Complete Documentary on Sicilian Mafia 

 I am ALI RAZA and I will show you the same true story in my article

 It is the Mediterranean sea, 

the most beautiful and the busiest trade route in the world. Through this Sea down Italy an island called Sicily is situation. Today Sicily is inhabited by around five million people. But its population is not the matter but its geographical location. It is one of the few geographically most important islands in the world. This island is so important that major powers have been fighting over the centuries to capture it. That is why no-one has been able to keep a permanent hold on it. And this factor also ruled out any permanent government on this Island. For that reason, Sicily had lawlessness over the centuries. There had been a gap of implementation of law on this island.. But millions of people had to live anyway. Anything was to fill the void created by the absence of rules and regulations and a powerful government. So this vacuum was filled by a handful of rich people and feudal families of this island. A group of these feudal began to stand guarantee to the business deals in Sicily and got the limelight. This group began to be called 'mafia' or 'mafiaso.' These landlords took their share for giving that guarantee and in return ensured that any party... backing out of its commitment would find itself in a coffin underground next night. All major feudal families of Sicily had formed this Mafia. The members of this Mafia called themselves 'men of honour' meaning, respectable persons. Its head was called boss who could not be accessed easily. After the boss, it was the 'under boss' who would be either close relation or member of the feudal family. Subordinate to the under-boss was the 'adviser,' who may be called third in command. Following them were captains or the 'capuas' who were responsible for carrying out all operations. The captains were assisted by 4 or 5 five foot soldiers in that operations. Murder and committal of crime was carried out through the capuas at the hand of the soldiers. They all were full members of the organization after they had taken the oath of 'Omreta' The soldiers also trained associates who would become full members or 'maid-men' of the body after taking oath.The bosses of the organization called the the Mafia, 'Cosa Nostra' which stood for 'my ownership.' Over the centuries the organization had become very organised and strong. It dominated the whole life of Sicily. The politicians were raised by this Mafia. The politicians who refused to bow down before the Mafia had their place in the graveyard. Police were also obedient to the Mafia although they belonged to Italy. Simillarly, Italy appointed the judges but they followed the commands of the Mafia. A judge was blown out with bomb it he would pass decision contrary to the Mafia's wish. The public departments also had the same situation. It was the period between the first and the second World War. Don Vito was then the boss of bosses of the Mafia. Which meant he was also the boss of all bosses of the feudal families. Don Vito was going to have a challenge to his criminal world from a matching fascist of the Mafia. But that man was the fascist in real sense of the word. His name of Bonito Mussolini. Mussolini came to Sicily in 1924. Then he was very popular and powerful. Italian emperor was also helpless before him. Therefore, his arrival to Sicily was also a test of his prowess and intents. The City Mussolini was to arrive had the Mayor who was also a Mafia boss. The mayor asked Mussolini not to come along with guards as they would provide him security. But Mussolini did not agree. And the Mafia punished him for this refusal. That when next day Mussolini appeared after making a bombastic address to a big public gathering... he got perplexed to see some disabled and sick persons standing before him. Confounded Mussolini continued to look at them and his helplessness. Mussolini felt ashamed at their sight when it was also a message for the Mafia bosses of hard days. Because power beats the power. Mussolini was a more organized fascist than the organized criminal Mafia. He formed team headed by a police officer. It was tasked to eliminate Mafia at any cost. Particularly Don Vito should be apprehended, and he was caught.The police applied the same methods on the Mafia which the Mafia had been doing to others. Through torture and power the police arrested hundreds of Mafia bosses and activists and got them sentenced. The Mafia was about to end but the World War II, started. Mussolini was killed at the hands of the citizens in the War and Italy defeated. Sicily was went into hands of America and its allies. But the allies committed a blunder. That they treated the Mafia bosses and its soldiers as political prisoners. And set them all free. After that the Mafia assumed another form and strengthened its roots in political parties. Mafia either helped a political party win the election or fielded its own members to contest the polls. So that whoever won the elections, should keep his eyes closed to the criminal activity of the Mafia. After WWII, the Mafia people who went to America became stronger than the Sicily Mafia of Italy. Including New York, they established powerful mafias in many American states. Their highly organised activity, enabled