Salvatore Lo Piccolo (; born 20 July 1942), also known as "the Baron" (), is a Sicilian '' mafioso'' and one of the most powerful bosses of

Palermo Palermo ( , ; scn, Palermu , locally also or ) is a city in southern Italy, the capital (political), capital of both the autonomous area, autonomous region of Sicily and the Metropolitan City of Palermo, the city's surrounding metropolitan ...

Sicily (man) it, Siciliana (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = Ethnicity , demographics1_footnotes = , demographi ...

. Lo Piccolo rose through the ranks of the Palermo mafia throughout the 1980s and he became the ''

capomandamento Within Cosa Nostra a mandamento is traditionally a district of three geographically contiguous Mafia cosche (families controlling a single land feud, or a city ward) in Sicily. A capomandamento represents the head of a territory, the mandamento, ...

'' of the

San Lorenzo San Lorenzo is the Italian and Spanish name for Lawrence of Rome, Saint Lawrence, the 3rd-century Christian martyr, and may refer to: Places Argentina * San Lorenzo, Santa Fe * San Lorenzo Department, Chaco * Monte San Lorenzo, a mountain on t ...

district in the early 1990s, replacing Salvatore Biondino, who was sent to prison. Lo Piccolo was a fugitive since 1983 and had been running his Mafia affairs in hiding. With the capture of

Bernardo Provenzano Bernardo Provenzano (; 31 January 1933 – 13 July 2016) was an Italian mobster and chief of the Sicilian Mafia clan known as the Corleonesi, a Mafia faction that originated in the town of Corleone, and ''de facto'' the boss of bosses (''il c ...

on 11 April 2006, Lo Piccolo had been cementing his power and rise to the top of the Palermo Mafia until his own arrest on 5 November 2007. It is believed that his family spread across Europe due to rising tensions, settling in England, Portugal, and southern Spain. Lo Piccolo is also known as (; it, il vecchio, links=no). In clandestine correspondence with former mafia boss

, Lo Piccolo used to identify himself by the number 30. Lo Piccolo's fortune came from the international cocaine trafficking, the extortion of businesses, and the theft of money allocated for public works projects. He invested much of his earnings in real estate. Lo Piccolo long supported Provenzano's policy of not directing violence toward the state and preferred arbitration as means to settle conflict between rival mafia factions.Changes in Mafia Leadership Reveal New Links to US-Based La Cosa Nostra
DNI Open Source Center, November 19, 2007

Mafia background

Lo Piccolo was born in the neighbourhood Partanna Mondello in Palermo. He was the driver of the local Mafia boss

Rosario Riccobono Rosario Riccobono (February 10, 1929 in Palermo – November 30, 1982 in Palermo) was a member of the Sicilian Mafia. He was the boss of Partanna Mondello, a suburb of Palermo, his native city. In 1974 he became a member of the Sicilian Mafia ...

, who was killed in the

Second Mafia War The Second Mafia War was a period of conflict involving the Sicilian Mafia, mostly taking place from the late 1970s to the early 1990s and involved thousands of homicides. Sometimes referred to as The Great Mafia War or the ''Mattanza'' (Italian ...

. Lo Piccolo changed sides and became an ally of the

Corleonesi The Corleonesi Mafia clan was a faction within the Corleone family of the Sicilian Mafia, formed in the 1970s. Notable leaders included Luciano Leggio, Salvatore Riina, Bernardo Provenzano, and Leoluca Bagarella. Corleonesi affiliates were n ...

