disturbes the Italian deals with all of them. They are also experts of getting the job done, as long as no questions are asked. The one thing they frown upon in the mafia is snitches. "Never take sides against the Family", even though this was said by a movie character, this still applies. Mafioso's aren't criminals, they are problem solvers, and businessmen who make their people happy.

*The "gangs" work only for themselves, the Italian Mafia works for their people.

*Film Soundtrack: Italian Mafia--The Sopranos, The Godfather...etc

Italian Mafia

The Mafia (also known as Cosa Nostra) is a Sicilian criminal secret society which first developed in the mid-19th century in Sicily. An offshoot emerged on the East Coast of the United States and in Australia[1] during the late 19th century following waves of Sicilian and Southern Italian emigration (see also Italian diaspora).

In North America, the Mafia often refers to Italian organized crime in general, rather than just traditional Sicilian organized crime. According to historian Paolo Pezzino: "The Mafia is a kind of organized crime being active not only in several illegal fields, but also tending to exercise sovereignty functions – normally belonging to public authorities – over a specific territory..."

The Sicilian Cosa Nostra is a loose confederation of about one hundred Mafia groups, also called cosche or families, each of which claims sovereignty over a territory, usually a town or village or a neighborhood of a larger city, though without ever fully conquering and legitimizing its monopoly of violence. For many years, the power apparatuses of the single families were the sole ruling bodies within the two associations, and they have remained the real centers of power even after superordinate bodies were created in the Cosa Nostra beginning in the late 1950s (the Sicilian Mafia Commission).

Some observers have seen "mafia" as a set of attributes deeply rooted in popular culture, as a "way of being", as illustrated in the definition by the Sicilian ethnographer, Giuseppe Pitrè, at the end of the 19th century: "Mafia is the consciousness of one's own worth, the exaggerated concept of individual force as the sole arbiter of every conflict, of every clash of interests or ideas."

Many Sicilians did not regard these men as criminals but as role models and protectors, given that the state appeared to offer no protection for the poor and weak. As late as the 1950s, the funeral epitaph of the legendary boss of Villalba, Calogero Vizzini, stated that "his 'mafia' was not criminal, but stood for respect of the law, defense of all rights, greatness of character. It was love."

Here, "mafia" means something like pride, honour, or even social responsibility: an attitude, not an organization. Likewise, in 1925, the former Italian Prime Minister Vittorio Emanuele Orlando stated in the Italian senate that he was proud of being mafioso, because that word meant honourable, noble, generous.

Russian Mafia

The Russian Mob or Mafia, Russkaya Mafiya, Red Mafia, Krasnaya Mafiya or Bratva (slang for 'brotherhood'), is a name given to a broad group of organized criminals of various ethnicity which appeared in the former Soviet Union territories after its disintegration in 1991. The Russian Mob's own members have been known to call their crime group "Organizatsiya" ("The Organization").

*Organized crime or criminal organizations are groups or operations run by criminals, most commonly for the purpose of generating a monetary profit. The Organized Crime Control Act (U.S., 1970) defines organized crime as "The unlawful activities of ... a highly organized, disciplined association...".

Some criminal organizations, such as terrorist organizations, are politically motivated. Gangs sometimes become "disciplined" enough to be considered "organized". An organized gang or criminal set can also be referred to as a mob. The act of engaging in criminal activity as a structured group is referred to in the United States as racketeering. In the U.S., organized crime is often prosecuted federally under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO), Statute (18 U.S.C. Part I Chapter 96 §§ 1961-1968).

Organized crime, however defined, is characterized by a few basic qualities including durability over time, diversified interests, hierarchical structure, capital accumulation, reinvestment, access to political protection and the use of violence to protect interests.

How does the Russian Mafia work?

If the Russian Mafia were to intimidate someone, how would they do it? I can imagine typical Mafia tactics but how about things that are particularly Russian? If they were to kill a person, how would they go about it? Is there any distinction between the Russian Mafia and Italian Mafia in terms of operations?

