ITALIAN ORGANIZED CRIME

Since their appearance in the 1800s, the Italian criminal societies known as the Mafia have infiltrated the social and economic fabric of Italy, and now impact the world. They are some of the most notorious and widespread of all criminal societies.
Those currently active in the United States 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 New York, southern 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.
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.
These enterprises evolved over the course of 3,000 years during numerous periods of invasion and exploitation by numerous conquering armies in Italy. Over the millennia, as a coping mechanism, the Sicilians became more clannish and began to rely on familial ties for safety, protection, justice, and survival. An underground secret society was formed initially as resistance fighters against the invaders. They would exact frontier vigilante justice against what they considered oppression. The Man Of Honor (Uomo d' Onore) gained the respect and admiration of the people, because he protected his family and friends and kept silent even unto death. If this secret group also profited from their actions, the Sicilian people were not concerned since it was at the expense of the oppressive authorities. These secret societies eventually grew into the Mafia.
Since the 1900s, thousands of IOC figures have come illegally to the United States, most of those being Sicilian Mafiosi. Many of those Mafia members who fled here in the early 1920s helped establish what is known today as the La Cosa Nostra or the American Mafia. Charles "Lucky" Luciano, a Mafioso from Sicily, came to the U.S. during this era and is credited for making the American La Cosa Nostra what it is today. Luciano structured the La Cosa Nostra after the Sicilian Mafia. When Luciano was deported back to Italy in 1946 based on his conviction for operating a prostitution ring, he became a liaison between the Sicilian Mafia and the La Cosa Nostra.

SICILIAN MAFIA
Based in Sicily

The Sicilian Mafia formed in the mid-1800s to unify the Sicilian peasants against their enemies. 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 changed from a group of honorable Sicilian men to an organized criminal group in the 1920s. 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. Today, the Sicilian Mafia has evolved into an international organized crime group. Some experts estimate the Sicilian Mafia is the second largest Italian organization in Italy, second only to the Fiat Corporation. 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 here. The Sicilian Mafia is also known to engage in arson, frauds, counterfeiting, and other racketeering crimes.
The Sicilian Mafia is infamous for its aggressive assaults on Italian law enforcement officials. 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 with a vengeance. At approximately 6:00 p.m., Italian Magistrate Giovanni Falcone, his wife, and three police body guards were killed by a massive bomb. Falcone was the Director of Criminal Affairs in Rome. The bomb made a crater 30 feet in diameter in the road Magistrate 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 in Palermo, Sicily. Borsellino had just been named to replace Falcone. 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. 

CAMORRA or NEAPOLITAN MAFIA
Based in Naples

The word "Camorra" means gang. The Camorra first appeared in the mid-1800s in Naples, Italy. It started as a prison gang. 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 largest IOC group with over 100 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. The Camorra conducts money laundering, extortion, alien smuggling, robbery, blackmail, kidnapping, political corruption, and counterfeiting.

'NDRANGHETA or CALABRIAN MAFIA
Based in Calabria

The word "'Ndrangheta" is of Greek origin meaning courage or loyalty. The 'Ndrangheta formed in the 1860s when a group of Sicilians were banished from Sicily by the Italian government. They settled in Calabria and formed small criminal groups. The 'Ndrangheta consists of 160 cells and approximately 6,000 members and specializes in kidnaping and political corruption. The 'Ndrangheta cells are loosely connected family groups based on blood relationships and marriages. 'Ndrangheta presence in the United States 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 and heroin trafficking, murder, bombings, counterfeiting, gambling, frauds, thefts, labor racketeering, loansharking, alien smuggling, and kidnapping.

SACRA CORONA UNITA or UNITED SACRED CROWN
Based in the Puglia region

Law enforcement became aware of the Sacra Corona Unita in the late 1980s. It also started as a prison gang and as its members were released, they settled in the Puglia region and continued to grow and form links with other Mafia groups. The Sacra Corona Unita is headquartered in Brindisi, located in the southeastern region of Puglia. The Sacra Corona Unita consists of about 50 Clans with approximately 2,000 members and specializes in smuggling cigarettes, drugs, arms, and people. The Sacra Corona Unita 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. Very few Sacra Corona Unita 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.