.Una "carriera" con Riina e Provenzano
La Repubblica, November 5, 2007L'ascesa di Salvatore Lo Piccolo: da guardiaspalle a boss di Palermo
La Stampa, November 5, 2007 Bosses like

Pippo Calò Pippo is the diminutive of the Italian names Filippo and Giuseppe, and it may refer to: People * Pippo Barzizza (1902–1994), Italian Maestro and composer *Pippo Baudo (born 1936), Italian television presenter * Pippo Caruso (1935–2018), Italian ...

and Nino Rotolo pleaded to save the life of Lo Piccolo. Nearly 25 years later Rotolo would regret his appeal when a conflict arose between the two. Rotolo was overheard on bugs installed by the police saying: "One who should have died. He was the ‘godson’ of Saro Riccobono and should have gone."Il boss che sfidò i corleonesi
Corriere della Sera, November 6, 2007 Having survived the Second Mafia War, Lo Piccolo gradually extended his influence in the area in and around Palermo in the 1980s and 1990s. His influence in Palermo extended to

Capaci Capaci () is a town and ''comune'' in the Metropolitan City of Palermo in Sicily, Italy. In 2011 the comune had a population of 11,045, with a density of 1,804.7 people per square kilometre. The Autostrada A29 (Italy), A29 ''autostrada'' running ...

Isola delle Femmine Isola delle Femmine ( Sicilian: ''Isula dî Fìmmini'') is an Italian town in north-western Sicily, administratively part of the Metropolitan City of Palermo. Despite its name, which can be translated in English as "The Island of Females", the tow ...

Carini Carini ( la, Hyccara or Hyccarum, grc, Ὕκαρα and Ὕκαρον) is a city and ''comune'' in the Metropolitan City of Palermo, Sicily, by rail west-northwest of Palermo. It has a population of 37,752. History Timaeus, in the thirteenth ...

, Villagrazia di Carini, Sferracavallo and Partanna-Mondello. According to Italian DIA (

Direzione Investigativa Antimafia The Direzione Investigativa Antimafia ('Anti-Mafia Investigation Directorate'), also known as DIA, is an Italian multi-force investigation body under the Department of Public Security of the Ministry of the Interior. Its main task is the fight agai ...

), Salvatore Lo Piccolo and his son, Sandro Lo Piccolo, were in charge of most of the urban territory of Palermo. Their area of influence encompassed the "mandamenti" of San Lorenzo, Passo di Rigano and Gangi, including the coastal area up to

Cefalù Cefalù (), classically known as Cephaloedium (), is a city and comune in the Italian Metropolitan City of Palermo, located on the Tyrrhenian coast of Sicily about east of the provincial capital and west of Messina. The town, with its populati ...

, and part of the territory of

Messina Messina (, also , ) is a harbour city and the capital of the Italian Metropolitan City of Messina. It is the third largest city on the island of Sicily, and the 13th largest city in Italy, with a population of more than 219,000 inhabitants in ...

, including the towns of

Mistretta Mistretta ( Sicilian: ''Mistritta'') is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Metropolitan City of Messina in the Italian region Sicily, located about east of Palermo and about west of Messina. Mistretta borders the following municipalities: Capiz ...

and

Tortorici Tortorici ( Sicilian: ''Turturici'') is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Metropolitan City of Messina in the Italian region Sicily, located about east of Palermo and about west of Messina. Located in the Nebrodi regional park, Tortorici bor ...

.Report concerning the activities conducted and the results obtained
by the Direzione Investigativa Antimafia (DIA), first half of 2000Mafia cerca il confronto con lo Stato
, Sebastiano Gulisano, Polizia e democrazia, September 2001 Lo Piccolo allegedly made his fortune with

drug trafficking A drug is any chemical substance that causes a change in an organism's physiology or psychology when consumed. Drugs are typically distinguished from food and substances that provide nutritional support. Consumption of drugs can be via insuffla ...

and skimming off public contracts. He forced the residents of the low-income housing projects in the

ZEN Zen ( zh, t=禪, p=Chán; ja, text= 禅, translit=zen; ko, text=선, translit=Seon; vi, text=Thiền) is a school of Mahayana Buddhism that originated in China during the Tang dynasty, known as the Chan School (''Chánzong'' 禪宗), and ...

area of Palermo to pay him to keep the building corridors lit. He allegedly has strong links with the

American Mafia The American Mafia, commonly referred to in North America as the Italian American Mafia, the Mafia, or the Mob, is a highly organized Italian American criminal society and organized crime group. The organization is often referred to by its membe ...

