MAFIA
The old boss Ciccio Rappa, the protection money in New York and the stolen drugs: "They gave the mandate to him"
The interceptions of the blitz on the links between the Sicilian clans and those of the USA, where the son of the elderly Borgetto mafioso, Vito, lives. Between threats and authorizations for construction work, disagreements and stories of the Cosa Nostra that once was, it emerges however that the suspects were reduced to raiding a marijuana plantation to obtain just 900 grams of grass

Sandra Figliuolo
Journalist Palermo
09 November 2023 18:11
They call themselves "vossia", speak an ancient Sicilian mixed with some American terms and often remember the "glories" of the Cosa Nostra that once was: in some passages of the interceptions, due to their tenor, one could easily put the (overused) in the background soundtrack of "The Godfather", Francis Ford Coppola's masterpiece. They seem out of time - and in any case they belong to a criminal world that is hard to believe still exists and is powerful in Palermo - but from Sicily they would provide the instructions to impose extortion on commercial activities in New York. An emblematic figure - according to the SCO police and FBI investigators - would be a name well known in the judicial news and arrested yesterday : Francesco "Ciccio" Rappa, of whom another of the suspects, Giovan Battista Badalamenti , was mentioned in an interception on 20 July, spoke in these terms: "Do you know Ciccio Rappa, have you seen him? I understand that perhaps the mandate was either given to him or they want to give it to him".

The raid by the police and the FBI: the names of the 17 arrested
"Uncle Fat" from heroin sales to businesses in the Big Apple
According to the deputy prosecutor Marzia Sabella and the deputy Giovanni Antoci, who coordinate the Italian part of the investigations, Rappa, born in 1942, convicted three times for mafia association and who finished serving his last sentence on 13 November 2014, already since the following December he would resume the regency of the Borgetto clan. And he would have managed the overseas affairs while also being able to count on the presence in the Big Apple of his son Vito, who was also stopped yesterday in the USA. As early as the Seventies, Rappa had been involved in the colossal drug trafficking of Cosa Nostra between the two sides of the Atlantic and in fact he was arrested for the first time as soon as he landed in New York with 81 kilos of heroin in the car. He received an 18-year sentence, which was followed by another 12-year sentence, when his business relationships with the Madonia family of Resuttana emerged in the 1990s. Rappa has historically been very loyal to the brothers Vito and Leonardo Vitale, leaders of the Partinico district.

The raid by police and FBI in a farmhouse in Torretta | Video
The protection money in New York: "He came with education, I gave him security"
It would have been "Uncle Ciccio" who intervened on an American businessman to make him pay 6 thousand dollars a month in protection money to his son Vito and to another suspect arrested in the USA, Francesco Vicari: "Get your act together, do the right thing" the old boss would have suggested. And "your father's word was right", commented Vicari. "Six a month, 1,500 dollars a week - Vicari communicated to Vito Rappa in December 2020 - but I gave him the security, because I had to give it to him and he shook my hand and it remained like this... We owe the people give security, my brother", that is, protection. And Rappa replied: "You sow, why do you sow? To then be there..." and the other: "Because then the ear grows... He wanted security and I gave him security and that's it... I always talk to him about work." On December 23rd there was further confirmation that the entrepreneur would have agreed to submit: "He called me, Vito, it's not that I called him - said Vicari - with a lot of politeness, you see, he came with a lot of politeness, I went to find it with such politeness, 'thank you, thank you' and that's it, I won't tell you anything anymore... In this period a superchiu candy, a candy that was lost".

The ambassador, confidential news and summits
Giacomo Palazzolo would have been very faithful to Rappa, who in fact - according to the Prosecutor's Office - would have been his "ambassador", also informing him of important judicial news, such as "he says that there is a repentant person who is saying a few things, one from Trapani", for example. And he himself admitted his role in some interceptions: "You know how many people sometimes send greetings, things, call me... He (Francesco Rappa, ed.) certain things... He said to me: ' You when there is that you think one thing is right, you tell him what you want to say, I trust you, you don't need pen and paper... To shorten things with people, according to what you think"... He's delicate, he thinks about these things because he's too burned out." It would have been through Palazzolo that the appointments with the old boss would have been made. "You tell Ciccio - a man explained - that they came to Totò's son, but since he's not familiar with him, he told me the name and surname of these people here, they wanted to talk to you... But Totò, being delicate, first wants to hear from Ciccio whether he wants to talk to him or not, when he's available".

But Palazzolo would also have mediated in some issues. Last October 9th, a man turned to him explaining: "He doesn't give you any material, you thoroughbred cuckold!" and the suspect: "You piece of... It would be like making him shit on himself... I go there and say to him: 'Give me the money, u pizzu! Why? And why are you going to report me, cuckold that you are!'... Him Does he know Christians? He doesn't know that as soon as I go, as soon as I open half a word, he's consumed! As soon as I open my mouth he's consumed."

