Feb 29 2008
Police in Italy gave photos of some of those arrested in Old Bridge
Sicily’s Mafia is rebuilding its networks in the US, according to an Italian parliamentary report.
The report says Cosa Nostra has been sending people to the US to form alliances with families with which it had lost contact in the 1980s. Continue Reading »
Feb 29 2008
The 28-year-old son of the jailed ´boss of bosses´ Salvatore ´Toto´ Riina smiled as he left Sicily´s maximum security prison.
The release from prison of the most feared Sicilian Mafia boss’s son on a technicality has prompted withering criticism of Italy’s justice system, described by one top judge as the slowest in the European Union.
The 28-year-old son of the jailed “boss of bosses” Salvatore “Toto” Riina smiled as he left Sicily’s maximum security prison, sporting a pink jumper and white bodywarmer. Met by his mother, he was whisked off to his hometown Corleone in a black Mercedes. Continue Reading »
Feb 28 2008
Advisor to the Serbian Prime Minister Branislav Ristivojevic said late today that Serbia will file lawsuits at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) against the US and all other countries that issued unlawful recognition to the fictitious mafia state in Kosovo and Metohija province. Continue Reading »
Feb 27 2008
The report said many US food distribution and construction firms were controlled by the US Mafia, whose bosses were of Sicilian origin. Continue Reading »
Feb 27 2008
Francis “Cadillac Frank” Salemme
After more than three years in jail awaiting trial on federal charges of lying and obstruction of justice, former New England Mafia boss Francis “Cadillac Frank” Salemme is poised to plead guilty under a deal that could make him a free man by the end of the year. Continue Reading »
Feb 27 2008
ROME – Fewer people are willing to give evidence implicating the Mafia, Italian lawmakers said Wednesday, calling for more help to protect those who speak out against alleged mobsters. Continue Reading »
Feb 26 2008
The grave of Mikhail Kuchin, a casualty of Russia’s mafia wars. He is shown clutching the keys of his Mercedes
A surge in contract killings reminiscent of Russia’s mafia wars in the 1990s is threatening to damage Vladimir Putin’s legacy of stability in the dying days of his presidency.
As the Russian leader prepares to hand power to his handpicked sucessor, Dmitry Medvedev, after Sunday’s election, the Kremlin has been keen to remind Russians the president replaced Yeltsin era lawlessness with what he calls “the dictatorship of the law”. Continue Reading »
Feb 24 2008
Boris Stratievsky has been in jail awaiting trial since 2005.
Boris Stratievsky was a ‘professor’ of money-laundering for Moscow clients, according to his father, whose conversations were secretly taped by the FBI. Continue Reading »
Feb 24 2008
Seizure of Calabrian mafia leader could spark deadly war of succession
‘It’s me,’ the man said. ‘I’m the real Pasquale Condello.’ I Cacciatori, the Hunters - the Carabinieri’s specialist man-trackers entrusted with the last stage of the operation to net ‘The Supremo’ - had left nothing to chance. They were convinced the 57-year-old mobster lived in one of 12 flats on the outskirts of Reggio Calabria.
But was he, as they first believed, the retired priest? Or the blind man who had recently come to live with his mother? After a two-week stake-out, they opted to mount 12 separate, simultaneous operations. The team that burst into Condello’s comfortable apartment realised they had the right man - his two dinner companions reached for their pistols, only to be stayed by Il Supremo. In the refrigerator the Carabinieri later found a plate of oysters and two bottles of champagne. Continue Reading »
Feb 21 2008
The most powerful and -efficient “holding company” adapting to globalisation is the ‘Ndrangheta criminal organisation, Italy’s parliamentary anti-Mafia commission warned yesterday.
In a 230-page report intended as a wake-up call to both a domestic audience and Italy’s neighbours, commission members said that while Sicily’s Cosa Nostra and other regional crime groups had been dealt serious setbacks, the ‘Ndrangheta of Calabria, rooted in the “toe” of Italy, was on the rise worldwide. Continue Reading »
