The Italian Mob

Most of us know about the Italian Mafia mostly because of the number of movies and television that have glorified it. The Godfather, its Indian counterpart Guru, Donny Brasco, The Untouchables, The Departed etc are some of the few movies that have shown many of us how the mafia functions. Originally formulated in Italy the mafia has spread to other countries like America and also Australia, Which has led to an Americanization of the traditional Sicilian mafia. The mafia gang in America is known as La Cosa Nostra or the LCN. It is an amalgamation of a gangsters and different types of criminal activities that are carried out all across the USA. 

The Sicilian Mafia began in Italy in the 1800’s with a view to unite peasants against their enemies. However in the early 1920’s its focus shifted from a group of peaceful Sicilian men to a more organized criminal outlet.   

The mafia originated in Italy but has today made it way to most other countries across the globe. Today most organized crimes are called mafia irrespective of the country. The mafia has existed in Italy for over 100 years and still continues to thrive. It has moved from being involved in drug trafficking, murders, prostitution, human trafficking and theft to being part of the government judiciary and the political system. In a way it has grown into committing more sophisticated crimes. Apart from these today there are a number of younger mafia leaders or “Bosses” that have begun to dominate the sphere, the crimes have shifted to offices and other white colored organizations in the hope of more money. Surprisingly, although they might work and function undercover a major part of Italy’s GDP depends on the Mafia. It accounts for approximately 10% of Italy’s GDP and has an annual turnover of an estimated 10 billion Euros. Some experts have even estimated it to be the second largest organization in Italy.

The mafia being an organized crime it follows a certain level of hierarchy, there is the decision-maker-the Boss, his associates are called Underboss, then there is the Capo and group of soldiers under each Capo. As a whole they are referred to as clans and divided into different mafia families.  The number of people in a Mafia Family or gang might range from 10 to 100 and before each family comes to be they require approval from other mafia families.

Like when an individual is hired to joining a firm he is made to sign a contract in the same light before a person is considered a “member” of the mafia he has to follow certain rules. The Mafia is neither a political nor a religious organization but before entry one must know that the oath states that the Mafia comes before birth, family and God.

The set of rules to be a “perfect” Mafioso somehow seem to amaze me, who knew that the Mafia would have a set of strict rules that ought to be followed? There are 10 rules that every member must follow. They are-No one can present himself directly to another of our friends. There must be a third person to do it, Never look at the wives of friends, Never be seen with cops, Don't go to pubs and clubs, Always being available is a duty - even if your wife's about to give birth, Appointments must absolutely be respected, Wives must be treated with respect, When asked for any information, the answer must be the truth, Money cannot be appropriated if it belongs to others or to other families,  People who can't be part of the mafia: anyone who has a close relative in the police, anyone with a two-timing relative in the family, anyone who behaves badly and doesn't hold to moral values.

The ultimate goal of the Mafia is to make money, lots of it. And the easiest way to do so is by –Extortion. Ideally they would threat a shop owner into paying $100 a week to be protected from criminals. These criminals were none other than the mafia themselves. Illegal drug use, gambling and money laundering are some of their activities that are a common phenomenon throughout Mafia occupies regions. However one of the most notorious mafia activities was the infiltration of labour unions.The mafia would get into the construction unions and control all its activities.  The Mafia had its grip firmly on a union; it could control an entire industry. Mafia could get workers to slow or halt construction if contractors or developers didn't make the right payoffs, and they had access to huge union pension funds.

There is no doubt that the Mafia has a tremendous amount of control over its people. The Italians those of whom are not involved in it live in fear of extortion burglaries and several other crimes that happen. Easy targets to the mafia are the scores of tourists that come to Italy every year. Between 1982 and 1992 there were close to 114 laws that have recognized against organized crime. The laws being in place their activities have not stopped in fact they continue to dominate a large part of Italy’s political and social structure.