Italian organized crime
Encyclopedia
Since their appearance in the middle of the 19th century, Italian organized crime and criminal organizations have infiltrated the social and economic life of many regions in Southern Italy, the most notorious of which being the Sicilian Mafia, which would later expand into some foreign countries including the United States
.
There are six known mafia organizations in Italy: Cosa Nostra of Sicily
, 'Ndrangheta of Calabria
and Camorra
of Naples
, are rather old: they started to develop between 1500 and 1800. Recently, two new organizations, Stidda
and Sacra Corona Unita
of Puglia have appeared.
, the Sicilian Mafia
formed in the mid-19th century by clans which sprang out of groups of bandits; these groups gained local power and influence. In Sicily
, the word Mafia
tends to mean "manly" and a Mafioso considers himself a "Man of Honor." However, the organization is known as "Cosa Nostra" -- Our Thing—or Our Affair. The Sicilian Mafia originally engaged in such lower-level activities as extortion, cattle theft and, upon Sicily becoming part of a democratic Italy, election slugging in addition to other kinds of relatively low-level theft and fraud.
In the 1950s, Sicily
experienced a massive building boom. Taking advantage of the opportunity, the Sicilian Mafia
gained control of the building contracts and made millions of dollars. It participated in the growing business of large-scale heroin trafficking, both in Italy and Europe and in US-connected trafficking; a famous example of this are the French Connection smuggling with Corsican criminals and the Italian-American Mafia.
Today, the Sicilian Mafia
has evolved into an international organized crime
group. The Sicilian Mafia
specializes in heroin trafficking, political corruption and military arms trafficking and is the most powerful and most active Italian
Organized Crime
Group in the United States
with estimates of more than 2,500 Sicilian Mafia
affiliates located there. The Sicilian Mafia
is also known to engage in arson, frauds, counterfeiting, and other racketeering crimes. It is estimated to have 3,500-4,000 core members with 100 clans, with around 50 in the city of Palermo alone
The Sicilian Mafia
has had influence in 'legitimate' power, particularly under the corrupt Christian Democratic governments from the 50's-early 90's. It has had influence with lawyers, financiers, and professionals; also it has had power and resources by bribing or pressuring politicians, judges and administrators. It has less of these now than previously on the heels of the Maxi-Trials, the campaign by magistrates Giovanni Falcone
and Paolo Borsellino
and other actions against corrupt politicians and judges; however it retains some influence.
The Sicilian Mafia became infamous for aggressive assaults on Italian
law enforcement officials during the reign of Toto Riina. In Sicily
the term "Excellent Cadaver" is used to distinguish the assassination of prominent government officials from the common criminals and ordinary citizens killed by the Mafia
. Some of their high ranking victims include police commissioners, mayors, judges, police colonels and generals, and Parliament members.
On May 23, 1992, the Sicilian Mafia
struck Italian
law enforcement. At approximately 6:00 p.m., Italian
Magistrate Giovanni Falcone
, his wife, and three police body guards were killed by a massive bomb. Falcone, Director of Prosecutions (roughly, District Attorney) and for the court of Palermo
and head of the special anti-Mafia investigative squad, had become the organization's most formidable enemy. His team was moving to prepare cases against most of the Mafia leadership. The bomb made a crater 30 feet in diameter in the road Falcone's caravan was traveling.
This became known as the Capaci Massacre. Less than two months later, on July 19, 1992, the Mafia
struck Falcone's replacement, Judge Paolo Borsellino
, also in Palermo
, Sicily
. Borsellino and five bodyguards were killed outside the apartment of Borsellino's mother when a car packed with explosives was detonated by remote control as the judge approached the front door of his mother's apartment.
In 1993 the authorities arrested Salvatore "Totó" Riina
, believed at the time to be the Capo di tutti capi
and responsible directly or indirectly for scores if not hundreds of killings, after years of investigation which some believe was delayed by Mafia influence within the police and Carabinieri
. After Riina's arrest control of the organization fell to Bernardo Provenzano
who had come to reject Riina's strategy of war against the authorities in favor of a strategy of bribery, corruption and influence-peddling. As a consequence the rate of Mafia killings fell sharply but Mafia influence not only in the international drug and white slavery (prostitution) trade but locally in construction and public contracts in Sicily continued. Provenzano was himself captured in 2006 after being wanted for 43 years.
Stidda
La Stidda (Sicilian, star) is the name given to the Sicilian organization started by criminals Giuseppe Croce Benvento and Salvatore Calafato, both of Palmi di Montechiaro, Agrigento province. The Stidda's power bases are centered in the cities of Gela and Favara, Caltanissetta and Agrigento provinces. The organization's groups and activities have flourished in the cities of Agrigento, Catania, Siracusa and Enna in the provinces of the same name, Niscemi and Riesi of Caltanissetta province and Vittoria of Ragusa province, located mainly on the Southern and Eastern coasts of Sicily.
The Stidda has extended its power and influence into the mainland Italy provinces of Milano, Genova and Torino. The members of the organization are called stiddari in Caltanissetta province and stiddaroli in Agrigento province. Stidda members can be identified and sometimes introduced to each other by a tattoo of five greenish marks arranged in a circle, forming a star called "i punti della malavita" or "the points of the criminal life."
