Cosa Nostra News

By Andrew Machin “It is very difficult to know the names of the perpetrators [of a murder]. It is very easy to know the hand… from whom [the order] comes… the instigator. But the names of the perpetrators are very difficult to know in the underworld circles”. Raffaele Moscato, government witness, former high-ranking member (rank of Vangelo, transl. Gospel) and killer of the Locale of Piscopio, 2016. It was April 24, 2014, on a Thursday, and it was broad daylight (2 pm). Carmine Verduci ( above ) was alone in a parking lot just outside a café, the Regina Sports Café, in an industrial and retail plaza of Woodbridge (community in the City of Vaughan, north of Toronto). Evidently, he was tailed since, at that very moment, he was approached by a single gunman who shot him seven times, killing him. Then the shooter walked away. A short distance away, he reached a car where an accomplice was waiting for him behind the wheel. Then the car disappeared leaving no traces. The police, alerted by...

By Andrew Machin “ The Crimine belongs to nobody... it belongs to everyone. The Crimine must be composed of everyone [who belongs] to the Locale, all the men! " --Domenico Oppedisano, cl. 1930, the last known Capo Crimine, Sept. 2009. Whenever police investigators are faced with a suspected case of Mafia murder or attempted murder but also of arson, home invasion, and shootings in general, usually the probe starts and develops along two directions: 1) To identify the perpetrators (for example, by analyzing video surveillance from the crime scene and surrounding areas and looking for witnesses) 2) To identify the involved criminal group(s)/organization(s) and the motivation for the conflict (for example, by probing underworld sources) As to this last point, to direct the investigations, it may be useful to propose a categorization of the wars /struggles / clashes between criminal groups and organizations. A categorization which, considering our topics of interest, will focus on the...

“The only thing that can’t be bribed is the weather.” Southern Italian proverb Calabria, Italy, home to the dreaded Ndrangheta. If not for the Ndrangheta organized crime syndicate, the southern Italian region of Calabria would be a "failed state" due to the Calabrian Mafia's powerful grip on the economy and virtually all aspects of life in that part of Italy. This sentiment was expressed some five years ago by  an American diplomat, whose papers were leaked to WikiLeaks , which published them on Jan. 13. The American diplomat further noted in the papers that the Ndrangheta had been able to establish itself and flourish due to ineffective and corrupt politicians and port officials, and the absence of strong law enforcement. Also, the focus on the more well-known Sicilian Cosa Nostra had provided this shadowy network the time and space to organize itself and perpetuate. The diplomat was actually shortchanging the group. The Ndrangheta controls ...