Alleged 'mafia boss' among suspects arrested in Italy

Alleged 'mafia boss' among suspects arrested in Italy

news.bbc.co.uk

The man believed to be the "top boss" of an alleged Italian crime family is among those arrested in a police sweep.

At least 300 people were arrested on Tuesday on suspicion of crimes including murder, money laundering and belonging to a criminal organisation. The Calabrian mafia, known as 'Ndrangheta...

...The operation also involved arrests in the US, according to reports...

The police operation involved 3,000 officers and is the largest carried out by police in recent years...

(visit the link for the full news article)

Edit for title-spelling.

[edit on 13-7-2010 by Skyfloating]

Wow — hats off to Italian law-enforcers! That's some serious cop work & some serious muscle. Let's hope the prosecutors aren't bought & paid for.

The alleged boss is Domenico Oppedisano, aged 80. If they've got the right man it beggars belief how many years he must have devoted to barbarism.


[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/bc0883957831.jpg[/atsimg]


But that's not the whole story. With literally hundreds of simultaneous arrests you have to wonder what kind of a backlash might transpire in the coming days. How many police/politicians/lawyers/judges will be targeted in the coming days/weeks/months/years as a direct consequence of this move?

It will also be interesting to see what arrests have been made in the US.

And what links to other organizations/companies/institutions (and maybe even governments) will be uncovered?

It already sounds like the opening sequence to a classic film...


news.bbc.co.uk
(visit the link for the full news article)

These "top" bosses are just petty thieves that are discarded by the new heads of families once they hit a certain age. Keeps the public happy and the attention away from the 40 year old crime lords.

A country deserves it's leaders. With the Capo tutti di capi at the head of state Italy shouts to the rest of the world they're pretty much ok with crime families running their country.

I 'm Italian.

People are fighting against the mafia. Most of them, though, finish to be completely isolated from society and need lots of guards to live with them to have some kind of security hope.
I can assure you people get both angry and both hopeless when their 17 years old child ( brother of ex- mafia member) is killed in front of his friends...
In Italy lots of teenagers who are related to families against the mafia are coldly killed. It happens at least 10 times a year.

So, no, people are not okay to have those families governate our country. They have to, if they want their children to have a life.

Fact is, the north, where I live , doesn't do enough for all of this problems.
The south is left alone. I can assure you there is NO POLICE CONTROL AT ALL in the south. I rarely saw a policeman around there.
People are alone.

Sadly most of those in the Mafia won't think a second to kill kids, teenagers and old people, they kill them in the open and they don't care if they paralize someone else who isn't involved and he/she is simply in the wrong place at the wrong time.

People are not okay with them , but there is much insecurity and carelessness from people who could make much more.

Everybody knows who is mafia and who is not. But only when the mafia member already committed a crime that he/she is captured and put into prison.
Policemen wait for them to commit the crimes, than they arrest them.
This is wrong.

[edit on 13-7-2010 by Zagari]

[edit on 13-7-2010 by Zagari]

Originally posted by Zagari
I 'm Italian.

People are fighting against the mafia. Most of them, though, finish to be completely isolated from society and need lots of guards to live with them to have some kind of security hope.
I can assure you people get both angry and both hopeless when their 17 years old child ( brother of ex- mafia member) is killed in front of his friends...
In Italy lots of teenagers who are related to families against the mafia are coldly killed. It happens at least 10 times a year.

So, no, people are not okay to have those families governate our country. They have to, if they want their children to have a life.

Fact is, the north, where I live , doesn't do enough for all of this problems.
The south is left alone. I can assure you there is NO POLICE CONTROL AT ALL in the south. I rarely saw a policeman around there.
People are alone.

Sadly most of those in the Mafia won't think a second to kill kids, teenagers and old people, they kill them in the open and they don't care if they paralize someone else who isn't involved and he/she is simply in the wrong place at the wrong time.

People are not okay with them , but there is much insecurity and carelessness from people who could make much more.

Everybody knows who is mafia and who is not. But only when the mafia member already committed a crime that he/she is captured and put into prison.
Policemen wait for them to commit the crimes, than they arrest them.
This is wrong.

[edit on 13-7-2010 by Zagari]

[edit on 13-7-2010 by Zagari]

You can't arrest people on the basis they MIGHT commit a crime. You can only arrest people after they commit a crime, if the prior was correct, then we would all be in jail/prison on the fact we might commit a crime sometime.

reply to post by no special characters


Presumably most politicians over there are rumoured to have "connections". So do the people actually get a choice?



reply to post by Zagari


You certainly paint a depressing picture.