.Cosa Nostra cerca il nuovo padrino
, La Stampa, April 13, 2006 In March 2005, the Lo Piccolo clan was subject of a police operation known as the "Notte di San Lorenzo". Eighty-four arrest warrants were issued. Nonetheless, Salvatore and his son Sandro Lo Piccolo remained at large.

Successor of Provenzano?

After the arrest of

on 11 April 2006, Salvatore Lo Piccolo and

Matteo Messina Denaro Matteo Messina Denaro (; born 26 April 1962), also known as ''Diabolik'', is a Sicilian Mafia boss. He got his nickname from the Italian comic book character of the same name. He is considered to be one of the new leaders of Cosa Nostra after t ...

were thought to be the new leaders of

Cosa Nostra 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 a ...

. However, the

pizzini Pizzino (; plural as ''pizzini'') is an Italian language word derived from the Sicilian language equivalent ''pizzinu'' meaning "small piece of paper". The word has been widely used to refer to small slips of paper that the Sicilian Mafia uses for ...

(small slips of paper used to communicate with other mafiosi to avoid phone conversations) found at Provenzano's hide-out indicated that Provenzano's joint deputies in Palermo were Salvatore Lo Piccolo and

Antonio Rotolo Antonino "Nino" Rotolo (born January 3, 1946) is a Sicilian Mafia boss from the Pagliarelli area in Palermo that traditionally was under the control of the Motisi Mafia family. Rotolo was the underboss of Matteo Motisi, but according to some penti ...

capo mandamento Within Cosa Nostra a mandamento is traditionally a district of three geographically contiguous Mafia cosche (families controlling a single land feud, or a city ward) in Sicily. A capomandamento represents the head of a territory, the mandamento, ...

Pagliarelli The Pagliarelli Prison is a Supermax prison, Maximum security prison in the Pagliarelli neighbourhood of Palermo, Sicily, Italy. History Pagliarelli was built in 1980, became operational in 1996 and it is adjacent and adjoined to the Tribunal o ...

, a Corleonesi loyalist in the days of Totò Riina. In a message referring to an important decision for Cosa Nostra, Provenzano told Rotolo: "''It's up to you, me and Lo Piccolo to decide this thing''."Police strike at heart of mafia averts bloody power struggle
by John Hooper, The Guardian, June 21, 2006. Anti-Mafia prosecutor

Antonio Ingroia Antonio Ingroia (born 31 March 1959) is an Italian lawyer, ex magistrate, politician and leader of Civil Revolution, with Luigi de Magistris, the mayor of Naples. Ingroia is also the director of a United Nations investigation against narcotraff ...

of the Direzione distrettuale antimafia (DDA) of Palermo said that it was unlikely that there would be an all-out war over who would fill Provenzano's shoes. "''Right now I don't think that's probable''," he said. Of the two possible successors, Ingroia thought Lo Piccolo was the more likely heir to the Mafia throne. "''He's from Palermo, and that's still the most powerful Mafia stronghold''," Ingroia said.In Sicily, the end of 'Pax Mafiosa'?
International Herald Tribune, April 13, 2006 A 'pax mafiosa' initially had settled in after Provenzano's arrest because neither Lo Piccolo nor

appeared to have sufficient forces to seek control of Cosa Nostra, according to the Italian news agency ANSA. Subsequent investigation revealed that Lo Piccolo and Messina Denaro had reached an accommodation and that the real threat to Lo Piccolo came from Rotolo who was arrested in June 2006. According to ANSA, "police were concerned by a couple of top-level hits they feared might spark a full-blown war of succession. Police said Lo Piccolo had the upper hand because he had been Provenzano's right-hand man in Palermo and his greater experience won him the respect of the older generation of bosses as they pursued Provenzano's policy of keeping as low as possible while strengthening their power network. These bosses had been reined in by Provenzano when he put an end to the Riina-driven war against the state that claimed the lives of Mafia crusaders

