The term "Mafia" is perceived by many people as banditry, lawlessness and big money. But few people know how the real mafia appeared and what principles and unspoken laws influenced its formation, because being a criminal does not mean being in the ranks of the mafia.

The indigenous mafia was born in Sicily in the middle of the last century. The economic crisis was the reason for the formation of gangs that actively influenced the fields of activity of many entrepreneurs, politicians and ordinary citizens.
Clans, namely the so-called separate gangs, which were controlled by one boss, were firmly rooted in Sicily. They closely communicated with the local population, even helped to resolve conflict disputes, turmoil and problems, and the residents of the districts got used to the neighborhood with organized crime.

Why is the Sicilian mafia so firmly ingrained into everyday life and become the norm?
If we take into account the formation of large gangster groups in other countries and Italy, then the latter had its own unspoken code of honor called "Cosa Nostra". It was this set of commandments, according to many historians, that made the mafia of Sicily quite strong, powerful and united.
Cosa Nostra is considered the bible of the underworld, the police of those times knew about its existence, but they could see it with their own eyes only in 2007, when the then boss of Salvador Lo Piccolo was arrested. The text of the commandments became known to the masses and then the real power of the mafia was revealed.

The mafia is a silent family that is not necessarily strengthened by blood ties. but responsible to other members of the clanhuge.

Mafiosi were obliged to treat their wives with respect, in no case to cheat on them and not even look at the spouses of their “colleagues in the shop”.

It was also forbidden to appropriate the general money that belonged to one or some members of the gang. Mafiosi protected themselves from publicity, they were forbidden to visit clubs and bars. The right to join a family was considered a separate item, the successors could not be connected with the police by any relationship (even distant), and they were required to be faithful to their spouses.
The clear commandments of the mafia commanded respect from civilians, every young man from certain strata of society dreamed of getting into the ranks of Cosa Nostra. Imaginary romance, respect, the desire to earn money and get recognition in this life dragged young people into the lava of criminals associated with drugs, murders, and prostitution.
Clear regulations are observed in Sicily and all of Italy today, which is why it was Cosa Nostra that made the clans so strong that the police failed to completely eradicate them for a century and a half.

How is Cosa Nostra today?
At the beginning of the 21st century, the authorities took up the eradication of criminal clans with particular zeal. Many members of criminal gangs could only flee to the United States and neighboring countries with Italy. Such actions of the authorities pretty much shook the influence of the mafia, but did not completely overcome it. Since 2000, the police regularly arrested the leaders, successors, clan advisers, such as Dominico Rachulia, Salvador Russo and Carmine Russo, the Pasquale brothers, Salvador Coluccio. But according to the "omerta" - the code of conduct and hierarchy of the Sicilian mafia, after one don has been removed, his successor or the one chosen by the clan takes his place.

In addition, the clan war in the 80s undermined its own authority and cohesion, when the clans launched real hostilities against each other, dividing spheres of influence. Then many innocent people suffered and this embittered the local population against the mafia.
Due to the large migration of influential members of the mafia abroad, Cosa Nostra began to form in other countries, but already under modified names. The Camorra was formed in Naples, the 'Ndrangheta in Calabria, and the Sacra Corona Unita in Puglia.
The fight against the mafia throughout Italy has led to the fact that instead of one boss, families are now controlled by about 7 people. The tense situation with the authorities forces gang leaders to be careful, rarely meet with each other to determine further strategies for behavior and development.
But if Cosa Nostra is forced to go underground in order to manage the drug business, gambling, construction, prostitution and racketeering, then the areas of Sacra Corona Unita and 'Ndrangheta are actively developing. These gangs are considered young compared to Cosa Nostra and are trying to survive and adapt to the current conditions that are not easy for organized crime.
However, no matter how the lawyers and authorities fight the mafia, so far it actively holds almost 10% of the country's economy. Only last year the police counted about 5 billion euros of confiscated valuables and money from mafiosi.
Although the mafia in Italy continues to revive and be active, life for the general population has become calmer compared to the last century, which suggests that crime families have become more circumspect and restrained.
The Italian authorities still have to go through a difficult and possibly long way to completely eradicate the clans from the country, but this requires a lot of patience and cunning, it is the legislative framework that should make the life of the mafia and clans unbearable. This is the only way to overcome the already established traditions of the underworld.