The Cosa Nostra wars of the late 1970s and early 1980s that brought the Corleonesi Clan and its vicious and ruthless leaders Luciano Leggio, Toto Riina and Bernardo Provenzano sometimes referred to as "Cosa Nuova" into power caused disorganization and disenchantment inside the traditional Cosa Nostra power base and values system, leaving the growing Stidda organization to counter Cosa Nostra's power, influence and expansion in Southern and Eastern Sicily. The Stidda membership was reinforced by Cosa Nostra men of honor such as those loyal to slain Capo Giuseppe DiCristina of Riesi who had defected from Cosa Nostra's ranks due to the bloodthirsty reign of the Corleonesi clan.
The organization also looked to enlarge its membership by absorbing local thugs and criminals (picciotti) who were at the margins of organized crime to gain more power and credibility in the Italian underworld.
From 1978 to 1990, former Corleonesi clan leader and pretender to the Cosa Nostra's "Capo di Tutti Capi" title, Toto Riina, waged a war within Cosa Nostra and against the Stidda spreading death and terror among mafiosi and the public in his quest for a crime dictatorship, leaving over 500 in Cosa Nostra and over 1000 in La Stidda dead, including Stidda Capos Calogero Lauria and Vincenzo Spina.
With the 1993 capture and imprisonment of Toto Riina, along with the currently jailed Bernardo Provenzano's, "pax mafia," following a new, less violent and low key approach to criminal activities the Stidda has gained power, influence and credibility among the longer established criminal organizations within Italy and around the world, making itself an underworld player in the United States, Canada and Germany. The Stidda is sometimes called the "Fifth Mafia" in the Italian media and press.
Camorra
The Camorra first appeared in Cagliari
, the southernmost port of Sardinia
during the Middle Ages, and was carried during the mid-16th century to Naples
, in the Italian Peninsula by Sardinian mercenaries, making it the oldest mafia in Italy, even predating the Sicilian Cosa Nostra. It started as a military group constisting of vigilantes belonging to Sardinia, a sort of policemen who respected the law of Tuscany
and later Spain
, that in 16th century ruled Naples. Once released, these members formed "clans" in the cities and continued to grow in power. The Camorra made its fortune in reconstruction after a powerful earthquake ravaged the Campania region in 1980. The Camorra is considered the second largest IOC group with over 200 clans and approximately 7,000 members.
The Camorra specializes in cigarette smuggling and receives payoffs from other criminal groups for any cigarette traffic through Italy
. In the 1970s, the Sicilian Mafia
convinced the Camorra to convert the cigarette smuggling routes into drug smuggling routes with the Sicilian Mafia
's assistance but not all Camorra leaders agreed. This brought about the Camorra Wars between two factions and almost 400 men were murdered. Those opposed to drug trafficking lost the war.
It is believed that nearly 200 Camorra affiliates reside in the United States
. Many came to the USA during the Camorra Wars ever since the 19th century, as proved by an old organization best known as Black Hand
. The Camorra conducts money laundering, extortion, alien smuggling, robbery, blackmail, kidnapping, political corruption, and counterfeiting. Some believe it is now the strongest mafia in Italy.
is estimated between 100 and 200 members and associates. The majority of that presence is in New York
and Florida
. The 'Ndrangheta is also known to engage in cocaine (controlling up to 80% of that flowing through Europe) and heroin trafficking, murder, bombings, counterfeiting, illegal gambling, frauds, thefts, labor racketeering, loansharking, illegal immigration, and kidnapping.
There is another belief that this group was created by local crime bosses and criminals with the help of the Pesce and Serraino 'Ndrangheta clans from Rosarno
in the northern and western areas of the region of Calabria and so would more than likely be smuggling drugs and arms up Italy into the rest of Italy for these Clans.
Sacra Corona Unita
Sacra Corona Unita, (SCU) or United Sacred Crown, is a Mafia-like criminal organization from Apulia
(in Italian Puglia) region in Southern Italy, and is especially active in the areas of Brindisi and Lecce and not, as people tend to believe, in the region as a whole. The SCU was originally founded in the late 1970s as the Nuova Grande Camorra Pugliese (assest in Foggia
) by Camorra member Raffaele Cutolo, who wanted to expand his operations into Puglia.
However a few years later with the downfall of Cutolo the organization became operating all on its own under the leadership of Giuseppe Rogoli. Under his leadership the SCU mixed Pugliese interests and opportunities with 'Ndrangheta and Camorra traditions. Originally preying on Puglia's substantial wine and olive oil industries, the group moved into fraud, gunrunning and drug trafficking and made alliances with international criminal organizations such as the Russian and Albanian mafias, Colombian drug cartels and Asian organizations. The Sacra Corona Unita consists of about 50 Clans with approximately 2,000 Core members and specializes in smuggling cigarettes, drugs, arms, and people.
Very few SCU members have been identified in the United States, however there are some links to individuals in Illinois, Florida and possibly New York. The Sacra Corona Unita is also involved in money laundering, extortion and political corruption and collects payoffs from other criminal groups for landing rights on the southeast coast of Italy. This territory is a natural gateway for smuggling to and from post-Communist countries like Croatia
, Yugoslavia
, and Albania
.