Giovanni Falcone Giovanni Falcone (; 18 May 1939 – 23 May 1992) was an Italian judge and prosecuting magistrate. From his office in the Palace of Justice in Palermo, Sicily, he spent most of his professional life trying to overthrow the power of the Sicilian ...

and

Paolo Borsellino Paolo Emanuele Borsellino (; scn, Pàulu Borsellino; 19 January 1940 – 19 July 1992) was an Italian judge and prosecuting magistrate. From his office in the Palace of Justice in Palermo, Sicily, he spent most of his professional life trying t ...

in 1992."

Clash with other mafiosi

The ensuing power struggle, following Provenzano's arrest, led not only to increased violence in Sicily but also to likely renewed cooperation between the Sicilian mafia and the US-based

Gambino crime family The Gambino crime family (pronounced ) is an Italian-American Mafia crime family and one of the "Five Families" that dominate organized crime activities in New York City, United States, within the nationwide criminal phenomenon known as the Ame ...

. Their growing relationship may open new possibilities for the Sicilian Mafia to launder money through US institutions. On 20 June 2006, two months after Provenzano's arrest, authorities issued 52 arrest warrants against the top echelon of Cosa Nostra in the city of Palermo (Operation

Gotha Gotha () is the fifth-largest city in Thuringia, Germany, west of Erfurt and east of Eisenach with a population of 44,000. The city is the capital of the district of Gotha and was also a residence of the Ernestine Wettins from 1640 until the ...

). Among the arrestees were

and his right-hand men Antonino Cinà (who had been the personal physician of

Salvatore Riina Salvatore Riina (; 16 November 1930 – 17 November 2017), called (, Totò being the diminutive of Salvatore), was an Italian mobster and chief of the Sicilian Mafia, known for a ruthless murder campaign that reached a peak in the early 1990s ...

and Provenzano) and the builder Francesco Bonura, as well as

Gerlando Alberti Gerlando Alberti (; September 18, 1927 – February 1, 2012), nicknamed ("the imperturbable one"), Lodato, ''Quindici anni di mafia'', pp. 47-50 was a member of the Sicilian Mafia.Mafia Commission whose members are all in jail. The investigation also indicated that the position of Salvatore Lo Piccolo was not undisputed. A clash between Lo Piccolo and Rotolo had been developing over a request from the Inzerillo family to be allowed to return to Palermo. The Inzerillo family had been one of the clans whose leaders – among them

Salvatore Inzerillo Salvatore Inzerillo (; 20 August 1944 – 11 May 1981) was an Italian member of the Sicilian Mafia, also known as Totuccio (a diminutive for Salvatore). He rose to be a powerful boss of Palermo's Passo di Rigano family. A prolific heroin trafficke ...

– were killed by the Corleonesi during the second Mafia War in the 1980s and which had been in exile in the United States. Rotolo had been part of the Mafia clans that had attacked the Inzerillo clan. He was opposed to Lo Piccolo's permission for the return of the Inzerillo's, fearing revenge."Pizzini" Notes Reveal New Mafia Bosses
by Felice Cavallaro, Corriere delle Sera, June 21, 2006Lo Piccolo, l'erede di Provenzano. Così sta conquistando Palermo
Corriere della Sera, June 30, 2007 With the arrest of Rotolo and others, authorities claim they avoided the outbreak of a genuine war inside Cosa Nostra. Rotolo had passed a death sentence on Lo Piccolo and his son, Sandro, even before Provenzano's arrest – and had procured the barrels of acid that are used to dissolve the bodies of slain rivals. According to some observers, the arrest of the loyal