Turret farmhouse blitz
Turret farmhouse blitz

The permit for the works: "It's always better for him to know"
An in-law who had to start work to transform some premises into a betting room ("all betting agency, all gaming, 320 square meters of room I'm building, the most beautiful room there will be in all of Sicily", he said) would have wanted be sure not to have any problems and asked Palazzolo himself: "Giacomì when you're in Borgetto and you're with your friend (Rappa, ed. ), tell me and we'll make him come here, I'll show him the place I got, which is always better , who at least know that he is mine... with Ciccio" and Palazzolo: "And what do you need? Speak! Whatever you need... don't worry, should they worry him?". The entrepreneur continued: "Since Borgetto is not a square that I know, it is always better for him to know... A walk, the rest of us are doing work, this week we finish, go around and they already know that... and one is calmer" and Rappa's ambassador closed: "Now I'll tell Ciccio, you were right to tell me, nobody's coming, understand? As long as I come here once, I'll show up a couple of times".

"There isn't one that has any value..."
Giovan Battista Badalamenti, Martino's brother, very loyal to Vito Vitale and sentenced to life imprisonment for the murder of Partinico boss Antonino Geraci, dating back to 23 November 1997, is another central figure in the investigation and was arrested together with his nephew Salvatore Prestigiacomo, with whom he allegedly had friction, who reported to his detained brother during a prison visit. Martino Badalamenti commented in very harsh tones: "You have to say: 'The uncle with 30 years, have you been in prison? You didn't even bother to see, and speak, Vastaso! Quoted! I'll stick it in my butt... to him and to all these quoted, but for real!" and the other replied: "But don't you see that they are all at his level, Martino, take one who has values, one! You don't know anyone" and the life prisoner: "Knock, I don't know that there isn't anyone ? Do you want to tell me?" and the brother laconically commented on the state of the organization: "Nuddu, quannu ti ricu nuddu, nuddu...".

When Matteo Messina Denaro "signed off"...
On another occasion Badalamenti commented to his nephew on his belonging to the Torretta clan and his closeness to Vito Vitale: "But in a certain sense we were always unlucky, Vito didn't last long. U 'ncignieri (the mafia boss of Altofonte Domenico Raccuglia , ed. ) if it lasted, he put everything in his hands, everything, Sicily, he put himself in his hands". But the judgment on Raccuglia was very bad, so much so that Prestigiacomo said: "It's a good thing that they arrested him because if Nino went out while he was out, bad things would happen here, uncle. He told me: 'Salvatore, he behaved badly. , he abandoned the puvirieddi to everyone, he told everyone that he was in the middle of the street and he screwed up all the things himself'". In one passage the two also spoke about Raccuglia's fugitive in the Trapani area in 2009, about which Matteo Messina Denaro (then also a fugitive) would have known nothing: "When he ended up in Trapani, the people of Trapani knew nothing, Messina Denaro yes, he says: 'But what was he doing with this documentary without me knowing anything about it?' and instead he went to tell him: 'It's okay, I can do it here'. Then when they caught him he says: 'But what was this guy doing without me knowing anything?', he says: 'How come you don't know anything? But did you say it?' he says: 'I don't know anything about this' and we had seen each other 4, 5 days before", Badalamenti said.

"Messina Denaro went into hiding, Vito Vitale was a total fool"
then spoke about Messina Denaro last February, immediately after his capture, again with Prestigiacomo but with another person: "He went into hiding - he said speaking of the now dead mafia boss of Castelvetrano - no one knew him there in Castelvetrano, he was walking, no one knew him! Four or 5 had contact with him and that was it. He wasn't like that crazy godfather of mine (Vito Vitale, ed. ) , total crazy... In all of this he arrived and had to command everything world, the whole world in his hands! You forgot the one from Reggio Calabria: 'In Italy they have to do what I say. The rest of us, the Neapolitans, the Romans, the Milanese or do what I say, you'll be astute to everyone !'".

The theft of the marijuana plantation
The Torretta gang may have had contacts with the United States, a "glorious" past to remember, but from a passage in the arrest order it is clear that they would not be swimming in gold given that the suspects would have been reduced to stealing the marijuana grown by "four savvy people from Borgo Nuovo" in Piano dell'Occhio, to obtain just under 900 grams of weed to resell...

https://www.app.com/story/news/crim...tail-attack-in-gambino-case/71509825007/

-Dante

900 grams?weed plantantions are usually in the order of tons in Partinico

These stories make no sense. How can you on one hand have criminal connections across thousands of miles of ocean and on the other hand robbing marijuana plantations for small amounts of weed?

1 harvest is at least a couple of hundred kilos, maybe they moved the stuff before they went in there.

Too bad the Sicilian articles aren't in plain English. Sure I can make it out, but there's a difference between being able to make out what someone's saying and clearly understanding it.

Let me ask you a question and this is serious.

Do you think Tony Soprano's wife Carmela would leave the house looking like that? I don't even think she fuckin dressed down unless she was at the gym.

Even though its a tv show, the rule does apply for many other women in life.

