A capodecina is the head of a decina

Dečina

Dečina is a small settlement on the left bank of the river Kolpa in the Črnomelj municipality in the Bela Krajina area of southeastern Slovenia. The area is part of the traditional region of Lower Carniola and is now included in the Jugovzhodna Slovenija statistical region.-External links:*...

, a branch within a Mafia

Mafia

The Mafia is a criminal syndicate that emerged in the mid-nineteenth century in Sicily, Italy. It is a loose association of criminal groups that share a common organizational structure and code of conduct, and whose common enterprise is protection racketeering...

 family. In the larger families, a capodecina is selected by the head of the family and coordinates units of about ten people.

Mafia members are organized under the supervision of a capodecina who reports to the capo famiglia, the head of the Mafia family or cosca

Cosca

The word cosca is a Sicilian word which refers to any plant – such as the artichoke or the thistle – whose spiny closely folded leaves symbolize the tightness of relationships between members of the Mafia. In the English language this is best described as a clan. It is often used as a synonym for...

. The term derives from dieci (ten), suggesting that each would be in charge of ten men. The term was mentioned as early as the 1880s in Sicily to describe the organisation of the Fratellanza, a Mafia-type organisation in Agrigento

Agrigento

Agrigento , is a city on the southern coast of Sicily, Italy, and capital of the province of Agrigento. It is renowned as the site of the ancient Greek city of Akragas , one of the leading cities of Magna Graecia during the golden...

, in the south of Sicily

Sicily

Sicily is a region of Italy, and is the largest island in the Mediterranean Sea. Along with the surrounding minor islands, it constitutes an autonomous region of Italy, the Regione Autonoma Siciliana Sicily has a rich and unique culture, especially with regard to the arts, music, literature,...

.

The Mafioso Melchiorre Allegra spoke of a "capo della decina" in his 1937 testimony. He said a family split into groups of ten men each when it became unmanageably large.