The mysterious underground world of the mafia has always fascinated mere mortals. On the big screen, the gangster style looks incredibly exciting and attractive, and the legendary movie mafiosi seem to us like real martyrs whose sacrifice was in vain. But how were things in real life? Here are the 15 most gangsters that actually existed.

15. Frank Costello

Frank "Prime Minister" Costello was the leader of the formidable Luciano family. He left Italy at the age of four and moved to New York where he quickly became involved in a life of crime. However, Costello became truly noticeable in 1936, after the arrest of Charles "Lucky" Luciano. Costello quickly rose to become the head of the Luciano crime family, which later became the Genovese family. He earned the nickname "Prime Minister" for his skillful leadership of the underworld of the mafia and his desire to be branded as a political figure rather than a mafia boss. They say that it was he who became the prototype of Vito Corleone from The Godfather. Costello enjoyed great respect among his people, but even he had enemies. In 1957, he was assassinated and miraculously survived after being shot in the head. Costello died in 1973 as a result of a heart attack. In the history of the Italian-American mafia, he remained known as one of the most "pleasant" bosses.

14. Jack Diamond

Jack "Legs" Diamond was a famous figure during the Prohibition era in the United States. Diamond, who was nicknamed "Legs (legs)" for his constant flight and love of dancing, also became famous for his active gangster activities - on his account a huge number of murders and alcohol smuggling operations. His criminal status rose markedly when he ordered the assassination of one of the bosses, Nathan Kaplan. Diamond himself was repeatedly assassinated, but each time he miraculously escaped death, for which he received the nickname "The Man You Can't Kill". However, in 1931, his luck failed him, and he was shot by an assassin unknown to this day.

13. John Gotti

John Joseph Gotti Jr., boss of the elusive Gambino family, has become one of the most intimidating men in the mob. Gotti grew up in poverty, surrounded by 12 brothers and sisters, and quickly became involved in organized crime - he was an errand boy for local gangster Aniello Dellacroce, who later became his mentor. In 1980, Gotti's 12-year-old son Frank was hit and killed by neighbor and family friend John Favara. Although the death was ruled an accident, Favara received numerous death threats and was once beaten with a baseball bat. A few months later, he mysteriously disappeared and his body has never been found. Due to his almost stereotypical gangster style, Gotti quickly gained the nickname "Dapper Don". In 1990, the FBI finally managed to catch Gotti, and he was found guilty of murder and racketeering. Gotti died in prison in 2002 from throat cancer.

12. Frank Sinatra

That's right, Mr. Blue Eyes was once the alleged accomplice of Sam Giancan and Luca Luciano. Sinatra, who once frankly admitted that "if it weren't for the music, I would most likely have fallen into a life of crime", did not hesitate to get his hands dirty, and even openly attended the mafia Havana conference of 1946, to which the press reacted with the headlines "Shame on SINATRA ". The double life of the singer was followed not only by the media, but also by the FBI, which collected information about him from the very beginning of his career. However, the real problems began because of Sinatra's cooperation with future President John F. Kennedy. It was believed that Sinatra used his connections to help the future US leader with his presidential campaign. But Sinatra lost the credibility of the mafia because of his friendship with Kennedy's brother, Bobby, who at the time was involved in the crackdown on organized crime. Giancana cut ties with him, and the FBI left Sinatra alone.

11. Mickey Cohen

Meyer Harris "Mickey" Cohen has been a thorn in the side of the LAPD for years. Cohen and his family moved to Los Angeles from New York when he was six. Cohen was once a budding boxer but gave up the sport and turned to organized crime. He ended up in Chicago, where he began working for Al Capone. After a few successful years during the Prohibition era, Cohen was sent back to Los Angeles under the care of notorious mobster Bugsy Siegel. The police soon began to take notice of the violent and short-tempered gangster. After numerous assassination attempts, Cohen turned his home into a real fortress, surrounding it with an alarm system, searchlights and bulletproof gates. He also hired Hollywood starlet Lana Turner's boyfriend, Johnny Stompanato, as his bodyguard. In 1961, Cohen was sent to Alcatraz for tax evasion, and he became the only prisoner who managed to get out of this prison on bail. Despite a huge number of assassination attempts, Cohen died in his sleep at the age of 62.