With the decreasing importance of the Adriatic corridor as a smuggling canal (thanks to the normalization of the Balkans area) and a series of successful police and judicial operations against it in recent years the Sacra Corona Unita has been considered, if not actually defeated, reduced to a fraction of its former power, which peaked around the mid-1990s. There is evidence that this group originated from the 'Ndrangheta but it is not know if this was a splinter group or a indirect formation with help from clans of the 'Ndrangheta.
Local Rivals
The internal difficulties of the SCU aided the birth of antagonistic criminal groups such as:
Mala del Brenta
The Mala del Brenta
, also known as the Mala del Piovese or Malavita del Brenta has been in operation throughout the Veneto
region, across Northern Italy
and into Croatia
/Yugoslavia
, Malta
, Hungary
and possibly Austria
for the past twenty years.
According to Article 416-bis cp, introduced into Italy in 1982, the Malavita del Brenta
falls into the category of mafia-type organization displaying all the characteristics described therein.http://www.archivio900.it/it/libri/lib.aspx?r=list&id=913 This is in spite of its origins in the Northern Italian region of the Veneto, and its North Italian membership base. Having originally spawned from the Southern Italian organized crime syndicates, whom had operated and infiltrated the Veneto region during the 70's, their vision of unifying Veneto banditry into a mafia-style syndicate was first realised under the leadership of Felice "Angel Face" Maniero throughout the 1980s and 90's.
These original Sicilian mafiosi, controlled much of the mafia activity in the Veneto, throughout the 60's and 70's, and included most notably: Salvatore "Totuccio" Contorno, Gaetano Fidanzati, Antonino Duca and Gaetano & Salvatore Badalamenti and Giuseppe Madonia. Veneti malavitosi, or underworld figures and bandits, learned from these Sicilians the necessary means for organizing themselves and taking the reins of control from the successive two decades.
Often referred to as the fifth and smallest of the Mafia organizations across Italy, it operates under the sanction of the Corleonesi clan from Sicily and has strong links with other Cosa Nostra families, the 'Ndrangheta, Camorra
and Sacra Corona Unita
.
, such as Chinese
Triads, Nigerian gangs
and the Albanian gangs, of which the Albanians seem to be the most prominent. The Albanian gangs mainly operate in the more affluent northern parts of Italy. All these organizations operate mostly in prostitution under the permission and the control of the Mafia.
are the Sicilian
Mafia
, Camorra
or Neapolitan Mafia, 'Ndrangheta or Calabrian Mafia, and Sacra Corona Unita
or "United Sacred Crown". The FBI refers to them as "Italian Organized Crime" (IOC).
The FBI estimates the size of the four IOC groups to be approximately 25,000 members and 250,000 affiliates worldwide. There are more than 3,000 members and affiliates in the United States
scattered mostly throughout the major cities in the Northeast, the Midwest, California
, and the South. However, their largest presence centers around Boston
, New York
, northern New Jersey
, and Philadelphia. Their criminal activities are international with members and affiliates in Canada
, South America
, Australia
, and parts of Europe
. These organizations are also known to collaborate with other international organized crime
groups from all over the world.
There is a criminal organization in the French island of Corsica, known as the Unione Corse
.
The major threat to American
society posed by IOC groups centers around drug trafficking and money laundering. IOC groups have been involved in heroin trafficking for decades. Two major investigations which targeted IOC drug trafficking in the 1980s are known as the "French Connection
" and "Pizza Connection." These and other investigations have documented their cooperation in drug trafficking with other major drug trafficking organizations. IOC groups are also involved in illegal gambling, political corruption, extortion, kidnapping, frauds, counterfeiting, infiltration of legitimate businesses, murders, bombings, and weapons trafficking. Industry experts in Italy
estimate that their worldwide criminal activity is worth more than $100 billion annually.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
.
There are six known mafia organizations in Italy: Cosa Nostra 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,...
, 'Ndrangheta of Calabria
Calabria
Calabria , in antiquity known as Bruttium, is a region in southern Italy, south of Naples, located at the "toe" of the Italian Peninsula. The capital city of Calabria is Catanzaro....
and Camorra
Camorra
The Camorra is a Mafia-type criminal organization, or secret society, originating in the region of Campania and its capital Naples in Italy. It is one of the oldest and largest criminal organizations in Italy, dating to the 18th century.-Background:...
of Naples
Naples
Naples is a city in Southern Italy, situated on the country's west coast by the Gulf of Naples. Lying between two notable volcanic regions, Mount Vesuvius and the Phlegraean Fields, it is the capital of the region of Campania and of the province of Naples...
, are rather old: they started to develop between 1500 and 1800. Recently, two new organizations, Stidda
Stidda
La Stidda is a name for Mafia-type criminal organizations centered in Gela, Sicily, in Italy. Members are known as stiddari or stiddaroli. It is most active in the rural parts of southern Sicily and is partially a rival to Cosa Nostra...
and Sacra Corona Unita
Sacra corona unita
Sacra Corona Unita, or United Sacred Crown, is a Mafia-like criminal organization from Apulia region in Southern Italy, and is especially active in the areas of Brindisi, Lecce and Taranto .-Background and activities:...
of Puglia have appeared.