triumvirate Rotolo, Cinà and Bonura, has given Lo Piccolo a free rein in

Rising tensions

In August 2006, two hitmen gunned down 63-year-old Giuseppe D'Angelo in broad daylight in the Palermo district of Tommaso Natale. The crime may have been a provocation by a rival mafia faction against Lo Piccolo and concerns about a renewal of violence between competing mafia groups were mounting. In September 2006, Bartolomeo Spatola, the 72-year-old boss of the Sferracavallo district of Palermo, disappeared. The press suggested Salvatore Lo Piccolo's men kidnapped and killed Spatola because he had allegedly supported Nino Rotolo's plan to murder Lo Piccolo and his son Sandro. In March 2007, police discovered a large arsenal of weapons in the countryside outside Palermo. The weapons "were ready to be used" and opined that the current absence of violence in Palermo "did not signify that the danger of a new mafia war had been averted." On 13 June 2007, two hitmen killed 46-year-old mafia boss Nicola Ingarao – an ally of Nino Rotolo.la guerra tra cosche ucciso il boss di Porta Nuova
, La Repubblica (Palermo edition), June 14, 2007 Italy's domestic intelligence service

SISDE Servizio per le Informazioni e la Sicurezza Democratica (Intelligence and Democratic Security Service), was the domestic intelligence agency of Italy. With the reform of the Italian Intelligence Services approved on 1 August 2007, SISDE was replac ...

, warned that the murder of Ingarao possibly marked a return to Mafia violence. An Antimafia prosecutor seconded this view stating that the murder "could be a sign of reorganization, stabilization, or potential war among gangs." Lo Piccolo allegedly ordered Ingarao's murder for two reasons: 1) Ingarao opposed the return of the Inzerillo family; and 2) the elimination of Ingarao would enable Lo Piccolo to secure control of the central Palermo district of Porta Nuova for factions not hostile to him. Gaspare Pulizzi, one of Lo Piccolo's right-hand men who later became a pentito, revealed that Lo Piccolo's son Sandro was behind the murders of Spatola and Ingarao. Both murdered bosses allied with Rotolo.Mafia, si pente Gaspare Pulizzi colonnello del boss Lo Piccolo
La Repubblica, January 22, 2008 In a July 2007, hearing before the Italian Senate, the director of Italian

State Police State police, provincial police or regional police are a type of sub-national territorial police force found in nations organized as federations, typically in North America, South Asia, and Oceania. These forces typically have jurisdiction o ...

, Antonio Manganelli, warned that the chain of recent murders in Palermo was in part due to the return of the "so-called fugitives (Inzerillo family)... who have now returned... If they are back, it means that someone has authorized their return. This is not appreciated by the other side," he added.

Arrest

On 5 November 2007, Lo Piccolo and his son Sandro, as well as two other top mafiosi, Gaspare Pulizzi and Andrea Adamo, were arrested in a villa in

Giardinello Giardinello ( Sicilian: ''Jardineddu'') is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Metropolitan City of Palermo in the Italian region Sicily, located about west of Palermo. As of December 2010, it had a population of 2,260 and an area of .All demograph ...

, between

Cinisi Cinisi (; scn, Cìnisi ) is a town and a ''comune'' in the Metropolitan City of Palermo in Sicily. As of 1 January 2022 it has a population of 11.846. Geography The town is part of the Palermo metropolitan area, borders with the municipalities ...

and

Terrasini Terrasini is a town and ''comune'' in the Metropolitan City of Palermo on the island of Sicily in Italy. Data Terrasini is located west of Palermo at the motorway between Palermo and Trapani, between the mountains and the Gulf of Castell ...

