Corsicans?

Any recent updates/cases on them?

The thing with the Corsicans is is that they're pretty secretive. They're however still said to be the most powerful mob in Marseille.
Organized crime in Paris is dominated by Manush clans ( French Gypsies) and Algerians.

I figured that Marseille was still their stronghold. Sounds smart enough, since that is the major port on the European shore of the Mediterranean sea. And Corsica is their own Sicily, in terms of omertà...

i don't think they are so active today little heard from them
in marseille italian and north african gangs are also very active

I am currently working with a Corsican and this is something we regularly discuss.

In fact, it's incorrect to assume that there is little activity. Even today, in the 2000's, Corsica has a death rate about 9 times higher than mainland France. In a nation of 250, 000 a clan feud murder takes place every month or so.
For the (attempted) hit this year with the most publicity in France, see below:

http://www.english.rfi.fr/france/20120528-godfather-style-shooting-corsica-hospital

The Corsicans of course are not a huge international syndicate, but in their island and region of Europe, a very strong group, with interests in the usual areas. Especially they profit from tourism in the south of France, with lots of investments in casinos, hotels, beach restaurants (it really seems like every Corsican owns a restaurant!).
On the island itself, a lot of people who are not necessarily organized crime members are somewhat involved in semi-underground deals. The friend of which I spoke, for example, was selling contraband cigarettes in his shop.

But hopefully there is someone who has better infomation than just anecdotal information.

i mean i dont think they have today a strong and organized group like they had in the 60s although death rates and generic underworld

Originally Posted By: ciccogol

I am currently working with a Corsican and this is something we regularly discuss.

In fact, it's incorrect to assume that there is little activity. Even today, in the 2000's, Corsica has a death rate about 9 times higher than mainland France. In a nation of 250, 000 a clan feud murder takes place every month or so.
For the (attempted) hit this year with the most publicity in France, see below:

http://www.english.rfi.fr/france/20120528-godfather-style-shooting-corsica-hospital

The Corsicans of course are not a huge international syndicate, but in their island and region of Europe, a very strong group, with interests in the usual areas. Especially they profit from tourism in the south of France, with lots of investments in casinos, hotels, beach restaurants (it really seems like every Corsican owns a restaurant!).
On the island itself, a lot of people who are not necessarily organized crime members are somewhat involved in semi-underground deals. The friend of which I spoke, for example, was selling contraband cigarettes in his shop.

But hopefully there is someone who has better infomation than just anecdotal information.

Thanks Ciccogol for this info.

I bet that the guy has an interesting accent! Do you speak Italian with each other?
I heard Corsu for the first time when I watched A Prophet and I was amazed that I could easily understand everything they said.

I recommend this movie to anyone interested in the Mafia Corsa. A great piece of filmmaking that was also nominated as best foreign film at the Academy Awards.

No problem and you are right that he has an interesting accent - I'm not surprised that you understood them in 'A prophet' (which is, as you say a great film) as Corsican is pretty much from Tuscany, and I'm sure you know that standard Italian is from Florence.

We do speak Italian together, it's much better than French...!

If you are interested in Corsican mafia or the people in general, I really recommend visiting. It's a beautiful place, more so than Sardinia I think and as long as you're not from the mainland, their hospitality is legendary.

There is an average of around 40 murders a year, compared to around 250 in the rest of France. When you think that France has over 30x the population of Corsica it's a very dangerous place, for Western Europe at least (although of course killings are between clans). Also, this article is a very good piece on their mentality and how things work there http://mafiatoday.com/tag/southern-corsica/

i saw the movie an prophet and i understood them their accent look like southern italian and not tuscanian

yes the accent sounds southern, and of course the language has influence from all of italy and latin (and even french), but the structure and vocabulary is 'most' influenced by the rulers from Pisa and Firenze.

But like you say, it does sound pretty southern, po' nnapulitano..

Hi guys, thanks for all the info.

Yeah, I looked into Corsican a little and, just like you said, it was more influenced by Tuscan rather than by Sadrinian. Tuscany controlled the island from 828 to 1077, then the Republic of Pisa took over in 1077 till 1282 and finally the Republic of Genoa reigned there from 1282 to 1768 when it was conquered (or stolen/extorted to quote many Corsicans) by France.

No wonder it sounds more like Norther/Central Italian.

Another media representation for the Mafia Corsa is Mafiosa , a French tv-series (nicknamed as the French Sopranos) that is produced by Canal + and it's now at its 4th season.