The major difference between the Russian Mafia and the Italian Mafia, from what I can tell by reading Russian-language newspapers, is that the Italian Mafia is organized in a very hierarchical way whereas the Russian Mafia is very fluid and amorphous. This difference makes the Russian Mafia more effective because the criminal organization exists only for a short period of time that is necessary for implementing a particular task. It disappears and re-appears depending on the situation. There are no capos or "made men" or any of that stuff. This makes it very difficult for the law to track them and destroy them.

In contrast, the Italian Mafia has a very rigid structure: the organization will continue to exist no matter what happens to particular individuals who are involved in it. This makes it easier for the law enforcement authorities to discover, penetrate and destroy Italian criminal "families."

Another difference has something to do with the history of both mafias. The Italian Mafia was originally recruited from illiterate and poor Sicilian peasants, while the Russian Mafia is recruited from the former USSR's top intellectual and managerial elite (mostly Jewish and Russian Orthodox in origin). In other words, the intellectual capacity of Russian criminals far exceeds that of Italian criminals. That's why the Italian Mafia is mostly involved in blue-collar crimes (such as drug trafficing, protection rackets, etc.) while the Russians are involved in very sophisticated white-collar crimes (tax evasion schemes, insurance fraud, credit card fraud, stocks ans securities fraud, etc.)

Finally, there is a huge difference between them in terms of morality. Italian criminals are cruel but they mostly believe in God and have some sense of fairness whereas Russians are completely immoral - they are morally degenerate and for them to kill someone is the easiest thing you can imagine. They grew up in a country where an individual's worth was close to zero.

American Mafia (Cosa Nostra)

The Italian Mafia continues to dominate organized crime in the U.S. It uses this status to maintain control over much of both Chicago's and New York City's organized criminal activity, as well as criminal activity in other cities in the Northeast and across the country, such as Philadelphia, Las Vegas, New Orleans, and many others.

The Mafia and its reputation have become entrenched in American popular culture, being portrayed in movies, TV shows, commercial advertising and video games.

The American Mafia, specifically the Five Families of New York, has its roots in the Sicilian Mafia, but has been a separate organization in the United States for many years. Today, American Cosa Nostra cooperates in various criminal activities with the different Italian organized crime groups, such as Camorra, which are headquartered in Italy. It is wrongly known as the "original Mafia", although it was neither the oldest criminal organization, nor the first to act in the U.S. In 1986, according to government reports, it was estimated that there are 1,700 members of "Cosa Nostra" and thousands of associate members. Reports also are said to include the Italian-American Mafia as the largest organized crime group in the United States and continues to hold dominance over the National Crime Syndicate, despite the increasing numbers of street gangs and other organizations of neither Italian nor Sicilian ethnicity. American Cosa Nostra is most active in the New York metropolitan area, Philadelphia, New England (see the Patriarca crime family), Detroit (see the Detroit Partnership), and Chicago (see the Chicago Outfit), but there are actually a total of 26 Cosa Nostra family cities around the United States.

Mafia History

Origins:

The Black Hand (extortion) = Typical Black Hand tactics involved sending a letter to a victim threatening bodily harm, kidnapping, arson, or murder. The letter demanded a specified amount of money to be delivered to a specific place. It was "decorated" with threatening symbols like a smoking gun or hangman's noose and signed with a hand imprinted in black ink; hence the name La Mano Nera (The Black Hand) which was readily adopted by the American press as "The Black Hand Society".

Main article: Black Hand (blackmail)

Mafia groups in the United States first became influential in the New York City area, gradually progressing from small neighborhood operations in poor Italian ghettos to citywide and eventually international organizations. The American Mafia started with the La Mano Nera, "The Black Hand", extorting Italians (and other immigrants) around New York city. Black Hand gangsters would threaten them by mail if their extortion demands were not met. The threats were sometimes marked with a hand-print in black ink at the bottom of the page. As more Sicilian gangsters immigrated to the U.S., they expanded their criminal activities from extortion to loan-sharking, prostitution, drugs and alcohol, robbery, kidnapping, and murder. Many poor Italian immigrants embraced the Mafia as a possible way of gaining power and rising out of the poverty and anti-Italianism they experienced in America.

Giuseppe Esposito was the first known Sicilian Mafia member to emigrate to the United States. He and six other Sicilians fled to New York after murdering eleven wealthy landowners as well as the chancellor and a vice chancellor of a Sicilian province. He was arrested in New Orleans in 1881 and extradited to Italy.