10. Henry Hill

The story of Henry Hill formed the basis of one of the best films about the mafia - "Goodfellas". It was he who claimed: "For as long as I can remember, I always dreamed of being a gangster." Born in New York in 1943, Hill came from an honest, hard-working family with no Mafia connections or kinship. However, having seen enough of the numerous mafiosi in the neighborhood, he joined the Lucchese family at an early age and quickly "rose up". However, he was never able to become a full-fledged member of the mafia due to the mixing of Irish and Italian blood. Hill was arrested for beating a gambler who refused to pay him and was sentenced to 10 years in prison. There he realized that life in the wild was practically no different from life in prison, since behind bars he regularly received privileges. But once on the loose, he took up the drug trade seriously, as a result of which he was arrested again, and this time he betrayed the entire organization and helped to capture the most powerful mafiosi in the world. In 1980, Hill entered the witness protection program, but two years later he gave himself away, and the feds broke off cooperation. Despite this, he still managed to live to be 69 years old.

9. James Whitey Bulger

Another veteran of Alktras, James Bulger was nicknamed "Whitey" for his blond hair. Bulger grew up in Boston and was known as a real bully. He ran away from home more than once, and once even joined the circus. Bulger was first arrested when he was 14, but he joined organized crime only in the late 70s. Bulger was an FBI informant and reported to the police on the activities of the Patriarca family. However, as his own criminal network expanded, the police became more and more interested in him, as a result of which Bulger fled Boston and hung on the list of "10 Most Wanted Fugitives" for more than 15 years. In 2011, he was caught and charged with 19 murders, money laundering, extortion and drug dealing. After a two-month trial, he was sentenced to two life sentences and five years in prison, and Boston was finally able to sleep peacefully again.

8. Bugsy Siegel

Benjamin "Bugsy" Siegel, who became famous for his criminal empire and exploits in Las Vegas, is one of the most notorious gangsters in the history of the mafia. Being a typical young bully from Brooklyn, he met Meyer Lansky and formed the Murder Inc. gang. - a group of Jewish bandits specializing in contract killings. Their popularity grew, and Siegel gained notoriety as a killer of New York mob veterans, having a hand in the death of prominent mobster Joe "Boss" Masseria. After years of bootlegging and dodging bullets on the West Coast, Siegel began to earn large sums, as a result of which he became close to the Hollywood elite. However, the Flamingo Hotel in Las Vegas helped him really take off to fame. The Mafia initially provided $1.5 million to build the hotel, but cost overruns and rising production costs ensued, and Siegel's old friend and new partner decided he was taking some of the money for himself. Siegel was brutally murdered in his own home, riddled with bullets, and Lanksy quickly took control of the Flamingo into his own hands.

7. Vito Genovese

Vito "Don Vito" Genovese was an Italian-American gangster who rose to prominence during the Prohibition era. The "boss of all bosses" led the Genovese family, and is best known as the man who brought heroin to the masses. Genovese was born in Italy and moved to New York in 1913. Having established himself in criminal activities, he soon met Lucky Luciano, and it was this alliance that led to the murder of mafia rival Salvatore Maranzano. Genovese fled from the police to his native Italy, where he remained until the end of World War II and even became friends with Benito Mussolini himself. However, upon his return, he immediately returned to power and again became the person whom everyone was so afraid of. But in the end, he was still caught and sentenced to 15 years in prison. Genovese died of a heart attack at the age of 71.

6. Lucky Luciano

Charles "Lucky" Luciano, who has been repeatedly mentioned in the adventures of other members of the mafia, became famous, in fact, for the creation of the modern mafia. Luciano got his nickname "Lucky (lucky)" when he survived a stab wound, literally a minute away from death. In his 64 years of life, Lucky has managed to achieve a lot indeed, including the assassination of two top bosses, the idea of ​​how organized crime should be organized, and, most importantly, the creation of the Five Families of New York and an entirely new National Crime Syndicate. For a long time, Lucky lived in luxury, but at some point the police became interested in him, and as a result, he was arrested and sentenced to prison. However, he did not lose his power behind bars and continued to manage affairs. He even had a personal chef at the time. When Lucky was released, he was sent to Italy, but instead he settled in Havana. But under US pressure, Cuba still had to deport him to Italy, where he died of a heart attack in 1962.

