Vincenzo Virga (; born 11 September 1936 in

Erice Erice (; scn, Èrici) is a historic town and ''comune'' in the province of Trapani, Sicily, in southern Italy. Geography The main town of Erice is located on top of Mount Erice, at around above sea level, overlooking the city of Trapani, the ...

Province of Trapani Trapani ( it, Provincia di Trapani, scn, Pruvincia di Tràpani; officially ''Libero consorzio comunale di Trapani'') is a province in the autonomous island region of Sicily, southern Italy. Following the suppression of the Sicilian provinces, it ...

) is the boss of the

Trapani Trapani ( , ; scn, Tràpani ; lat, Drepanum; grc, Δρέπανον) is a city and municipality (''comune'') on the west coast of Sicily, in Italy. It is the capital of the Province of Trapani. Founded by Elymians, the city is still an imp ...

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 d ...

family and '' mandamento'' since 1982, when the previous boss, Salvatore Minore, was murdered. Virga is currently in prison, he was sentenced to life imprisonment for ordering the

Pizzolungo bombing The Pizzolungo Bombing was a car-bomb attack on 2 April 1985 undertaken by the Sicilian Mafia in order to kill Carlo Palermo, a magistrate in Pizzolungo, Sicily. Palermo had been investigating an international drug and arms trafficking network i ...

among other crimes.

Biography

Virga was one of the trusted men 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 capo ...

and considered to be his financial brain. He was one of the members of the directorate that ruled Cosa Nostra, which was established by Provenzano after the arrest of

Totò 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 ...

. It consisted of about four to seven people who met infrequently, only when necessary, when there were strategic decisions to be made. Among the other members were Salvatore Lo Piccolo;

Antonino Giuffrè Antonino "Nino" Giuffrè (; born 21 July 1945) is an Italian mafioso from Caccamo in the Province of Palermo, Sicily. He became one of the most important Mafia turncoats after his arrest in April 2002. Giuffrè was known in Mafia circles as (" ...

from

Caccamo Caccamo (Sicilian language, Sicilian: ''Càccamu'') is a town and ''comune'' located on the Tyrrhenian Sea, Tyrrhenian coast of Sicily in the Metropolitan City of Palermo. History The official founding of Caccamo was not until 1093, when the No ...

;

Benedetto Spera Benedetto Spera (; born July 1, 1934) is a member of the Sicilian Mafia and the boss of the Belmonte Mezzagno Mafia family and the '' mandamento'' of Misilmeri in the province of Palermo, Sicily, southern Italy. He was convicted ''in absentia' ...

from Belmonte Mezzagno; Salvatore Rinella from

Trabia Trabia ( Sicilian: A Trabbìa'') is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Metropolitan City of Palermo in the Italian region Sicily, located about southeast of Palermo. Trabia borders the following municipalities: Altavilla Milicia, Caccamo, Cast ...

; Giuseppe Balsano from Monreale;

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 ...

from

Castelvetrano Castelvetrano ( scn, Castiḍḍuvitranu) is a town and ''comune'' in the province of Trapani, Sicily, southern Italy. The archeological site of Selinunte is located within the municipal territory. The municipality borders with Campobello d ...

; and

Andrea Manciaracina Andrea Manciaracina (; born April 7, 1962), sometimes spelled Mangiaracina, is a member of Sicily, Sicilian Sicilian Mafia, Mafia. He was born in Mazara del Vallo in the province of Trapani. He was initiated in Cosa Nostra in 1985 or 1986. In 1992 ...

from

Mazara del Vallo Mazara del Vallo (; ) is a town and ''comune'' in the province of Trapani, southwestern Sicily, Italy. It lies mainly on the left bank at the mouth of the Mazaro river. It is an agricultural and fishing centre and its port gives shelter to the ...

. Oliva & Palazzolo,
L’altra mafia
'' Since 1994 Virga was on the run and wanted for the murders of judge

Alberto Giacomelli Alberto is the Romance languages, Romance version of the Latinized form (''Albertus'') of Germanic languages, Germanic ''Albert (given name), Albert''. It is used in Italian language, Italian, Portuguese language, Portuguese and Spanish language, ...

and the journalist Mauro Rostagno.Virga, boss miliardario con pensione Inps
La Repubblica, February 21, 2001
CNN, February 21, 2001 Virga's real skill was in masterminding the intricate financial dealings of the Mafia. His strong political and social support made it hard to arrest him. On February 21, 2001, Virga was arrested in a remote cottage near Trapani while watching a video documentary about the 1992 assassinations of the two Antimafia judges

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 ...

and surrounded by documents detailing the award of public works contracts to firms he controlled.Preso Vincenzo Virga, luogotenente di Provenzano
La Repubblica, February 21, 2001Sicilian swoop on Mafia boss
BBC News, February 22, 2001Sicily's magistrates protest over reduced protection
Daily Telegraph, November 24, 2001 "He is a magician in piloting contracts. We have caught the business brain of Bernardo Provenzano," said police chief Giuseppe Linares when Virga was arrested. Under Virga's direction, the apparently sleepy, non-descript town of Trapani, with more banks than Italian cities five times its size, became a magnet for hundreds of millions of mafia revenue, which was recycled by investing in land developments and waste disposal.
The Guardian, Thursday February 22, 2001 On May 15, 2007, the Appeal Court in Milan sentenced the Forza Italia Senator and

Silvio Berlusconi Silvio Berlusconi ( ; ; born 29 September 1936) is an Italian media tycoon and politician who served as Prime Minister of Italy in four governments from 1994 to 1995, 2001 to 2006 and 2008 to 2011. He was a member of the Chamber of Deputies f ...

’s right hand man

Marcello Dell'Utri Marcello Dell'Utri (born 11 September 1941) is a former Italian politician and senior advisor to Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi. Formerly Senator in the Italian Senate.

and Virga to two years each for attempted extortion of Trapani Basket Ball team by Publitalia, the Fininvest concessionaire. Four years later, the Appeal Court in Milan nullified the sentence and absolved Dell'Utri and Virga because there is no substance to the fact.Tentata estorsione, Dell'Utri assolto
La Repubblica, May 20, 2011

References

* Oliva, Ernesto & Salvo Palazzolo (2001).

', Soveria Mannelli (CZ): Rubbettino Editore.

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Virga, Vincenzo 1936 births Living people People from Erice Sicilian mafiosi Italian crime bosses