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Stidda
The Stidda (; ) is a Sicilian & Maltese Mafia-type criminal organization and criminal society centered in the central-southern part of Sicily & Malta. Members are known as ''stiddari'' or ''stiddaroli''. It is most active in the rural parts of southern Sicily and Malta and is a rival to the Cosa Nostra, originating as a dissident offshoot group of the Sicilian Cosa Nostra. Some members have a star tattooed on their bodies.Stille, ''Excellent Cadavers'', p. 365. History Little is known of the origins of the organization, though it is believed to have come about in a similar fashion to the Mafia, in the same rural environment of Sicily. Unlike the Mafia, however, the Stidda was mostly rural and low-profile until the 1980s, when it became somewhat more expansionist and started moving into the cities, bringing the two Sicilian groups into competition with one another. It differs from the Mafia by the fact that it is not based on an honor system but is interested only in criminal a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rosario Livatino
Rosario Angelo Livatino (; October 3, 1952 – September 21, 1990) was an Italian magistrate who was killed by Stidda. Biography Livatino was born in Canicattì, in Sicily. After successfully completing high school, he entered the university Law Faculty in Palermo in 1971, and graduated in 1975. Between 1977 and 1978 he serviced as vice-director in the Register Office in Agrigento. In 1978, after being among the top percentage in the Judiciary audit, he was assigned a post as magistrate at the court at Caltanissetta. In 1979 he became "''sostituto procuratore''" (deputy prosecutor) at the Agrigento court, a position he kept until 1989, when he was appointed assistant judge (''giudice a latere''). He was murdered on September 21, 1990, along route SS 640 by four killers, as he travelled without bodyguard to the court. The assassins had been paid by the Stidda of Agrigento. During his career, Livatino worked against corruption, and gained success in a number of cases, obtainin ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sacra Corona Unita
Sacra Corona Unita (, ; acronym: SCU) also known as fourth mafia is a Mafia-type criminal organization and criminal society from the Apulia region in Southern Italy, and it is especially active in the areas of Brindisi, Lecce, and Taranto. Origin of the name Informer Cosimo Capodieci said the SCU used "the ''Corona'' because it resembles a crown, meaning the rosary typically used in Church in order to carry out the functions of Jesus Christ and the cross... ''Unita'' because it was necessary to be connected to one another, similar to the rings of a chain." ''Sacra'' (Sacred) because at the time of the affiliation the new member is "baptized". History The Sacra Corona Unita was founded in 1981 as the Nuova Grande Camorra Pugliese by Camorra boss Raffaele Cutolo, who wanted to expand his operations into the Italian region of Apulia. However, with Cutolo's downfall a few years later the organization began operating separately under the leadership of Giuseppe Rogoli. According to ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
'Ndrangheta
The 'Ndrangheta (, , ) is a prominent Italian Mafia-type organized crime syndicate and secret society, criminal society based in the peninsular and mountainous region of Calabria and dating back to the late 18th century. It is considered one of the most powerful organized crime groups in the world.Italian Organised Crime: Threat Assessment , Europol, The Hague, June 2013 Since the 1950s, following wide-scale Calabrian diaspora, emigration from Calabria, the organization has established itself worldwide. It is characterized by a horizontal structure made up of autonomous clans known as ndrine'', based almost exclusively on blood ties. Its main activity is illegal drug trade, drug trafficking, on which it has a monopoly in Eu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mala Del Brenta
The Nuova Mala del Brenta (), also known as Mafia veneta ("Venetian Mafia") or Mafia del Piovese, is an organized crime group based in the Veneto and Friuli-Venezia Giulia, north-eastern Italy. The criminal organization's structure is like a Cosa Nostra and Camorra model, but more violent. It is considered by the Italian government and Prefecture of Venice as including all the characteristics of ''Article 416 bis-cp'', the legislative definition of a mafia-type organisation with Mafia (Cosa Nostra, 'Ndrangheta, Camorra, Sacra Corona Unita, Società foggiana) affiliations within Italy. Origins In the 1960s and 1970s, a number of high-ranking members of the Sicilian Mafia were sent in solitary confinement in various provincial towns in the Veneto and Friuli-Venezia Giulia regions; mostly around the cities of Vicenza, Padua, Trieste and Venice, in an attempt to isolate powerful Sicilian ringleaders from other members in the Mafia. The most notable Sicilian mafiosi included: Salva ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Giuseppe Di Cristina
Giuseppe Di Cristina (April 22, 1923 – May 30, 1978) was a powerful mafioso from Riesi in the province of Caltanissetta, Sicily, southern Italy. Di Cristina, nicknamed “la tigre’’ (the tiger), was born into a traditional Mafia family, his father Francesco Di Cristina and his grandfather were ''men of honour'' as well. In 1975 he became the head of Cosa Nostra in the Caltanissetta province and a member of the Interprovincial Commission of the Mafia. Three years later he was killed by a rival Mafia faction, the Corleonesi of Totò Riina and Bernardo Provenzano. His death was a prelude to the Second Mafia War, which would start in 1981 after the Corleonesi killed Stefano Bontade. Mafia heritage Di Cristina's grandfather Giuseppe Di Cristina was a giant strong man and a ''gabelloto'' – a leaseholder of an estate subletting land. When it was time to show who would succeed him, he chose the day of the procession of the saint San Giuseppe in Riesi. When the procession ma ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Leonardo Messina