5. Maria Licciardi

Although the mafia is for the most part a world of men, this does not mean that there is no place for women in it at all. Maria Licciardi, born in Italy in 1951, was the head of the Licciardi clan, the Camorra, a crime syndicate operating in Naples. Nicknamed "La Madrina (The Godmother)", Licciardi was and remains a well-known figure in the country due to the family's ties to the Camorra. Licciardi took over the leadership of the clan after her two brothers and husband were behind bars. She became the first woman at the head of a powerful organization and, although not to everyone's liking, she managed to unite several clans in the city and thereby expand the drug market. Licciardi was also notorious for her involvement in sex trafficking - she used underage girls from neighboring countries and forced them into prostitution. By doing so, she violated the Camorra code, which forbade making money from sex workers. Licciardi was arrested in 2001 and sent to prison, but she continues to manage affairs from behind bars and, apparently, has no plans to stop.

4. Frank Nitti

The face of Al Capone's Chicago crime syndicate, Frank "The Action Man" Nitti did take over when Capone was sent to prison. Nitti was born in Italy and arrived in the US when he was only seven. He almost immediately began to get into trouble, which eventually attracted the attention of Al Capone. Thanks to his accomplishments during the Prohibition era, Nitti became one of Capone's closest associates and a full-fledged member of the Chicago Mafia. Despite his nickname, Nitti was more of a leader than a bonebreaker, and was often used to plan raids and criminal operations. In 1931, Nitti and Capone were imprisoned for tax evasion, and in prison Nitti suffered severely from claustrophobia, which haunted him until his death. When Nitti was released, he became the new top mob in Chicago and survived assassination attempts from rivals and even the police. However, with the threat of jail time looming over him, Nitti killed himself by shooting himself in the head to escape the claustrophobic prison cell in which he had suffered so much until then.

3. Sam Giancana

Another mobster with a good reputation, Sam "Mouni" Giancana was once one of the most powerful gangsters in Chicago. Giancana started out as a driver for Capone's elite, but quickly rose through the ranks and made connections with politicians, including the Kennedy family. Giancan was even forced to testify during the CIA's planning for the assassination of Fidel Castro, as he was believed to have key information. Giancano's name also figured in rumors that the Mafia was involved in John F. Kennedy's presidential campaign because of Giancano's close relationship with the future president. The rest of Giancano's life was lived by a fugitive, he was wanted by both the mafia and the CIA. He was shot in the head while cooking in the basement of his house.

2. Meer Lansky

As influential as Lucky Luciano, Meer Sukhomlyansky - aka Meer Lansky - was born in Russia. He moved to the US as a child and grew up on the streets fighting for money. Lansky could not only hold his own physically, he also had a sharp mind. An integral part of the formation of American organized crime, at one point he was one of the most powerful men in the US, if not the world. He led operations in Cuba and several other countries. At some point, despite the success, Lansky got nervous and decided to emigrate to Israel. Although he was deported back to the United States two years later, he was able to avoid jail time and died only at the age of 80 from lung cancer.

1. Al Capone

Need no introduction - Alfonso Capone is arguably the most famous gangster of all time. Capone grew up in a respected and stable family, which is quite rare among mafiosi. However, when he was expelled from school at 14 for hitting a teacher, Capone chose a different path for himself and went into organized crime. Under the influence of gangster Johnny Torrio, Capone began to gradually assert himself. He received the scar that earned him his most famous nickname, "Scarface". Capone did everything from bootlegging to murder and enjoyed getting away with it as the police couldn't catch him. However, everything came to an end when Capone managed to connect with the bloody and brutal carnage on Valentine's Day. Then representatives of a rival group were killed in cold blood. The police were unable to pin the murders directly on Capone, but arrested the gangster for tax evasion. He was sentenced to 11 years in prison, but was released early due to a serious illness. The most famous mobster in the world died of a heart attack in 1947.

Boss of the Sicilian Mafia Matteo Messina Denaro

He became one of the most powerful leaders in Sicily in 2006, after the arrest of the main leader of Cosa Nostra, Bernardo Provenzano.
Matteo Messina Denaro was born on April 26, 1962 in Sicily, in the commune of Castelvetrano (province of Trapani) in the family of the Sicilian mafia Francesco Messina. Already at the age of 14, his father taught Matteo how to shoot weapons. And he committed his first murder immediately after coming of age, at the age of 18.

In July 1992, Matteo killed his father's rival, mafia boss Vincenzo Milazzo of Alcamo, and strangled his beloved Antonella Bonomo, who was three months pregnant. With this murder, he greatly increased his authority. In total, Matteo killed more than 50 people with his own hands. On this occasion, he even once spoke - "The people I killed can fill an entire cemetery." For this he was called the Devil.

