9781422284100

The Mafia was spawned in Sicily. One powerful stronghold for the brotherhood was the small town of Corleone, a name made famous by Mario Puzo in his book The Godfather . The “Godfather” in the book was called Vito Corleone.

The first written record of the Mafia as it is understood today is found in a report written by Palermo’s chief of police, Giuseppe Aiongi, in 1886. He described the structure of the organization in considerable detail. He said that for every 10 members, there was a group leader, a capo di diecina . This was not only to maintain discipline, but also to ensure that no single member of the Mafia knew the identity of more than a handful of other members and thus was not aware of details of any illegal activities. From Alongi’s report, it is clear that the Mafia had long since given up any pretense of being the benefactors of the poor. It had become an out-and-out criminal fraternity, indulging in extortion , gambling, prostitution, loan-sharking , and a variety of

12

ORGANIZED CRIME