Leonardo "Narduzzo" Messina (born San Cataldo, September 22, 1955) is a Sicilian former mafioso who became a government informant or "pentito" in 1992. His testimony led to the arrest of over 200 mafiosi during the so-called "Operation Leopard" ( it, Operazione Leopardo). Messina has implicated several politicians and government officials with ties to Sicilian Mafia, in particular Giulio Andreotti, seven times Prime Minister for Italy. Early career Born in San Cataldo, Caltanissetta, Messina was from a family of mafiosi going back a few generations.Stille, ''Excellent Cadavers'', p. 362 "I represent the seventh generation belonging to Cosa Nostra," he said. "I was affiliated not because I was a robber or because I was able to kill, but because I was bound to become a member by family tradition." He left elementary school and became involved in burglary. He was imprisoned several times. In April 1982 after serving four years for armed robbery he eventually became a "man of honour ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sicilian Mafia
The Sicilian Mafia, also simply known as the Mafia and frequently referred to as Cosa nostra (, ; "our thing") by its members, is an Italian Mafia-terrorist-type organized crime syndicate and criminal society originating in the region of Sicily and dating to at least the 19th century. It is a loose association of criminal groups that share a common organisational structure and code of conduct and honor and present themselves to the public under a common brand. The basic group is known as a "family", "clan", or ''cosca''. Each family claims sovereignty over a territory, usually a town or village or a neighbourhood (''borgata'') of a larger city, in which it operates its rackets. Its members call themselves " men of honour", although the public often refers to them as ''mafiosi''. By the 20th century, following wide-scale emigration from Sicily, mafiosi established gangs in North and South America which replicate the traditions and methods of their Sicilian ancestors. The Mafia's co ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Camorra
The Camorra (; ) is an Italian Mafia-typeMafia and Mafia-type organizations in Italy , by Umberto Santino, in: Albanese, Das & Verma, ''Organized Crime. World Perspectives'', pp. 82–100 and originating in the region of . It is one of the oldest and largest criminal ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mafia
"Mafia" is an informal term that is used to describe criminal organizations that bear a strong similarity to the original “Mafia”, the Sicilian Mafia and Italian Mafia. The central activity of such an organization would be the arbitration of disputes between criminals as well as the organization and enforcement of illicit agreements between criminals through the use of or threat of violence. Mafias often engage in secondary activities such as gambling, loan sharking, Illegal drug trade, drug-trafficking, prostitution, and fraud. In modern times, the 'Ndrangheta, originating in the Southern Italy, Southern Italian region of Calabria, is widely considered the richest and most powerful mafia in the world. The term "mafia" was originally applied only to the Italian Mafia or specifically the original “Mafia”, the Sicilian Mafia, and the term originates in Sicily. However, the term has since expanded to encompass other organizations of similar methods and purpose, e.g., "the R ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gambling
Gambling (also known as betting or gaming) is the wagering of something of value ("the stakes") on a random event with the intent of winning something else of value, where instances of strategy are discounted. Gambling thus requires three elements to be present: consideration (an amount wagered), risk (chance), and a prize. The outcome of the wager is often immediate, such as a single roll of dice, a spin of a roulette wheel, or a horse crossing the finish line, but longer time frames are also common, allowing wagers on the outcome of a future sports contest or even an entire sports season. The term "gaming" in this context typically refers to instances in which the activity has been specifically permitted by law. The two words are not mutually exclusive; ''i.e.'', a "gaming" company offers (legal) "gambling" activities to the public and may be regulated by one of many gaming control boards, for example, the Nevada Gaming Control Board. However, this distinction is not u ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pentito
''Pentito'' (; lit. "repentant"; plural: ''pentiti'') is used colloquially to designate collaborators of justice in Italian criminal procedure terminology who were formerly part of criminal organizations and decided to collaborate with a public prosecutor. The judicial category of ''pentiti'' was originally created in 1970s to combat violence and terrorism during the period of left- and right-wing terrorism known as the Years of Lead. During the 1986–87 Maxi Trial, and after the testimony of Tommaso Buscetta, the term was increasingly applied to former members of organized crime who had abandoned their organization and started helping investigators. Role and benefits In exchange for the information they deliver, ''pentiti'' receive shorter sentences for their crimes, in some cases even freedom. In the Italian judicial system, ''pentiti'' can obtain personal protection, a new name, and some money to start a new life in another place, possibly abroad. This practice is common ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Banda Della Magliana
The Banda della Magliana (, ''Magliana Gang'') is an Italian criminal organization based in Rome. It was founded in 1975. Given by the media, the name refers to the original neighborhood, the Magliana, of some of its members. The ''Banda della Magliana'' was heavily involved in criminal activities during the Italian Years of Lead (''anni di piombo''). The Italian government claimed that the Banda della Magliana was closely allied with and tied to other criminal organizations such as ''Cosa Nostra'', '' Camorra'' and '''Ndrangheta''. It also had links to neofascist militant and terrorist groups such as the Nuclei Armati Rivoluzionari (NAR), responsible for the 1980 Bologna massacre; the Italian secret services (SISMI), and political figures such as Licio Gelli, grand-master of the freemasonic lodge Propaganda Due (P2). Along with Gladio, the NATO clandestine anti-communist organization, P2 was involved in a strategy of tension during the Years of Lead which included false flag ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