A case is known when Denaro personally killed the owner of a Sicilian hotel for accusing him of cohabiting with underage girls. However, it is still unclear whether these accusations were really groundless or not, since the future boss of the Sicilian mafia led and leads a wild life.
He loves beautiful women and has several Porsche sports cars in his garage. The wardrobe of the chief mafioso of Sicily is represented by expensive haute couture items.

Matteo Messina Denaro in his youth

In the early 90s, the state began persecuting the mafia. Denaro and other bosses of the Sicilian mafia organized a series of bombings in Milan, Rome and Florence to make the state fear the mafia, and to abandon plans to arrest the big mafiosi. This is how they showed their power.

As a result of the explosions, 10 innocent people died, more than 90 were seriously injured. In 1993, Denaro was put on the wanted list by law enforcement agencies. But failing to find the mafia, he was sentenced in absentia to life imprisonment in 2002 for these crimes. But he remained at large, and held leadership positions in the mafia.
After the death of his father in November 1998, Matteo became the CAPO in his home area, including Castelvetrano and the surrounding towns, while Vincenzo Virga was in charge of the city of Trapani and the surrounding area.

After the arrest of Virga in 2001, Matteo Denaro led the mafia in the province of Trapani. Under his leadership were about 900 fighters. Moreover, he reorganized the 20 mafia families in Trapani into a single "mandamento" (district, region), separated from the rest of Cosa Nostra.

The Trapani mafia is a strong supporter of the Cosa Nostra and is considered the most powerful, with the exception of families in Palermo. Matteo Denaro invested his money in extensive racketeering and extortion, forcing businessmen to come under his auspices and profiting from public building contracts (the family owns significant sand pits). Denaro is also involved in the international drug trade, joining forces with the Cuntrera-Caruana clan, which has come to the attention of the US Federal Bureau of Investigation.

According to the Anti-Mafia Directorate in Palermo, he is in contact with relatives in New York and with Vito Roberto Palazzolo, a fugitive Mafia Boss in South Africa.

He also has interests in Venezuela and is in contact with Colombian drug cartels as well as with . His illegal network spread to Belgium and Germany.

Matteo Messina Denaro has close ties to mafia families in Palermo, especially in Branaccio, the territory of the Graviano family.

In 2006, the police arrested Cosa Nostra boss Bernardo Provenzano. The Sicilian mafia could not be without its main leader for a long time, and Matteo Denaro became the new boss in the voting, especially since Provenzano himself supported the candidacy of Denaro. His closest opponents in the vote could be other influential mafiosi - Salvatore Lo Piccolo and Domenico Rakuglia. But in 2007, Salvatore Lo Piccolo was arrested, and two years later Domenico Racuglia was also arrested. So Matteo Messina Denaro became the "godfather" of the Sicilian mafia.

In 2009, the Sicilian police arrested one of the mafia divisions of Matteo, engaged in fraud in the field of agriculture. Structures controlled by Danero gave huge bribes to officials so that they would provide the mafia with winnings in government tenders related to all branches of agriculture. The mafia laundered huge amounts of money.
During the police operation, many businessmen, officials, were arrested. Denaro's brother, Salvatore, was also arrested. But it was not possible to arrest the main ideologist and organizer of this business, Matteo Denaro.

The boss of bosses received the next serious blow in 2013, when his sister, two cousins ​​and a nephew were arrested. They were charged with participation in an organized criminal group and racketeering.
Relatives of the mafia leader were detained as part of a large-scale operation to combat organized crime, which was carried out in the vicinity of the city of Trapani in western Sicily. In total, about thirty people were taken into custody. At the same time, money was confiscated in the amount of about five million euros, which, presumably, belong to Denaro and his family.
Until now, for the past 22 years, Denaro has been on the wanted list, and is one of the most wanted criminals. He is now 53 years old and continues to lead the Sicilian mafia.

Sicily… The oldest vineyards and olive groves, lemon and orange orchards… Here the mountains meet the sea, and the largest active volcano in Europe, Etna, completes all this splendor. In the XVIII-XIX centuries, the natural wealth of Sicily was complemented by a favorable location on the Mediterranean trade routes.