Sicilian Mafia (Cosa Nostra)
Based primarily in SicilySicily
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 Sicilian 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...
formed in the mid-19th century by clans which sprang out of groups of bandits; these groups gained local power and influence. In 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 word 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...
tends to mean "manly" and a Mafioso considers himself a "Man of Honor." However, the organization is known as "Cosa Nostra" -- Our Thing—or Our Affair. The Sicilian Mafia originally engaged in such lower-level activities as extortion, cattle theft and, upon Sicily becoming part of a democratic Italy, election slugging in addition to other kinds of relatively low-level theft and fraud.
In the 1950s, 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,...
experienced a massive building boom. Taking advantage of the opportunity, the Sicilian 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...
gained control of the building contracts and made millions of dollars. It participated in the growing business of large-scale heroin trafficking, both in Italy and Europe and in US-connected trafficking; a famous example of this are the French Connection smuggling with Corsican criminals and the Italian-American Mafia.
Today, the Sicilian 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...
has evolved into an international organized crime
Organized crime
Organized crime or criminal organizations are transnational, national, or local groupings of highly centralized enterprises run by criminals for the purpose of engaging in illegal activity, most commonly for monetary profit. Some criminal organizations, such as terrorist organizations, are...
group. The Sicilian 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...
specializes in heroin trafficking, political corruption and military arms trafficking and is the most powerful and most active Italian
Italian people
The Italian people are an ethnic group that share a common Italian culture, ancestry and speak the Italian language as a mother tongue. Within Italy, Italians are defined by citizenship, regardless of ancestry or country of residence , and are distinguished from people...
Organized Crime
Organized crime
Organized crime or criminal organizations are transnational, national, or local groupings of highly centralized enterprises run by criminals for the purpose of engaging in illegal activity, most commonly for monetary profit. Some criminal organizations, such as terrorist organizations, are...
Group in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
with estimates of more than 2,500 Sicilian 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...
affiliates located there. The Sicilian 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...
is also known to engage in arson, frauds, counterfeiting, and other racketeering crimes. It is estimated to have 3,500-4,000 core members with 100 clans, with around 50 in the city of Palermo alone
The Sicilian 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...
has had influence in 'legitimate' power, particularly under the corrupt Christian Democratic governments from the 50's-early 90's. It has had influence with lawyers, financiers, and professionals; also it has had power and resources by bribing or pressuring politicians, judges and administrators. It has less of these now than previously on the heels of the Maxi-Trials, the campaign by magistrates Giovanni Falcone
Giovanni Falcone
Giovanni Falcone was an Sicilian/Italian prosecuting magistrate born in Palermo, Sicily. From his office in the Palace of Justice in Palermo, he spent most of his professional life trying to overthrow the power of the Mafia in Sicily...
and Paolo Borsellino
Paolo Borsellino
Paolo Borsellino was an Italian anti-Mafia magistrate who was killed by a Mafia car bomb in Palermo, less than two months after his fellow anti-Mafia magistrate Giovanni Falcone had been assassinated....
and other actions against corrupt politicians and judges; however it retains some influence.
The Sicilian Mafia became infamous for aggressive assaults on Italian
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
law enforcement officials during the reign of Toto Riina. In 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 term "Excellent Cadaver" is used to distinguish the assassination of prominent government officials from the common criminals and ordinary citizens killed by the 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...
. Some of their high ranking victims include police commissioners, mayors, judges, police colonels and generals, and Parliament members.
On May 23, 1992, the Sicilian 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...
struck Italian
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
law enforcement. At approximately 6:00 p.m., Italian
Italian people
The Italian people are an ethnic group that share a common Italian culture, ancestry and speak the Italian language as a mother tongue. Within Italy, Italians are defined by citizenship, regardless of ancestry or country of residence , and are distinguished from people...
Magistrate Giovanni Falcone
Giovanni Falcone
Giovanni Falcone was an Sicilian/Italian prosecuting magistrate born in Palermo, Sicily. From his office in the Palace of Justice in Palermo, he spent most of his professional life trying to overthrow the power of the Mafia in Sicily...
, his wife, and three police body guards were killed by a massive bomb. Falcone, Director of Prosecutions (roughly, District Attorney) and for the court of Palermo
Palermo
Palermo is a city in Southern Italy, the capital of both the autonomous region of Sicily and the Province of Palermo. The city is noted for its history, culture, architecture and gastronomy, playing an important role throughout much of its existence; it is over 2,700 years old...
and head of the special anti-Mafia investigative squad, had become the organization's most formidable enemy. His team was moving to prepare cases against most of the Mafia leadership. The bomb made a crater 30 feet in diameter in the road Falcone's caravan was traveling.
This became known as the Capaci Massacre. Less than two months later, on July 19, 1992, the 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...
struck Falcone's replacement, Judge Paolo Borsellino
Paolo Borsellino
Paolo Borsellino was an Italian anti-Mafia magistrate who was killed by a Mafia car bomb in Palermo, less than two months after his fellow anti-Mafia magistrate Giovanni Falcone had been assassinated....