.Mafia, arrestato Salvatore Lo Piccolo
La Repubblica, November 5, 2007Italy arrests senior mafia boss
BBC News, November 5, 2007 Police fired several warning shots in the air as they moved in against the mafiosi, who were all armed but apparently did not put up a fight. Sandro Lo Piccolo, in tears, shouted "I love you dad!" several times as he was being handcuffed. The four were put into a police helicopter and flown towards Palermo's main police station. The operation was made possible by information provided by

Francesco Franzese Francesco Franzese (born 8 September 1981 in Nola) is a former Italian football goalkeeper. He is currently the goalkeeping coach for Serie C side Arezzo Arezzo ( , , ) , also ; ett, 𐌀𐌓𐌉𐌕𐌉𐌌, Aritim. is a city and '' comune ...

, who was arrested on 2 August 2007, who masterminded the Lo Piccolo clan's protection racket. His family has been moved to a secret hideout to prevent reprisals.'Boss of bosses' successor arrested at mafia summit
The Guardian, November 6, 2007Mafia head arrested
Ansa, November 5, 2007 Officers remarked that Lo Piccolo's face was entirely different from the

photofit A facial composite is a graphical representation of one or more eyewitnesses' memories of a face, as recorded by a composite artist. Facial composites are used mainly by police in their investigation of (usually serious) crimes. These images a ...

creation.Sicilian Mafia's boss of bosses arrested
Daily Telegraph, November 7, 2007 Lo Piccolo did not say a word and just smiled when prosecutors noted that he did not resemble the photofit released earlier this year.Mafia, trovato il covo di Lo Piccolo
La Stampa, November 6, 2007 The elder Lo Piccolo was in fact betrayed by his son of whom police did have a recent photograph.«Papà ti amo»
Corriere della Sera, November 6, 2007 At the hideout of Lo Piccolo a code of behaviour for Mafia members was found. The so-called "

Ten Commandments The Ten Commandments (Biblical Hebrew עשרת הדברים \ עֲשֶׂרֶת הַדְּבָרִים, ''aséret ha-dvarím'', lit. The Decalogue, The Ten Words, cf. Mishnaic Hebrew עשרת הדיברות \ עֲשֶׂרֶת הַדִּבְ� ...

" include prohibitions such as frequenting bars and looking at friends' wives, while members are urged to treat their own wives with respect. The Mafia Decalogue has been drawn up as a "guide to being a good mafioso". Other activities apparently beyond the pale for Mafiosi are being friends with the police, being late for appointments and "appropriating money if it belongs to other Mafia members or to other families".Mafia's 'Ten Commandments' found
BBC News, November 9, 2007 When father and son Lo Piccolo – incarcerated under the strict 41-bis prison regime in the Opera prison in Milan – appeared on a videoscreen at the trial in Palermo against some of their henchmen, they rose to their feet as a sign of respect for the arrested bosses.L'omaggio mafioso ai boss: rito in aula
La Sicilia, November 16, 2007 Lo Piccolo's other son Calogero Lo Piccolo succeeded his father and his brother, according to several

pentiti ''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 ...

. However, he was arrested on 16 January 2008, during Operation Addio Pizzo against Lo Piccolo's operators who were in charge of collecting the pizzo – protection money from local businesses – in Palermo.Latest Mafia raid in Sicily nabs dozens
USA Today, January 16, 2008Si sgretola Clan Lo Piccolo
La Sicilia, January 16, 2008

References

External links

Ecco la nuova mappa di Cosa Nostra
by Anna Petrozzi, Antimafia Duemila, January 2003
Salvatore Lo Piccolo 'u Vascu, padrone di Palermo
Maria Loi, Antimafia Duemila, Anno VI Numero 3 - 2006 N°49 * , Teleacras, November 5, 2007 *

* ttp://www.corriere.it/cronache/07_novembre_05/lo_piccolo_arrestati.shtml "Palermo, catturati i boss Lo Piccolo" (05 novembre 2007) {{DEFAULTSORT:Lo Piccolo, Salvatore Living people Italian crime bosses Sicilian mafiosi 1943 births Italian prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment Prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment by Italy Sicilian mafiosi sentenced to life imprisonment People convicted of murder by Italy