So why the fuck is a mobsters wife dressing like shit? It makes no sense. Of all people, a woman who is married to a mobster leaves the house with her daughter in pajamas?! That is a fucking disgrace! This is a prime example as to why many Italians get pissed off because you got trash representing them like this.

At this point i am sure you are trolling.

Absolutely not. Thats a guarantee! Answer my question please.

Strax, lol. Sometimes its better just to leave well enough alone...it seems to be a losing battle my friend. Lol

Answer me as to why they dressed like that leaving to go to court? Why? Its not that hard to take a moment and dress presentable.

They were not the ones being arrested and hauled in by the FBI. Their husbands had to be processed anyway before they could see the judge so they had plenty of time to change and put on something decent.

They looked like a couple of WHOAAS like Ralphie would say. Hope they are proud of themselves!

BTW it makes me very unhappy when I see people on here trying to justify the trash that represents the mafia today. These women these guys are marrying and having kids with are fucking trash whoaas, street walker level. No class, NONE!!!!!!!!!! NONE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

You can say what you want of the old regime and how brutal they were and thuggerish, but let me tell you their wives had more class than the ones today. Too bad these guys are all going bye bye forever now.

The investigating Palermo judge, in addition to validating the arrests, ordered precautionary custody in prison for Francesco Rappa and Salvatore Prestigiacomo , while for Maria Caruso , Giacomo Palazzolo and Salvatore Prestigiacomo , 54 years old, the namesake of the fifty-year-old boss who ended up in prison, he established house arrest. For Isacco Urso , however, the judge decided on hospital arrest. The suspect was already hospitalized at Villa Sofia hospital.

Now you got me real curious as to how you dress, Rushstreet...What YOU consider to be "fashionable"

How about we start with a nice pair of jeans, shirt or sweater and a coat when it comes to women? Is that too hard to ask?

They honestly look like shit. Its fucking emberassing.

Embarrassing to who, you?

With the current problems their families face, do you REALLY think that give two shits what you or anybody else think?...Exactly!

At the end of the day, the mob doesn't have a dress code.

LOL @ This.

Do you really honestly think these women dress any differently on a daily basis? I think not! Its who they are, and they are TRASH. Bottom line.

If they were not, they would haven't showed up in fuckin pajamas. Sorry bro, but I know women who actually value dressing well and its obvious these trash whoaaas do not give a fuck about looking like shit. Congrats to the dumb fucks who marry them.

Rush Street you're a fucking joker "Whoaas" everything you're saying is wrong I think but it's funny so why not

Thanks my friend. I appreciate it! LOL WHOAAS.


HAHAHA that cracks me up!

You look like a Puerto Rican WHOOAR

Hey Rush, what did you think of the surveillance photo of Diego Tantillo and Angelo Gradilone? I thought Tantillo was pretty sharp for today's standards. Or do you only care about their wives and girlfriends? Basically, people who have nothing to do with "The Life"

The men were dressed fine for the daily activity they were partaking in. The women on the other hand need to put more effort into leaving the house in a presentable manner

Please stop posting this type of shit on this thread....Because you're fucking killing us over here! And thats no joke!...If it weren't so pathetic, it would almost be comical....I said almost.

I think RushStreet and Liggio can be the same person behind 2 accounts. Anyway, lets just stop giving them any attention , not just on this thread ,but everywhere else,let them keep talking to each other about mafia fashion, as it seems they are more interested in that than in anything else.Back in 2012-2013 this place had a lot of quality posters, 90% of them left because of guys like these. Admins should look into it.

Yes, I have to agree with you. These two are completely in outer space. You can't interact with them because they add nothing of value to this forum. Its better to just ignore.

First time in a while we get some interesting news in mob world, big bust, these guys are serious earners,connections with Sicily etc. And they decide to ruin the thread by talking about useless stuff.

100%

In the 1990s a war of power in Partinico set the Geraci family, headed by Nenè Geraci, against the Vitale family. The Geraci’s, their heir Filippo Nania and their allies the Lo Iacono's were loyal to Bernardo Provenzano, while the Vitale’s were supported by Totò Riina and Leoluca Bagarella.

According to Giusy Vitale, some "young turks" within Cosa Nostra wanted to set aside Bernardo Provenzano in 1998. Next to Vito Vitale they were Giovanni Brusca, Domenico Raccuglia and Matteo Messina Denaro. The younger bosses wanted to take strategical decisions without prior consent of Provenzano. They told him to "go home and take care of your family."

Hollander, do you think that Sicilians really want to be free from all the bullshit and not be tied to the Mafia? I met a Sicilian Uber driver where I'm from who couldn't relate to our fascination with the Mafia. At the same time, does it really matter?

Yeah I just post worthless shit! That's why when I was posting alll that Chicago stuff you guys are giving me credit about how refreshing it was to see some new stuff about Chicago when the news was breaking.

Btw fuck mobsters and their wives who dress like shit!!!! I find it pathetic you think its ok!!