, also in Palermo
Palermo
Palermo is a city in Southern Italy, the capital of both the autonomous region of Sicily and the Province of Palermo. The city is noted for its history, culture, architecture and gastronomy, playing an important role throughout much of its existence; it is over 2,700 years old...
, 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,...
. Borsellino and five bodyguards were killed outside the apartment of Borsellino's mother when a car packed with explosives was detonated by remote control as the judge approached the front door of his mother's apartment.
In 1993 the authorities arrested Salvatore "Totó" Riina
Salvatore Riina
Salvatore "Totò" Riina is a member of the Sicilian Mafia who became the most powerful member of the criminal organization in the early 1980s. Fellow mobsters nicknamed him The Beast due to his violent nature, or sometimes The Short One due to his diminutive stature...
, believed at the time to be the Capo di tutti capi
Capo di tutti capi
Capo di tutti capi or capo dei capi is Italian for "boss of all bosses" or "boss of bosses". It is a phrase used mainly by the media, public and the law enforcement community to indicate a supremely powerful crime boss in the Sicilian or American Mafia who holds great influence over the whole...
and responsible directly or indirectly for scores if not hundreds of killings, after years of investigation which some believe was delayed by Mafia influence within the police and Carabinieri
Carabinieri
The Carabinieri is the national gendarmerie of Italy, policing both military and civilian populations, and is a branch of the armed forces.-Early history:...
. After Riina's arrest control of the organization fell to Bernardo Provenzano
Bernardo Provenzano
Bernardo Provenzano is a member of the Sicilian Mafia and is suspected of having been the head of the Corleonesi, a Mafia faction that originated in the village of Corleone, and de facto capo di tutti capi of the entire Sicilian Mafia until his arrest in 2006.His nickname is Binnu u tratturi...
who had come to reject Riina's strategy of war against the authorities in favor of a strategy of bribery, corruption and influence-peddling. As a consequence the rate of Mafia killings fell sharply but Mafia influence not only in the international drug and white slavery (prostitution) trade but locally in construction and public contracts in Sicily continued. Provenzano was himself captured in 2006 after being wanted for 43 years.
StiddaStiddaLa Stidda is a name for Mafia-type criminal organizations centered in Gela, Sicily, in Italy. Members are known as stiddari or stiddaroli. It is most active in the rural parts of southern Sicily and is partially a rival to Cosa Nostra...
or La Stidda
La Stidda (Sicilian, star) is the name given to the Sicilian organization started by criminals Giuseppe Croce Benvento and Salvatore Calafato, both of Palmi di Montechiaro, Agrigento province. The Stidda's power bases are centered in the cities of Gela and Favara, Caltanissetta and Agrigento provinces. The organization's groups and activities have flourished in the cities of Agrigento, Catania, Siracusa and Enna in the provinces of the same name, Niscemi and Riesi of Caltanissetta province and Vittoria of Ragusa province, located mainly on the Southern and Eastern coasts of Sicily.The Stidda has extended its power and influence into the mainland Italy provinces of Milano, Genova and Torino. The members of the organization are called stiddari in Caltanissetta province and stiddaroli in Agrigento province. Stidda members can be identified and sometimes introduced to each other by a tattoo of five greenish marks arranged in a circle, forming a star called "i punti della malavita" or "the points of the criminal life."
The Cosa Nostra wars of the late 1970s and early 1980s that brought the Corleonesi Clan and its vicious and ruthless leaders Luciano Leggio, Toto Riina and Bernardo Provenzano sometimes referred to as "Cosa Nuova" into power caused disorganization and disenchantment inside the traditional Cosa Nostra power base and values system, leaving the growing Stidda organization to counter Cosa Nostra's power, influence and expansion in Southern and Eastern Sicily. The Stidda membership was reinforced by Cosa Nostra men of honor such as those loyal to slain Capo Giuseppe DiCristina of Riesi who had defected from Cosa Nostra's ranks due to the bloodthirsty reign of the Corleonesi clan.
The organization also looked to enlarge its membership by absorbing local thugs and criminals (picciotti) who were at the margins of organized crime to gain more power and credibility in the Italian underworld.
From 1978 to 1990, former Corleonesi clan leader and pretender to the Cosa Nostra's "Capo di Tutti Capi" title, Toto Riina, waged a war within Cosa Nostra and against the Stidda spreading death and terror among mafiosi and the public in his quest for a crime dictatorship, leaving over 500 in Cosa Nostra and over 1000 in La Stidda dead, including Stidda Capos Calogero Lauria and Vincenzo Spina.
With the 1993 capture and imprisonment of Toto Riina, along with the currently jailed Bernardo Provenzano's, "pax mafia," following a new, less violent and low key approach to criminal activities the Stidda has gained power, influence and credibility among the longer established criminal organizations within Italy and around the world, making itself an underworld player in the United States, Canada and Germany. The Stidda is sometimes called the "Fifth Mafia" in the Italian media and press.
CamorraCamorraThe Camorra is a Mafia-type criminal organization, or secret society, originating in the region of Campania and its capital Naples in Italy. It is one of the oldest and largest criminal organizations in Italy, dating to the 18th century.-Background:...
or Neapolitan Mafia
The Camorra first appeared in CagliariCagliari
Cagliari is the capital of the island of Sardinia, a region of Italy. Cagliari's Sardinian name Casteddu literally means castle. It has about 156,000 inhabitants, or about 480,000 including the outlying townships : Elmas, Assemini, Capoterra, Selargius, Sestu, Monserrato, Quartucciu, Quartu...