them to form a shadow government in America in 1950s. It was a state within the state. The Mafia were even deciding the issues about judges, senators, and house of representatives in many states. Just listen to what the son of a Mafia boss of bosses in 50s says. "And the decisions that had to be made were you are going to be next Federal Judge. Your are going to be... the next governor, you are going to be next senator, you are going to be the next house of representative.. candidate. The man got up after those decisions and no-one behold it happened." This all will be appearing you wonderful. But, as matter of fact, people and the government in the US and Italy were not ready to accept that... a shadow government or state within the state existed. It was for the reason, the Mafia had been structured in a way that access to the boss was impossible. Secondly the bosses were promptly deciding the cases which the US courts took months to sort out. Or the courts lingered them on forever. You can question what made the super power America to subdue to the power of the Mafia at that time. The answer is, Cold War. Yes, the US administration and its security operatives were so engrossed in fighting communist Russia... that they had hardly paying attention to any other side. It was evident from the fact that 400 FBI men in NY were busy in detecting the Communists or Russian agents. While only five officers were deputed to deal with the white collar crime. This oversensitive and lopsided policy of the US allowed the Mafia to expand its business and thrive. The Mafia minted millions of dollars in a day only by slightly increasing price of the cement. It was also earning much money from casinos and extortion in major US cities. At the close of 50s, the Mafia got another more lucrative business. This new business multiplied its wealth and power out of proportion. And this business orginated from Afghanistan. It was the heroin (drug) business. The opium crops reached the coasts of Sicily from Afghanistan. Here the Mafia bosses would get the opium harvest processed and send it to the US to their cousins. Sicilian mafias were running pizza huts in America. These pizza delivery boys in their bags were supplying heroin all over America. It was not only America but other rich states where the Mafia was supplying this drug. The income from the sale of heroin provided wealth beyond count to the Mafia. As the dollars piled up, competition and jealously also became intense among the Mafia bosses. It begot intra disputes and feuds. So the Mafia in the US set up a Governing Council to deal with such issues. This Council comprised heads of the Mafia families. It framed laws to sort out differences and feuds in the Mafia. The Council also decided on acquitting or killing an accused. Everyone was bound to obey the order of the Council under all circumstances. But Mafia in Sicily was not that organized. Intra-fighting of the Mafia families and soldiers of the organizations were being killed in Sicily. So in consultation with the American Mafia, a Council was also costituted in Sicily. But the problems remained intact. The most vital question before the Mafia was continuation or discontinuation of the heroin business. Because for some mafia families heroin was a harmful or dirty business. So they wanted to distance themselves from this business. So an important meeting was held at a farmhouse in Alpacha town of New York to resolve these issues. The history writes this meeting as 'Meeting Alpachan.' Almost all senior bosses of the Mafia attended this meeting. The don of the dons and the boss of the bosses, all. But here a mistake was committed that was not expected even at the lowest level in the criminal world. That generally people did not have the slightest clue to this meeting. But police could not ignore the bulk presence of costly cars and well-dressed people in this ordinary locality. The policemen watched this Bar-B-Q party of the Mafia gentry from behind the trees around the farmhouse. The policemen saw the gathering but failed to understand fully what was going on. A Mafia boss spotted those peeping police men. He cried out, 'police.' This made everyone to escape from the scene like pilferers and the thieves did on a police raid. It was a stark mistake of the Mafia bosses This petty mistake blew out to the proportion of badly exposing secrecy of the Mafia. Around 60 Mafia members were apprehended by the police. But the police could not charge them for any offence. Because holding a Bar-B-Q party did not make offence nor any weapon was recovered from them. Generally the US law did not charge a well dressed person for running away from the police out of fear. But the problem was the journalists who knew a Mafia don among the arrested ones So they wrote in the press that some monkey business was going on at the Alpachan meeting. Thus the public perception about the invisible Mafia rule in America, began to be discussed openly. This matter became talk of the town. When this mistake had unveiled the Mafia, it stroke back by playing a big political gamble. In the 60s the Mafia gambled on the presidential election in America. The Mafia boss in Chicago was directed to help John F Kennedy win the Presidential election. According to a documentary of National Geographical Channel, no