It is not at all surprising that it was Sicily, the south of magnificent Italy, that became the birthplace of the Sicilian mafia, known throughout the world, famous for high-profile crimes at home and abroad.

Everyone knows about the mafia, but what this phenomenon really is is known for sure only to those who have been associated with or encountered it. The creation of a certain image of the mafia, which has become a classic, was facilitated by cinema and literature, in which the criminal genre is one of the most popular. Mafia style parties are probably the most popular adult costume events. Faithfully loyal to the "family", exceptionally elegant and wealthy mafiosi make you want to plunge into their world, full of romance and luxury.


Does the representative of the Sicilian Cosa Nostra really have the qualities of an ideal man, a superhero who does not save the whole world from evil just because he has more important things to do? There are several myths, thanks to which the image of a noble mafia is formed:

- exceptional honesty and loyalty within the mafia family;
- life full of secrets, mysteries and adventures;
- wealth and nobility in relation to the inhabitants of the controlled territory.

mafia code of honor

The name "MAFIA", according to one version, comes from the first letters of the slogan of the Italian fighters against French rule back in the 13th century: "Morte Alla Francia, Italia Anela" ("Death of France, take a breath, Italy"). This exclamation itself is already full of the spirit of freedom, which is so thirsty for young people who join the ranks of modern criminal gangs.

The mafia "family" has its own clear hierarchy, relations within it are built according to special rules, which are called "omerta" and are mandatory for everyone. This is complete and unquestioning obedience to the head of the organization, the exclusion of the possibility of leaving it, the law of silence. All these features and conditions add romance and help to realize the need for belonging to a social group for a young person.

In fact, as the cases of mass arrests of mafiosi in the United States and Italy show, the law of silence, which, out of fear, is observed not only by members of mafia families, but also by residents of poor areas of Sicily, is violated by its leaders. In this case, the arrest of one or more major mafiosi follows, for example, the arrest of Dominico Racciuglia in 2009 in Italy or Luis Lepke in 1939 in New York.

Secrets and ciphers

Mysteriousness and mystery, that's another quality that gives the mafia a special charm. Indeed, since the middle of the 20th century, the usual means of communication between members of the organization has been encrypted messages, veiled as greeting cards or the blessings of a priest. They were called Pizzini.
In modern Sicily and now, some of their messages, for example, warnings addressed to entrepreneurs, businessmen, that the mafia is following their actions and actions, are presented in a symbolic form. It could be an animal's head or bullets in an envelope. Such characters do not need to be decoded. Protecting themselves and their families, people obediently follow the silent hints of Cosa Nostra.

The old generation is replaced by a young, active, socially popular one. And more and more young mafiosi are creating accounts on social networks, sharing photos of their property on Instagram. But, even using fake names, it is very difficult to maintain complete confidentiality. Proof of this is the largest Operation Apocalypse, carried out in 2014 in Sicily, as a result of which about a hundred people were arrested. Some of the information for this operation was taken from the Internet.


Noble Robin Hoods

Another myth about the Italian mafia is the opinion that only large companies fall into the field of view of the mafia, and for an ordinary Sicilian it is a source of prosperity and tranquility. Any entrepreneur can be calm, but as long as he himself pays tribute to the mafia. There is stability, but absolutely no development. Mafia organizations are not interested in this, and new people not only cannot stay on the market, but even do not appear - everything is seized and controlled, from a gas station to an automobile plant, from a bakery to a large light industry enterprise.


Therefore, the South of Italy is getting poorer and the opportunity to feel secure and confident is offered not by large corporations working with the latest technologies, but by “murder corporations” in which they see the possibility of self-realization and a comfortable existence for their family.

He was known as the Godfather of Sicily, one of the most powerful people in Italy, a brutal mafia boss who received 26 life sentences and excommunication
Below is a brief biography of this powerful Italian crime boss:

In Italy, Toto Riina was buried - the head of Cosa Nostra, the "boss of all bosses", one of the most influential mafiosi in the world. Providing the "roof" of his empire, he promoted friends to the main posts in the country and in fact brought the entire government under control. His life is an example of how vulnerable politics is to organized crime.

Salvatore (Toto) Riina died in the Parma prison hospital at the age of 87. On account of this man, who headed Cosa Nostra in the 1970s and 90s, dozens of political assassinations, ruthless reprisals against businessmen and competitors, several terrorist attacks. The total number of his victims goes to many hundreds. The world media write about him today as one of the most brutal criminals of our day.