, the southernmost port of Sardinia
Sardinia
Sardinia is the second-largest island in the Mediterranean Sea . It is an autonomous region of Italy, and the nearest land masses are the French island of Corsica, the Italian Peninsula, Sicily, Tunisia and the Spanish Balearic Islands.The name Sardinia is from the pre-Roman noun *sard[],...
during the Middle Ages, and was carried during the mid-16th century to Naples
Naples
Naples is a city in Southern Italy, situated on the country's west coast by the Gulf of Naples. Lying between two notable volcanic regions, Mount Vesuvius and the Phlegraean Fields, it is the capital of the region of Campania and of the province of Naples...
, in the Italian Peninsula by Sardinian mercenaries, making it the oldest mafia in Italy, even predating the Sicilian Cosa Nostra. It started as a military group constisting of vigilantes belonging to Sardinia, a sort of policemen who respected the law of Tuscany
Tuscany
Tuscany is a region in Italy. It has an area of about 23,000 square kilometres and a population of about 3.75 million inhabitants. The regional capital is Florence ....
and later Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
, that in 16th century ruled Naples. Once released, these members formed "clans" in the cities and continued to grow in power. The Camorra made its fortune in reconstruction after a powerful earthquake ravaged the Campania region in 1980. The Camorra is considered the second largest IOC group with over 200 clans and approximately 7,000 members.
The Camorra specializes in cigarette smuggling and receives payoffs from other criminal groups for any cigarette traffic through Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
. In the 1970s, the Sicilian 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...
convinced the Camorra to convert the cigarette smuggling routes into drug smuggling routes with the Sicilian 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...
's assistance but not all Camorra leaders agreed. This brought about the Camorra Wars between two factions and almost 400 men were murdered. Those opposed to drug trafficking lost the war.
It is believed that nearly 200 Camorra affiliates reside in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. Many came to the USA during the Camorra Wars ever since the 19th century, as proved by an old organization best known as Black Hand
Black Hand
Unification or Death , unofficially known as the Black Hand , was a secret military society formed by members of the Serbian army in the Kingdom of Serbia, which was founded on September 6, 1901. It was intent on uniting all of the territories containing significant Serb populations annexed by...
. The Camorra conducts money laundering, extortion, alien smuggling, robbery, blackmail, kidnapping, political corruption, and counterfeiting. Some believe it is now the strongest mafia in Italy.
'Ndrangheta or Calabrian Mafia
Derived from the Greek word andragathía meaning courage or loyalty, the 'Ndrangheta formed in the 1850s. The 'Ndrangheta consists of 160 cells and approximately 6,000 members, world-wide some estimate there to be as many as 10,000 core members and specializes in kidnapping and political corruption. The 'Ndrangheta cells are loosely connected family groups based on blood relationships and marriages. 'Ndrangheta presence in the United StatesUnited States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
is estimated between 100 and 200 members and associates. The majority of that presence is in New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
and Florida
Florida
Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...
. The 'Ndrangheta is also known to engage in cocaine (controlling up to 80% of that flowing through Europe) and heroin trafficking, murder, bombings, counterfeiting, illegal gambling, frauds, thefts, labor racketeering, loansharking, illegal immigration, and kidnapping.
Basilischi
The Basilischi are a mafia organization founded in 1994 in Potenza. This organization has assumed a role for the control of illegal activities in the region. They are believed to be an independently run 'ndrina from the Rosarno Alliance involving 5 clans of in the provinces of Reggio Calabria & Gioia Tauro plain. Not a lot is known of them.There is another belief that this group was created by local crime bosses and criminals with the help of the Pesce and Serraino 'Ndrangheta clans from Rosarno
Rosarno
Rosarno is a comune in the province of Reggio Calabria in the Italian region of Calabria. It is about southwest of Catanzaro and about northeast of Reggio Calabria. Rosarno stands on a natural terrace cloaked in olive plantations and vineyards on the left bank of the river Mesima, overlooking...
in the northern and western areas of the region of Calabria and so would more than likely be smuggling drugs and arms up Italy into the rest of Italy for these Clans.
Sacra Corona UnitaSacra corona unitaSacra Corona Unita, or United Sacred Crown, is a Mafia-like criminal organization from Apulia region in Southern Italy, and is especially active in the areas of Brindisi, Lecce and Taranto .-Background and activities:...
(Apulian Mafia)
Sacra Corona Unita, (SCU) or United Sacred Crown, is a Mafia-like criminal organization from ApuliaApulia
Apulia is a region in Southern Italy bordering the Adriatic Sea in the east, the Ionian Sea to the southeast, and the Strait of Òtranto and Gulf of Taranto in the south. Its most southern portion, known as Salento peninsula, forms a high heel on the "boot" of Italy. The region comprises , and...
(in Italian Puglia) region in Southern Italy, and is especially active in the areas of Brindisi and Lecce and not, as people tend to believe, in the region as a whole. The SCU was originally founded in the late 1970s as the Nuova Grande Camorra Pugliese (assest in Foggia
Foggia
Foggia is a city and comune of Apulia, Italy, capital of the province of Foggia. Foggia is the main city of a plain called Tavoliere, also known as the "granary of Italy".-History:...
