Cosa Nostra News

John Paul Getty III in Lagonegro, Italy, in Dec. 1973, after kidnappers freed him. Part 1 J. Paul Getty III, a grandson of the oil baron once considered the richest man in the world, gained tragic infamy when he was kidnapped in Rome in 1973 by Italian gangsters. "Italian gangsters" means little to anyone who knows about Italy and gangsters. ("Calabrian bandits," as per initial news reports, is more revealing, as only one crime ring hails from that region in southern Italy. Still, it's important to remember that the kidnapping was initially and widely believed to be a prank pulled by the grandson to get fast cash from granddad. That's partly why the kidnappers had to slice off an ear and put it in the mail.) After all, Italy is the birthplace of several major organized crime groups with "global footprints" today, all of which are known generally as the Mafia. Mafia is an overarching term and includes the Sicilian Cosa Nostra, an offshoot ...

The book mentioned in this story, which is the source of the allegations mentioned below, probably is a hoax. I'd like to know: Who published it? It seems too consumer-friendly, and in my mind appears more like the fraudulent efforts of a savvy marketer, assisted by attention-seeking newspapers. Perhaps ISIS itself is perpetuating a hoax. These suicidal murderers have an affinity for propaganda. So let us move under the pretext that this "manual of hate" truly exists....and accept this at face value.... New ISIS propganda details a "brutal plan to march through western Europe and take control of Italy" claim new reports. The hate manual, titled The Black Flags from Rome, ranks several of Italy's Mafias as ISIS militants' most feared adversaries -- yet the group seems unaware of Rome's own homegrown Mafia.

Italian Law Enforcement Officials Call It Italy's Fifth Major Mafia Group Mafia Capitale is based in Rome. In a story posted this week about Matteo Messina Denaro ,  The Independent notes that Italian law enforcement has uncovered what is believed to be Italy's fifth major Mafia group. It's based in Rome. The organized crime group is less violent prone than the traditional Mafias and seems to largely rely on corruption. In terms of age, it goes back "at least three administrations."