Wife and son Salvatore Riina at his funeral

The paradox is that at the same time Toto Riina was one of the most influential politicians in Italy. Of course, he did not participate in the elections. But he ensured the election of his "friends" and financed their promotion to the highest positions, and "friends" helped him to do business and hide from the law.

Like the protagonist of Mario Puzo's novel and Francis Ford Coppola's The Godfather, Toto Riina was born in the small Italian town of Corleone. When Toto was 19 years old, his father ordered him to strangle a businessman whom he took hostage, but failed to obtain a ransom. After the first murder, Riina served six years, after which he made a resounding career in the Corleone clan of the Sicilian mafia.

In the 1960s, his mentor was the then "boss of all bosses" Luciano Leggio. Then the mafia took an active part in the political struggle and the mountain stood for the far right.
In 1969, a convinced fascist, a friend of Mussolini and Prince Valerio Borghese (it is in his Roman villa that admiring tourists crowd today) started a full-fledged coup. According to its results, ultra-rightists were supposed to come to power, and all communists in parliament were supposed to be physically destroyed. One of the first people contacted by Prince Borghese was Leggio. The prince needed three thousand militants to seize power in Sicily. Legjo doubted the plan's feasibility and dragged his feet with a final answer. Soon the conspirators were arrested, Borghese fled to Spain, the putsch failed. And Leggio, until the end of his days, boasted that he did not give his brothers to the putschists and "saved democracy in Italy."

Another thing is that mafiosi understood democracy in their own way. Possessing almost absolute power on the island, they controlled the outcome of any election. “The orientation of Cosa Nostra was to vote for the Christian Democratic Party,” one of the clan members recalled at the trial in 1995. “Cosa Nostra did not vote for either the communists or the fascists.” (quote from Letizia Paoli's Mafia Brotherhoods: Organized Crime Italian Style).

Not surprisingly, the Christian Democrats regularly won majorities in Sicily. Party members - usually natives of Palermo or the same Corleone - held posts in the government of the island. And then they paid their mafia sponsors with contracts for the construction of housing and roads. Another native of Corleone, Vito Ciancimino, an oligarch, Christian Democrat and good friend of Toto Riina, worked in the mayor's office of Palermo and argued that "since the Christian Democrats get 40% of the vote in Sicily, they are also entitled to 40% of all contracts."

However, there were also honest people among the members of the party. Once in Sicily, they tried to curb local corruption. Toto Riina invariably shot such dissidents.

The mafia economy worked well. In the 1960s, generally poor Sicily experienced a building boom. “When Riina was here, everyone in Corleone had a job,” complained a local old-timer to The Guardian journalist who visited Corleone immediately after the death of the godfather. “These people gave everyone a job.”

An even more promising business in Sicily was the drug trade. After the defeat of the Americans in Vietnam, the island became the main transport hub for the transportation of heroin to the United States. In order to seize control of this business, Riina cleared all of Sicily from competitors in the mid-1970s. In just a few years, his militants killed several hundred people from other "families".

Relying on fear, the “godfather” organized exponentially brutal reprisals. So, he ordered the 13-year-old son of one of the mafiosi to be kidnapped, strangled and dissolved in acid.

In the late 1970s, Riina was recognized as the "boss of all bosses". By this time, the political influence of the Sicilian mafia had reached its peak, and the Christian Democrats had effectively become the pocket party of Cosa Nostra. “According to the testimony of members of criminal gangs, between 40 and 75 percent of Christian Democrat MPs were mafia-paid."- Letizia Paoli writes in her investigation. That is, Riina put under control the largest political force in Italy. The Christian Democrats were in power for about forty years. Party leader Giulio Andreotti became prime minister seven times.

Stills from the 2008 Italian film Il Divo about Giulio Andreotti

The connection between the bosses of Cosa Nostra and Giulio Andreotti was carried out by one of the representatives of the party elite, Salvatore Lima. In the Sicilian mafia, he was considered "their white collar". His father himself was an authoritative mafioso in Palermo, but Lima received a good education and, with the help of his parent's "friends", made a party career. Becoming the right hand of Andreotti, at one time he worked in the cabinet, and at the time of his death in 1992 he was a member of the European Parliament.