) by Camorra member Raffaele Cutolo, who wanted to expand his operations into Puglia.
However a few years later with the downfall of Cutolo the organization became operating all on its own under the leadership of Giuseppe Rogoli. Under his leadership the SCU mixed Pugliese interests and opportunities with 'Ndrangheta and Camorra traditions. Originally preying on Puglia's substantial wine and olive oil industries, the group moved into fraud, gunrunning and drug trafficking and made alliances with international criminal organizations such as the Russian and Albanian mafias, Colombian drug cartels and Asian organizations. The Sacra Corona Unita consists of about 50 Clans with approximately 2,000 Core members and specializes in smuggling cigarettes, drugs, arms, and people.
Very few SCU members have been identified in the United States, however there are some links to individuals in Illinois, Florida and possibly New York. The Sacra Corona Unita is also involved in money laundering, extortion and political corruption and collects payoffs from other criminal groups for landing rights on the southeast coast of Italy. This territory is a natural gateway for smuggling to and from post-Communist countries like Croatia
Croatia
Croatia , officially the Republic of Croatia , is a unitary democratic parliamentary republic in Europe at the crossroads of the Mitteleuropa, the Balkans, and the Mediterranean. Its capital and largest city is Zagreb. The country is divided into 20 counties and the city of Zagreb. Croatia covers ...
, Yugoslavia
Yugoslavia
Yugoslavia refers to three political entities that existed successively on the western part of the Balkans during most of the 20th century....
, and Albania
Albania
Albania , officially known as the Republic of Albania , is a country in Southeastern Europe, in the Balkans region. It is bordered by Montenegro to the northwest, Kosovo to the northeast, the Republic of Macedonia to the east and Greece to the south and southeast. It has a coast on the Adriatic Sea...
.
With the decreasing importance of the Adriatic corridor as a smuggling canal (thanks to the normalization of the Balkans area) and a series of successful police and judicial operations against it in recent years the Sacra Corona Unita has been considered, if not actually defeated, reduced to a fraction of its former power, which peaked around the mid-1990s. There is evidence that this group originated from the 'Ndrangheta but it is not know if this was a splinter group or a indirect formation with help from clans of the 'Ndrangheta.
Local Rivals
The internal difficulties of the SCU aided the birth of antagonistic criminal groups such as:
- Remo Lecce Libera: formed by some leading criminal figures from Lecce, who claim to be independent from any criminal group other than the 'Ndrangheta. The term Remo indicates Remo Morello, a criminal from the Salento area, killed by criminals from the Campania region because he opposed any external interference;
- Nuova Famiglia Salentina: formed in 1986 by De Matteis Pantaleo, from Lecce and stemming from the Famiglia Salentina Libera born in the early 1980s as an autonomous criminal movement in the Salento area with no links with extra-regional Mafia expressions
- Rosa dei Venti: formed in 1990 by De Tommasi in the Lecce prison, following an internal division in the SCU.
Mala del BrentaMala del BrentaThe Mala del Brenta is a criminal organisation based in the Veneto, north-eastern Italy.The criminal organization's structure is believed to be based upon some elements of the Cosa Nostra and Camorra model...
or La Mafia del Brenta
The Mala del BrentaMala del Brenta
The Mala del Brenta is a criminal organisation based in the Veneto, north-eastern Italy.The criminal organization's structure is believed to be based upon some elements of the Cosa Nostra and Camorra model...
, also known as the Mala del Piovese or Malavita del Brenta has been in operation throughout the Veneto
Veneto
Veneto is one of the 20 regions of Italy. Its population is about 5 million, ranking 5th in Italy.Veneto had been for more than a millennium an independent state, the Republic of Venice, until it was eventually annexed by Italy in 1866 after brief Austrian and French rule...
region, across Northern Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
and into Croatia
Croatia
Croatia , officially the Republic of Croatia , is a unitary democratic parliamentary republic in Europe at the crossroads of the Mitteleuropa, the Balkans, and the Mediterranean. Its capital and largest city is Zagreb. The country is divided into 20 counties and the city of Zagreb. Croatia covers ...
/Yugoslavia
Yugoslavia
Yugoslavia refers to three political entities that existed successively on the western part of the Balkans during most of the 20th century....
, Malta
Malta
Malta , officially known as the Republic of Malta , is a Southern European country consisting of an archipelago situated in the centre of the Mediterranean, south of Sicily, east of Tunisia and north of Libya, with Gibraltar to the west and Alexandria to the east.Malta covers just over in...
, Hungary
Hungary
Hungary , officially the Republic of Hungary , is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is situated in the Carpathian Basin and is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine and Romania to the east, Serbia and Croatia to the south, Slovenia to the southwest and Austria to the west. The...
and possibly Austria
Austria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
for the past twenty years.