precise reason for this help existed... yet presumably Kennedy's father had struck any underhand deal with Mafia to get his son elected. Presumably an understanding had been reached that Kennedy on being elected would spare the Mafia. But it did not happen. Kennedy's brother Robert Kennedy became the Attorney General and he took very stern steps against the Mafia. Even the FBI installed bugging devices at the houses of the Mafia bosses. Hence information were gathered about the bosses. These information provided clue to inside discussions of the Mafia. The FBI agents were infiltrated into the Mafia to collect the secret information. This all resulted in the arrest of a principal Mafia gangster, Joe Valachi during Kennedy's term. Mafia bosses were arrested in the past yet here was a new element. That was media. In 1963, John Kennedy decided to show the Mafia gangster Joe Valachi live on TV. Before the senators on TV Valachi disclosed all secrets of the Mafia and also those about the US Sicilian Mafia. He also revealed that secrets of Mafia don in US, Joe Bonanno for which the Mafia had prescribed death. He had flouted the code of Omreta before the whole world. As per son of Jo Bonanno, Joe Valachi's confessions and TV interview caused Mafia huge damage. "Valachi's testimony was certainly a blow to the people of our world."Kennedy continued very harsh measures against the Mafia. The reason being the broken deal of Kennedy's father with the Mafia or any other we have no idea. But John F Kennedy was assassinated during his term in power. His brother Robert Kennedy was also killed five years later when he was a leading presidential candidate. Anyway the Mafia had been exposed in America and it needed new rules of the game for survival. A new don had created a room for himself in the US Mafia. This don had again become part of the Mafia after serving jail in the near past. It was Galante Bonanno, the most charismatic figure of the Bananno family. He put the heroin business in America on fast track. It was proved from the figure of 20,000 heroic addicts in America after the World Word II. But in the 70s, this number had gone over 500,000. Hence Galante revived the sinking business of the Mafia to the illegal income of billions of dollars in 5 years only. But here a problem came in the way. That the business was now not confined to the US and Italy only but had been internationalized. The Mafia had been turned into the largest industry of the organised crime in the world. So the Sicilian bosses of the Mafia also aspired to get power and the wealth like the bosses of America. This factor generated a tug-of-war among the bosses of Italy. An uneducated shepherd came out victorious in this contest. This man defied many accepted norms of the Mafia. The Mafia had laid down the rule that only governing body would permit killing of a person. That nobody would be slain before his family members and children and the women would not be killed, etc. These so-called gentlemen rules were broken by this shepherd. He was so cruel that even the Mafia dons and soldiers called him 'beast' means 'wild animal.' His name was Salvatore Toto Riina. The Italians have very poetic names. So this totally illiterate evil genius became big boss of the Mafiaso. He began to eliminate teams of other mafia bosses one by one. He had set up a secret cell where the opponents were tortured to death. Their bodies were dissolved in acid. But the big boss, Toto Riina was invisible in this process. That he was not public. He knew how to perform from behind the curtain. Sicily and the entire heroin business was in his hand and apparently there was no threat to his top position. But in this situation, he came across two of his friends who were lawyers. One was Giavanni Falcone and other was Borsellino, his very old friend. The people of Sicily till 80s knew the Mafia but they did not talk on it. They were afraid of it. But these two friends became voice of the people and openly came against the Mafia. In collaboration with some others and the judges they formed anti-Mafia Pool. It aimed at taking united action against the Mafia. And rendering the Mafia unable to target anyone if action was underway against it. This anti-Mafia Pool begun to probe the money trail of the heroin smuggling business. As the Pool chased the money trail, it divulged that the Mafia was much richer, powerful and cruel than... what was thought of. It was also revealed that the Mafia was not as united as it was thought to be. The Mafia took to killing the people of the Pool. A judge hearing the case of Mafia was blown out. But no let up came in the action against the Mafia. Falcone and his team learned about rifts among different families of the Mafia. They also met the Mafia soldiers who found safety of their life only in cooperating with the Pool. As they were sure to lose their lives either by the police or the Mafia. So they clandestinely told many secrets to Falcone. The largest success in this behalf came from Brazil in October 1983. Here the Mafia boss was arrested who was popular as the 'Boss of Two Worlds.'Because he was the Mafia boss of two continents from North to South America. He was the Mafia don Tommaso Buscetta. His arrest was a huge success that was more important than the arrest of the US Mafia boss Joe Valachi. Tommaso