New Orleans was also the site of the first Mafia incident in the United States that received both national and international attention. On October 15, 1890, New Orleans Police Superintendent David Hennessey was murdered execution-style. Hundreds of Sicilians were arrested, and nineteen were eventually indicted for the murder. An acquittal followed, with rumors of bribed and intimidated witnesses. The outraged citizens of New Orleans organized a lynch mob and proceeded to kill eleven of the nineteen defendants. Two were hanged, nine were shot, and the remaining eight escaped.

In the 1910s and 1920s in New York City, the Sicilian Mafia developed into the Five Points Gang.

When was the Mafia founded?

The Mafia originated some time during the mid 19th Century in the island of Sicily, at around the same time as the emergence of the new Italian state? driven by industrialization and trade.

The Sicilian mafia has always been at its strongest in the west of the island, especially around its birthplace in the city of Palermo. Palermo was the centre of trade, commerce and politics of Sicily. The mafia originated around the affluent estates of lemon and orange groves in Palermo, as opposed to the economically backwards and underdeveloped interior of the island. The mafia was initially involved in the business of protection and extortion in and around Palermo's lemon and orange farms. dtr According to some sources, members of the ruling aristocracy were also members of the "sect" (as the mafia was known in those days). Among those sources are Baron Turrisi Colonna, who wrote the first ever account of the organised criminality in Sicily in the mid 1800's. In 1864, he estimated the age of the "sect" at about 20 years.

Colonna was well known as a political protector of members of the sect. A relationship with the government has always characterised the Sicilian mafia. In the early days of the Italian state there were two, often synonymous power groups: the landowners and the politicians. These groups were often discreetly infiltrated and corrupted by the mafia. Some historical evidence, and much hearsay, suggests that the mafia initiated many members of government and business.

Mafia - Ten Commandments

In November 2007 Sicilian police reported to have found a list of "Ten Commandments" in the hideout of mafia boss Salvatore Lo Piccolo. Similar to the Biblical Ten Commandments, they are thought to be a guideline on how to be a good mobster. The commandments are as follows:

1. No-one can present himself directly to another of our friends. There must be a third person to do it.

2. Never look at the wives of friends

3. Never be seen with cops.

4. Don't go to pubs and clubs.

5. Always being available for Cosa Nostra is a duty - even if your wife's about to give birth.

6. Appointments must absolutely be respected.

7. Wives must be treated with respect.

8. When asked for any information, the answer must be the truth.

9. Money cannot be appropriated if it belongs to others or to other families.

10. People who can't be part of Cosa Nostra: anyone who has a close relative in the police, anyone with a two-timing relative in the family, anyone who behaves badly and doesn't hold to moral values.

Prominent Italian American mafiosi

See also: List of Italian American mobsters.


1. Al Capone 'Scarface': (1899-1947) Prohibition Chicago Boss.

- Born January 17, 1899
Brooklyn, New York

- Died January 25, 1947 (aged 48)
Palm Island, Florida, U.S. (Miami Beach, Florida)

- Charge(s) Tax Evasion
Penalty Imprisonment from 1932 to 1939

- Status deceased
- Occupation gangster, bootlegger

- Spouse Mae Josephine Coughlin

- Children Albert Francis Capone

Alphonse Gabriel Capone (January 17, 1899 – January 25, 1947), popularly known as Al Capone or Scarface, was an Italian American gangster who led a crime syndicate dedicated to the smuggling and bootlegging of liquor and other illegal activities during the Prohibition Era of the 1920s and 1930s.

Born in Brooklyn, New York, to southwestern Italian emigrants Gabriele and Teresina Capone, Capone began his career in Brooklyn before moving to Chicago and becoming the boss of the criminal organization known as the Chicago Outfit (although his business card reportedly described him as a used furniture dealer).

By the end of the 1920s, Capone had gained the attention of the Federal Bureau of Investigation following his being placed on the Chicago Crime Commission's "public enemies" list.

Although never successfully convicted of racketeering charges, Capone's criminal career ended in 1931, when he was indicted and convicted by the federal government for income tax evasion.