Witnesses claimed that the Italian prime minister was well acquainted with Toto Riina and once even kissed the godfather on the cheek - as a sign of friendship and respect. Giulio Andreotti was repeatedly brought to trial for connections with the mafia and for organizing the murder of journalist Mino Pecorelli, who revealed these connections, but each time he got away with it. But the kiss story always pissed him off - especially when director Paolo Sorrentino re-told it in his movie hit Il Divo. “Yes, they invented it all,” the politician explained to The Times correspondent. - I would kiss my wife, but not Toto Riina!
With such high-ranking patrons, the “godfather” could organize high-profile murders and clean up competitors without fear of anything. On March 31, 1980, the first secretary of the Communist Party in Sicily, Pio La Torre, proposed to the Italian parliament a draft law to combat the mafia. It for the first time formulated the concept of organized crime, contained a requirement for the confiscation of property of mafia members, and provided for the possibility of prosecuting "godfathers".

However, the Christian Democrats, who controlled parliament, bombarded the draft with amendments in order to delay its adoption as much as possible. And two years later, the car of the indefatigable Pio La Torre was blocked in a narrow alley of Palermo near the entrance to the headquarters of the Communist Party. The militants, led by Toto Riina's favorite killer Pino Greco, shot the communist from machine guns.

The next day, General Carlo Alberto Dalla Chiesa was appointed prefect of Palermo. He was called upon to investigate Mafia activities in Sicily and the godfathers' connections with politicians in Rome. But on September 3, Chiesa was killed by the killers of Toto Riina.

These demonstrative murders shocked all of Italy. Under pressure from the indignant public, the parliament nevertheless passed the La Torre law. However, it was not easy to apply it.

The amazing thing: the "boss of all bosses" Toto Riina was wanted since 1970, but the police just shrugged. In fact, she always did. In 1977, Riina ordered the assassination of the chief of the Carabinieri of Sicily. In March 1979, on his orders, the head of the Christian Democrats in Palermo, Michele Reina, was killed (he tried to break the corrupt system of power on the island). Four months later, Boris Giuliano, the police officer who caught Riina's men with a suitcase of heroin, is killed. In September, a member of the Commission for the Investigation of Mafia Crimes was shot dead.

Subsequently, when the “godfather” was nevertheless handcuffed, it turned out that all this time he lived in his Sicilian villa. During this time, he had four children, each of whom was registered in accordance with all the rules. That is, the authorities of the island knew perfectly well where one of the country's most wanted criminals was located.
In the 1980s, Riina unleashes a campaign of large-scale terror. The corrupt government is so weak that it cannot resist the "godfather". Another series of political assassinations is followed by a large-scale terrorist attack, a train bombing that killed 17 people. But that wasn't what killed him.


Toto Riina's empire collapsed from within. Mafioso Tommaso Buscetta, whose sons and grandsons died during the intra-clan war, decided to hand over his accomplices. His testimony was taken by magistrate Giovanni Falcone. With his active participation in 1986, a large-scale trial of members of Cosa Nostra was organized, during which 360 members of the criminal community were convicted, another 114 were acquitted.

The results could have been better, but even here Riina had her own people. Presiding over the trial was Corrado Carnevale, a native of Palermo, nicknamed "The Killer of Sentences". Carnevale dismissed every accusation he could, picking on minutiae like a missing seal. He also did everything to commute the sentences of the convicts. Thanks to his connivance, most of Riino's soldiers were soon released.

In 1992, Giovanni Falcone and his fellow magistrate Paolo Borsalino were blown up in their own cars.

A riot almost broke out in Sicily. The newly elected president, Luigi Scalfaro, was pushed out of the Palermo Cathedral by an angry mob and was about to be lynched. Scalfaro was also a member of the Christian Democratic Party, whose ties to Toto Riina had long been an open secret.

On January 15, 1993, the "godfather" was finally arrested in Palermo and has since experienced many trials. In total, he was given 26 life sentences, and at the same time was excommunicated from the church.

Simultaneously with the career of Riina, the history of the Christian Democratic Party of Italy also ended. All its leaders, including Giulio Andreotti, went to court, many went to prison.

Andreotti

Andreotti himself was sentenced to 24 years in prison, but the sentence was later overturned.
In 1993, the party suffered a crushing defeat in the elections, in 1994 it disintegrated.

Toto Riina survived his empire by 23 years, becoming the main symbol not only of the entire Italian mafia, but also of a system in which one bandit can subjugate the government of a European country to his interests.