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Blackberries...
Things ours: analysis of the new relations between the Sicilian and American mafia
The Sicilian clans need to recover the lost ground against Camorra and 'Ndrangheta and ask for help from their "cousins" in the USA
by Vincenzo Musacchio

16 Nov 2020
Cosa Nostra from Palermo after a period of crisis must give itself a definitive organization to restore full criminal operations and it does so by re-weaving relations with American mafia families.
A little over a year ago, a criminal pact was discovered between the mafia family of the Inzerillo of Passo di Rigano in Palermo and some mafia families residing in the United States of America. From the investigations of the Public Prosecutor's Office of Palermo, significant contacts emerged with the Gambino mafia family of New York held by Simone Zito with Thomas Gambino and Frank Calì, considered by the American investigators to be extremely dangerous criminals. The contacts between these two mafias, who have never severed their umbilical cord, could have increased in recent months, as the Sicilian gangs need to recover the lost ground against Camorra and 'Ndrangheta.

The Sicilian Cosa Nostra is well known for being present in the United States and despite the murder of Frank Calì, considered the bridge between the two mafia associations, their contacts continue for a series of common criminal affairs and strategies. Since the "Piazza Connection" investigation, conducted by Giovanni Falcone in collaboration with Rudolph Giuliani , the two mafias have been doing business mainly with large-scale drug trafficking and money laundering, as well as with counterfeiting of currency and goods and lately also with the traffic of toxic waste. For both the FBI and the DDA of Palermo, the relations between the Sicilian and American mafia hide new business and relations that are advantageous for both.

Before being assassinated, Calì had met Nicola Mandalà and Gianni Nicchi in the United States, who had come specially from Palermo. Their American contacts were Pietro Inzerillo and their brother-in-law, Frank Calì. From these contacts it is easy to assume that the return to Sicily of the so-called “escaped” is being prepared: the Gambinos, the Inzerillos, the Spatola. Some of them had lost the mafia war in Sicily against the Corleonesi and had taken refuge in the United States. From there they have returned in recent years. For this reason, the murder of Calì and the continuation of new criminal contacts suggest fibrillations not only in New York, but also in Palermo.

What has been written so far is obviously also reflected in the report of the Italian Anti-Mafia Investigation Department of the first half of 2020 which signals a strengthening of relations between members of some historical families of the Palermo Cosa Nostra, with the American Cosa Nostra. Many mafiosi have returned to Palermo, they have recovered the ancient mafia power, especially thanks to relations with overseas bosses. With the death of Riina, the Corleonesi would be inclined to new agreements it seems even with the approval of Matteo Messina Denaro. Therefore, there is a new mafia scenario characterized by an urgent need for a modern structure for both Sicilians and Americans. The compactness of the Italian-American partnership, the criminal influence, military power and the "political" role of individual families, districts and their respective top structures play a fundamental role in defining new relations, consequently for the '' identification of new strategies and new balances between the two mafia associations.

After a period of crisis, the Cosa Nostra from Palermo must give itself a definitive organization to restore full criminal operations and it does so by re-weaving relations with American mafia families. Cosa Nostra has experienced a long stalemate in the development of operational strategies and now it seems to be raising its head with the aim of returning to its ancient "splendor", when it was the most feared and powerful mafia in Italy. To prevent this from happening, the main objective should be to fully restore the rule of law and for this we will need strong and credible institutions and to reinvigorate investigative and judicial cooperation in the fight against transnational organized crime.