2. Charles Luciano 'Lucky': (1897-1962) New York Boss. Founder of Modern American Mafia. First Boss of the Genovese Family.

- Born November 24, 1897
Lercara Friddi, Sicily, Italy

- Died January 26, 1962 (aged 64)
Naples, Italy

Charles "Lucky" Luciano (born Salvatore Lucania) (November 24, 1897 – January 26, 1962) was a Sicilian-American mobster. Luciano is considered the father of modern organized crime and the mastermind of the massive postwar expansion of the international heroin trade.

TIME magazine named Luciano amongst the top 20 most influential builders and titans of the 20th century.[1]


3. Joe Bonanno 'Joe Bananas': (1905-2002) First Boss of the Bonanno Family.

- Born January 18, 1905
Castellammare del Golfo, Sicily, Italy

- Died May 12, 2002 (aged 97)
Tucson, Arizona, U.S.

Giuseppe "Joseph/Joe" Bonanno (January 18, 1905 – May 12, 2002) was a Sicilian-born American Mafioso who became the boss of one of the infamous Five Families of New York City. He was nicknamed "Joe Bananas", a name he hated because it disrespected his name.

4. Carlo Gambino 'Don Carlo': (1902-1976) Boss and expander of the Gambino crime family. Seen by some as the Chairman of the Commission since 1957.

- Born August 24, 1902
Caccamo, Palermo, Sicily, Italy

- Died October 15, 1976 (aged 74)
New York City, New York, U.S.

Carlo "Don Carlo" Gambino, (August 24, 1902 - October 15, 1976) was a Mafioso who also became boss of the Gambino crime family that still bears his name today. No one expected Gambino to seize control over The Commission of Cosa Nostra in the US, at the 1957's Appalachin convention. Gambino was known for being low-key and secretive and unlike many modern mafiosi, Gambino served relatively little time in prison, but lived to the age of 74, when he died of a heart attack, while watching the New York Yankees on television. He had one brother, Jasper Gambino, who later married and was never involved with the mafia.


5. Gaetano Gagliano 'Tommy': (1884-1951) First Boss of the Lucchese Family.

Gaetano "Tommy" Gagliano (1884 - 16 February 1951?) is a New York gangster who founded the Lucchese crime family and served as its low-profile boss for over two decades. The Lucchese family would become one of the most powerful criminal organizations in America.


6. Vincent Mangano: (1888-1951) First Boss of the Gambino Family.

- Born March 28, 1888
Sicily, Italy

- Died April 19, 1951 (aged 63)
New York, U.S.

Vincent Mangano (born Vincenzo Giovanni Mangano) also known as The Executioner as he was named in a Brooklyn newspaper. (March 28, 1888 - April 19, 1951) was the head of the Mangano crime family and also one of the infamous bosses of Murder, Incorporated from 1931 to 1951. His brother Philip Mangano was his right hand man and defacto, or substituto, underboss of the crime family which eventually became the Gambino crime family.


7. Joe Profaci: (1897-1962) First Boss of the Colombo Family.

- Born October 2, 1897
Sicily, Italy

- Died June 7, 1962 (aged 64)
New York City, New York, U.S.

Giuseppe "Joe" Profaci (October 2, 1897–June 7, 1962) was a New York Mafia boss who was the founder and head of the Profaci crime family (known today as the Colombo crime family) for over three decades.

8. Joe Valachi 'Joe Cargo': (1903-1971) First Mafioso to turn informer.

- Born September 22, 1903
Brooklyn, New York, U.S.

- Died April 3, 1971 (aged 67)
El Paso, Texas, U.S.

Joseph 'Joe Cargo' Valachi (September 22, 1903 – April 3, 1971) was the first Mafia member to publicly acknowledge the existence of the Mafia. He is also the person who made Cosa Nostra (meaning "this thing of ours") a household name.


9. Paul Castellano: (1915-1985) Gambino Boss. Assassinated on the orders of John Gotti.

- Born June 26, 1915
Brooklyn, New York, U.S.

- Died December 16, 1985 (aged 70)
Manhattan, New York, U.S.