Also, I've found some articles in French that connect Corsican criminals to a gold-heist in Switzerland and to how alleged Corsican mob bosses Jacques Mariani and Aurelie Merlini still control their empire from prison. I'm trying to translate them thru Babel Fish before I post them here.

those guys were part of the brise de mer gang.some days ago the last of the founders was killed and now a group from Venzolasca seems to take over.

and regarding the corsicans on the mainland.until 2011 there was the "Cercle Wagram" in pari which brought every boss of the gang 40 000 € per month.

The language does sound a bit southern ( I'm not an expert on Italian, but I generally can distinguish regional accents).
I thought the ethnically the Corsicans are pretty much related to Sardinians ?

Interesting update on Corsican clan feuds.
IN ENGLISH!!!

http://www.france24.com/en/20121019-cors...o-france-lawyer

i'm not so sure that corsica has a murder rate higher than calabria anyway
15 murders so far these year?
calabria should have 90 and it's very possible since in 2011 it has that number

Italy in general has in fact a very low murder rate. Only 1 per 100,000 inhabitants. This is lower than the murder rate of the United Kingdom, France or the Netherlands.
Corsica has a murder rate of about 7 per 100,000 while Calabria has one of about 4 per 100,000.

i'm not talking of italy and france, but a regional level since corsica is a region
according to this source corsica has the same murder rates of calabria these year

Either way, the chances a normal tourist will receive bodily harm in either Corsica or Calabria are very small. And that's how it should be

yes the little crimes rate is very low in both places and most of murders are related to organized crime
most of european country has a murder rate of 1 - 1,5 per 100.000
except albania and romania at 3 per 100.000 and russia at 9 if i remember right

Wait, Are the Corsican Mafia groups made of like Italians, French, Arabs and that I suppose classifies Corsican's for you. Because when I looked through it's history and up to date events there were loads of Italian Names in it. Also are the Italians strong in Corsica? Is there lot's of Mafia to?

No the Corsican Mafia clans are all ethnically Corsicans. Corsicans in some way are related to Sardinians, but there is also Tuscan and Ligurian admixture. So you can say they are an 'Italic' type of people, but still different from mainland Italians and Sicilians (just like the Sardinians are different from other Italians). Corsicans have surnames that resemble the Italian surnames. Like Orsini, Mariani, Fabiani, Casabianca, Lucioni,...their first names are French ( Marcel, Pascal, Antoine,...).
The Italian mafia groups aren't strong in Corsica, I doubt they are even active over there. There are however Italian clans active in Grenoble, Marseille,... . Corsican mafia clans are also very active in the Cote d'Azur.
As for 'Arabs'. There are North African ( mostly Algerian and Moroccan ) criminal gangs active everywhere from Paris to Marseille. 60% of them are low-level petty criminals, but the other 40% of the criminals in their community is very organized and extremely brutal. They bring in tons of narcotics ( mostly hashish ), are involved in the weapon trade, extortion, prostitution, contract killings,... Ethnically they aren't 'Arabs', in fact the Algerians and Moroccans living in Europe are almost always ethnic Berbers. Berbers have more in common with Mediterranean people than with Arabs and they hate it when someone calls them 'Arabs'.
There are also lots and lots of Manush gangsters active from Paris to Marseille. Manush mostly work together with the North Africans and indulge in the same criminal activities. Some are also petty criminals, while others are organized criminals. Manush are French Gypsies of Sinti background. They have been living in France for about 600 years. They are way different from the Roma gypsies, whom they mostly hate with a passion
While Italian mobs mostly lay low in France and do alot of money laundering, gambling,...as well as smuggling drugs, the Corsicans, North Africans and Manush are 'renowned' for their brutality and ruthlessness. Just like the Camorra in Naples, a lot of Kalashnikov-shootings, torturings and burnings of rivals can be attributed to feuding Corsican clans in Corsica and Marseille and warring North African and Manush gangs in Marseille.

italian mafia groups are not active in corsica but they have links anyway especially in marseille qhere there are both corsicans and italian groups
in grenoble they had links too in the past, at one point they went at war in the 70s, the war later split into a internal war between italian clans
but usually they have good relationships

Yeah, I think the Italian groups are still very active in the French Riviera and other parts of mainland France. I also really doubt that the crime groups from the banlieues are pushing the Italians out, as is stated in several articles. In terms of drug and weapon trafficking or prostitution they may be more active than the Italians. But the Italians in France still make money of other activities, among them gambling.
By the way, every time some burned or shot-to-pieces-with-a-kalashnikov body is seen floating in the water it's always a Corsican, North African or Gypsy. The Italians really have no business with them, they don't threaten the activities of the other groups. The Corsicans used to do business with the Italians, but I think nowadays they are very seperate.

they usually have little links each other, probably they have links about drugs, north africans get cocaine from italians and italians hashish from moroccons and the links are often in spain and not france, but except these sporadic links they have not so many contacts