had the secrets of all senior members of the Mafia. However in view of his seniority he abided by the oath of Omerta more strictly to keep the secrets. So he took poison on his arrest. But he survived. But he disclosed nothing until he was given such true information that obliged him to come clean. That the arrest of Tommaso weakened his faction in the Mafia. And his rivals taking advantage of it killed his brother, son and other members of the family. He decided to avenged the Mafia bosses when he learned about these killings. He was unable to kill his rivals from the prison yet he could get them arrested disclosing their secrets. So he did the same. He told the secrets of the Mafia one by one Falcone and his team. He first disclosed to Falcone about the Governing Body of the Mafia in Sicily. On the basis of valuable information from Tommaso, Falcone filed cases against 450 members of the Mafia. Among them, cases against the boss of the bosses, Toto Riina were also included. But no-one knew the whereabouts of Toto Riina. On February 10, 1986 the historic Maxi Trial started. The trial was held in a specially-built bunker shaped courtroom in the coastal city Palermo of Italy. This trial continued for two years. It was very difficult to produce evidence and witnesses against the Mafia in this courtroom. Rather it sounded impossible. But Falcone and Borsellino with the help of the police and the administration managed it well. Hundreds of Mafia members were arrested who were present in the courtroom behind the bars. They hurled threats on the witnesses before the judges and created mess. Most of the witnesses were approvers. They had been associated with Mafia, so they stayed resolute. The decision in the cases was announced in December 1987. Of the 450 accused Mafia members, 338 were held guilty. Among them 19 high ranking bosses were also included. Most of the accused were convicted to life imprisonment. Among the convicts the leading Boss of the Mafia, Toto Riina was also included. But he had disappeared anywhere. Therefore he was sentenced 'in absentia' (in absence). It was a big success for the Pool as like America, the Mafia bosses had also been exposed in Sicily. Falcone and Borsellino became heroes of Sicily. Because they had used the law and not the bullet to defeat the Mafia. They had established the power of law discarding the power of Mafia in the gentlemen world. But, but,.... This battle was over in the court but in the actual world it had yet to end. The grip of the Mafia was still firm in the American, Italian and the Sicilian politics. Falcone and his anit-Mafia team were soon dismantled. Falcone was called to Rome from Sicily. He was made the Attorney General and the witnesses against the Mafia bosses began to be killed in Sicily. Now Falcone was to do act for the people who adored him as hero and he did not want to leave them alone. So he acted to ensure safety to the life of the witnesses. For this purpose he came back to Sicily in 1992. Advocate Falcone and his wife were passing through the same city where he had won the historic legal battle. He was driving at 90kms per hour. He also had complete police security. Despite speed and security, the road his car was taking turn on, tore apart with a blast. The blast left meters deep and wide crater. Falcone, his wife and the driver all were dead. It was a precise and accurate time bomb. It proved the active presence of the Sicilian Mafia. After that Falcone's friend, Borsellino carried forward his mission. He continued the battle for the security of the witnesses. But two months later his car was also blown out outside his mother's house. Borsellino and his five guards were killed. The two heroes of Sicily had died and the judges and the witnesses were also being killed..... who had given verdict or stated against the Mafia bosses. The people were boiling with anger and cursing the Mafia and above all the government... for its failure to bridle activity of the Mafia. But the Mafia had changed its tactics. It had become more invisible than the past. On a day in 1993, a car was slowly running on a road-side in the city where Falcone had lost his life. When it was intercepted apparently a harmless old man was found sitting therein. He was Toto Riina. He was apprehended and brought before the judges. But this old man refused to admit himself Toto Riina before the police and the judges. He described himself as an ordinary man having no links with the Mafia. But no heed was paid to this claim and he was committed to the jail for life on the basis of witnesses. When he was asked whether he repented his crimes, he replied, 'no, I am satisfied.' Toto Riina died in the jail in 2017. It goes that he had been the big boss till death. Joe Valanchi, Galante, and Toto Riina all died. But the question whether Sicilian Mafia also ended with them? The answer is, 'No.' Then question if not ended, then where it is? The answer is, 'Invisible.' Because mafias go nowhere but go into hibernation for some time in view of the public reaction. They adopt another form. But they never vanish. Because they are dark side of the humanity. And the dark-side of the bright-side. They will stay on. What you opine in this regard? Do tell us through comments in the section below

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