Constantino Paul Castellano (June 26, 1915 – December 16, 1985), better known as Paul Castellano (or PC to his family), was a mafia boss in New York. He succeeded Carlo Gambino as head of the Gambino crime family, then one of New York's largest Mafia families. In early 1985, he was one of many Mafia bosses arrested on charges of racketeering, which was to result in the Mafia Commission Trial; in December of that year, while out on bail, Castellano and an associate were shot to death outside Sparks Steak House in Manhattan on the orders of John J. Gotti.


10. John Gotti 'The Dapper Don': (1940-2002) Gambino Boss. Famous for flamboyance and his media friendly attitude.

- Born October 27, 1940
The Bronx, New York City, New York, U.S.

- Died June 10, 2002 (aged 61)
Springfield, Missouri, USA

- Charge(s) Murder, conspiracy to commit murder, loansharking, racketeering, obstruction of justice, illegal gambling, tax evasion

- Penalty Life imprisonment

- Status Deceased
- Occupation Boss of the Gambino Crime Family

- Spouse Victoria DiGiorgio

- Parents John and Philomena Gotti

- Children Angela Gotti
Victoria Gotti
John A. Gotti
Frank Gotti
Peter Gotti, Jr.

John Joseph Gotti, Jr. (October 27, 1940 – June 10, 2002), commonly known as John Gotti, also nicknamed by the media as The Dapper Don and The Teflon Don, was a boss of the Gambino Crime Family, one of the Five Families in New York City. He became widely known for his outspoken personality and flamboyant style that made him the poster child for mobsters, an image that persists even today.

He was convicted of racketeering, 13 murders, obstruction of justice, conspiracy to commit murder, illegal gambling, extortion, tax evasion and loansharking among others and sentenced to life in prison where he died.


11. Henry Hill: (1943-present) Mob turncoat immortalized in the film Goodfellas.

FBI mugshot of Henry Hill taken in 1980.
Henry Hill (born June 11, 1943)[1] is an Irish/Italian American former mobster, Lucchese crime family associate, and FBI informant whose life was immortalized in the book Wiseguy, written by crime reporter Nicholas Pileggi, and the 1990 Martin Scorsese movie Goodfellas, in which Hill was played by Ray Liotta. He was the owner of a restaurant called The Suite.

Law Enforcement and the Mafia

In several Mafia families, killing a state authority is forbidden due to the possibility of extreme police retaliation. In some rare strict cases, conspiring to commit such a murder is punishable by death. The Jewish mobster Dutch Schultz was reportedly killed by his Italian peers out of fear that he would carry out a plan to kill New York City prosecutor Thomas Dewey. The Mafia has been known to carry out hits on law enforcement in its earlier history. New Orleans police officer Joe Petrosino was shot by Sicilian mobsters in the United States. A statue of him was later erected across the street from a Luchhese hangout.

The RICO Act of the 1960s made it a crime to belong to an organization that performed illegal acts, and it created programs such as the witness protection program. The Act only began to come into frequent use during the late 70's and early 80's. Charges of racketeering convicted scores of mobsters including 2 of New York's Godfathers (Anthony Corallo and Carmine Persico) during the Commission Case in 1985 (Although one of the convicted Anthony 'Fat Tony' Salerno was thought of as the Genovese Godfather he was only the Underboss).

The Act continued to be used to great effect up to the end of the 20th century and hurt the Mob severely. The establishment of the United States Organized Crime Strike Force made it more possible to find and prosecute the Mafia.

The United States Organized Crime Strike Force was established in the 1970's by a joint congressional effort led by Robert Kennedy. The Strike Force was under the Office of the Inspector General in the Department of Labor. It was disbanded at the National Level, but continues at the state and local level today. It was jointly responsible for investigating and eventually helping to bring down high level Mafiosos such as Joseph Aiuppa of the Chicago Outfit, Anthony Salerno of the Genovese Family of New York and Paul Castellano of the Gambino Family. Also the Strike Force took down and cleaned up much of the Organized Crime in The Teamsters across the country, However the Mafia is still the dominant organized crime group in the United States, despite the success of RICO.

According to Selwyn Raab, author of Five Families: The Rise, Decline, and Resurgence of America's Most Powerful Mafia Empires, after 9/11 the FBI has redirected most of its attention to finding terrorists, which contributed to a resurgence of Mafia activity in the U.S.

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