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The Sicilian Mafia or Cosa Nostra (Italian: [ˈkɔːza ˈnɔstra, ˈkɔːsa-], Sicilian: [ˈkɔːsa ˈnɔʂː(ɽ)a]; "our thing" [3]), also referred to as simply Mafia, is a criminal society and criminal organization originating on the island of Sicily and dates back to the mid-19th century. It is an association of gangs which sell their ...
The Mafia was identified with the Cosa Nostra organization, and defined a unique, pyramidal and apex type organization, provincially directed by a Commission or Cupola and regionally by an interprovincial organism, in which the head of the Palermo Commission has a hegemonic role. [5] This premise became known as the Buscetta theorem.
The discovery of a severed horse head, and a cow quartered with its bloodied dead calf splayed on top, have rattled a Sicilian, with authorities treating the incident as a mafia threat.
The Cuntrera-Caruana Mafia clan (Italian pronunciation: [kunˌtrɛrakaruˈaːna]) was a Mafia clan of the Cosa Nostra and held a key position in the illicit drug trade and money laundering for Cosa Nostra in the 1980s and 1990s. The Italian press baptized the clan as "The Rothschilds of the Mafia" or "The Bankers of Cosa Nostra". [1]
According to Giusy Vitale, a pentita, in 1998, Messina Denaro was one of the young Turks within Cosa Nostra who wanted to set aside Bernardo Provenzano. In addition to Messina Denaro, they were Giovanni Brusca, Domenico Raccuglia, and Vito Vitale. The younger bosses wanted to take strategic decisions without prior consent of Provenzano.
The Second Mafia War was a period of conflict involving the Sicilian Mafia, mostly taking place from 1981 to 1984 and involved thousands of homicides. [2] Sometimes referred to as The Great Mafia War or the Mattanza (Italian for 'Slaughter'), it involved the entire Mafia and radically altered the power balance within the organization.
Cosa Nostra: A History of the Sicilian Mafia, Hodder. ISBN 978-0-340-93526-2; Duggan, Christopher (1989). Fascism and the Mafia, New Haven: Yale University Press ISBN 0-300-04372-4; Duggan, Christopher (2008). The Force of Destiny: A History of Italy Since 1796, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, ISBN 0-618-35367-4