According to Article 416-bis cp, introduced into Italy in 1982, the Malavita del Brenta
Mala del Brenta
The Mala del Brenta is a criminal organisation based in the Veneto, north-eastern Italy.The criminal organization's structure is believed to be based upon some elements of the Cosa Nostra and Camorra model...
falls into the category of mafia-type organization displaying all the characteristics described therein.http://www.archivio900.it/it/libri/lib.aspx?r=list&id=913 This is in spite of its origins in the Northern Italian region of the Veneto, and its North Italian membership base. Having originally spawned from the Southern Italian organized crime syndicates, whom had operated and infiltrated the Veneto region during the 70's, their vision of unifying Veneto banditry into a mafia-style syndicate was first realised under the leadership of Felice "Angel Face" Maniero throughout the 1980s and 90's.
These original Sicilian mafiosi, controlled much of the mafia activity in the Veneto, throughout the 60's and 70's, and included most notably: Salvatore "Totuccio" Contorno, Gaetano Fidanzati, Antonino Duca and Gaetano & Salvatore Badalamenti and Giuseppe Madonia. Veneti malavitosi, or underworld figures and bandits, learned from these Sicilians the necessary means for organizing themselves and taking the reins of control from the successive two decades.
Often referred to as the fifth and smallest of the Mafia organizations across Italy, it operates under the sanction of the Corleonesi clan from Sicily and has strong links with other Cosa Nostra families, the 'Ndrangheta, Camorra
Camorra
The Camorra is a Mafia-type criminal organization, or secret society, originating in the region of Campania and its capital Naples in Italy. It is one of the oldest and largest criminal organizations in Italy, dating to the 18th century.-Background:...
and Sacra Corona Unita
Sacra corona unita
Sacra Corona Unita, or United Sacred Crown, is a Mafia-like criminal organization from Apulia region in Southern Italy, and is especially active in the areas of Brindisi, Lecce and Taranto .-Background and activities:...
.
Non-Italian criminal groups
There is a small number of 'foreign' criminal organizations operating in ItalyItaly
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
, such as Chinese
Chinese people
The term Chinese people may refer to any of the following:*People with Han Chinese ethnicity ....
Triads, Nigerian gangs
Nigerian organized crime
Nigerian organized crime, or Nigerian OC, may refer to a number of fraudsters, drug traffickers and racketeers of various sorts originating from Nigeria...
and the Albanian gangs, of which the Albanians seem to be the most prominent. The Albanian gangs mainly operate in the more affluent northern parts of Italy. All these organizations operate mostly in prostitution under the permission and the control of the Mafia.
Italian crime in U.S. and other foreign countries
Those currently active in the United StatesUnited States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
are the Sicilian
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,...
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...
, Camorra
Camorra
The Camorra is a Mafia-type criminal organization, or secret society, originating in the region of Campania and its capital Naples in Italy. It is one of the oldest and largest criminal organizations in Italy, dating to the 18th century.-Background:...
or Neapolitan Mafia, 'Ndrangheta or Calabrian Mafia, and Sacra Corona Unita
Sacra corona unita
Sacra Corona Unita, or United Sacred Crown, is a Mafia-like criminal organization from Apulia region in Southern Italy, and is especially active in the areas of Brindisi, Lecce and Taranto .-Background and activities:...
or "United Sacred Crown". The FBI refers to them as "Italian Organized Crime" (IOC).
The FBI estimates the size of the four IOC groups to be approximately 25,000 members and 250,000 affiliates worldwide. There are more than 3,000 members and affiliates in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
scattered mostly throughout the major cities in the Northeast, the Midwest, California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
, and the South. However, their largest presence centers around Boston
Boston
Boston is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. The city proper had...
, New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
, northern New Jersey
New Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...
, and Philadelphia. Their criminal activities are international with members and affiliates in Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
, South America
South America
South America is a continent situated in the Western Hemisphere, mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere. The continent is also considered a subcontinent of the Americas. It is bordered on the west by the Pacific Ocean and on the north and east...
, Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
, and parts of Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
. These organizations are also known to collaborate with other international organized crime
Organized crime
Organized crime or criminal organizations are transnational, national, or local groupings of highly centralized enterprises run by criminals for the purpose of engaging in illegal activity, most commonly for monetary profit. Some criminal organizations, such as terrorist organizations, are...
groups from all over the world.
There is a criminal organization in the French island of Corsica, known as the Unione Corse
Unione Corse
The Unione Corse is a secretive criminal organization operating primarily out of Corsica and Marseilles in France. Unlike the Sicilian Mafia, it has not attempted to gain a foothold in the United States, and thus does not have the other organization's notoriety...
.
The major threat to American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
society posed by IOC groups centers around drug trafficking and money laundering. IOC groups have been involved in heroin trafficking for decades. Two major investigations which targeted IOC drug trafficking in the 1980s are known as the "French Connection
French Connection
The French Connection was a scheme through which heroin was smuggled from Turkey to France and then to the United States. The operation reached its peak in the late 1960s and early 1970s, when it provided the vast majority of the illicit heroin used in the United States...
" and "Pizza Connection." These and other investigations have documented their cooperation in drug trafficking with other major drug trafficking organizations. IOC groups are also involved in illegal gambling, political corruption, extortion, kidnapping, frauds, counterfeiting, infiltration of legitimate businesses, murders, bombings, and weapons trafficking. Industry experts in Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
estimate that their worldwide criminal activity is worth more than $100 billion annually.