What exactly is going on with all these arrests if those involved (police, witnesses, etc.) are all in such dire danger? I remember maybe about 15 years ago hearing about major figures in the mafia being arrested as part of a massive ongoing campaign, involving informers, etc. (I also remember judges being shot, etc.) What became of that effort? Did the authorities reduce their efforts after a while or has there been a long-term sustained campaign over all these years?

Do you think these mass arrests will make a difference? What is your prognosis?

Thanks.

reply to post by Wrong

You can't arrest people on the basis they MIGHT commit a crime. You can only arrest people after they commit a crime, if the prior was correct, then we would all be in jail/prison on the fact we might commit a crime sometime.

Perhaps it is illegal to be a member of the organization (and that's what Zagari is saying the authorities often ignore).(?)

reply to post by pause4thought


Most people come and go out and inside prisons all the time. They go out, commit ( immediately ) a worst crime and they return into prison when they are found out after their escape.

Police is in the know. People who previously killed, they are free, most of them.
Justice is a joke in Italy. You get 30 years and you do 7.

reply to post by pause4thought


There is little hope that Mafia is terminated once for all by police. Is much more likely that Mafia rival families terminate themselves.

Its needed to be understood that these kind of people rise their children as future criminals, and the CIRCLE NEVER ENDS.

Sure, you can give your life to create campagnies against them, but your life is at risk at a certain point.

The efforts are never enough to do it once and for all.

I suggest reading my thread about Italy: www.abovetopsecret.com...

reply to post by pause4thought


Do you think these mass arrests will make a difference? What is your prognosis?

No. Mass arrests happen once a year, but Mafia is always rising with numbers of members.
You are a king, when you are from their side. You are pray when you call the police and talk.
And in all reality, a great part of those arrested will be back free in 3 years.

[edit on 13-7-2010 by Zagari]

reply to post by pause4thought


Perhaps little choice but to re-elect a guy that has more legs into the mafia then an octopus makes me wonder....

Zagari has some good points though which some of my stories can add to.

The South has never been Italy. The people there are commonly called Bastardos or similar. They have always been used to gain wealth by the North. In the past this was done by the Medici and other families. Once the French were defeated the Mafia (Muerta alla Francia Anelia Italia) was used to spread fear amongst people that were rising to the wealth of the families in power. Due to the rural society and superstitious believes the Mafia could gain power. This power was then used by the elite to pollute the South and destroy their infrastructure. This system has been around long before of course but the Mafia is one of the few surviving sub-elite cultures in my opinion. When the Sicilian mafia became uncontrollable the elite created the Drangheta, Camorra and Cosa Nostra.

When looking at the world you will notice that the elite likes to be seen with these mafiosi and vice verse of course. The royal elite is also known to have close ties with crime families.

If you understand the way these families/clans/gangs are used in the power games of the elite you realize that they are the same in many ways but the mafia is still humane and honest in comparison to those who control these crime syndicates with an invisible hand.

I am not going in too deep as most of you can do your own research but we all know the "involvement" of Jack Ruby in the JFK assassination and the ties he had with organized crime. Of course one of the most obvious "political" use of mafia/crime groups in Italy is en.wikipedia.org... .

They were able to divide the country in two during the cold war....

These criminal organizations in my opinion become tools once they outgrow their capacity to be hidden.

So having said that ...

Something that we ATS'ers should never forget is that the world of crime is a world in itself with many unwritten laws and millions of untold stories. But in that world there is also a lot of honesty how crazy that may sound.

In some case the truth is not valuable for those that do not seek the truth, in their world the value of the truth is depending on who seeks it.
Once those seekers are no longer looking the truth can be told without loss of interest. Thus many stories are untold or kept in the heads of people having the chance to hear those stories.

The truth cannot be told by a criminal even if he was present in the act of changing history for the good of the elite ? Perhaps so but in my experience I would trust the elite even less.

This arrest is not going to have much a affect on the mafia. As soon as they arrest one big wig, they are swearing in another to take over. Very similar to the hopeless predicament the West has found itself in when combating international terrorism and Islamic fanaticism.

First and foremost, the people have to reign in the corruption of government. The situation in Italy sounds very familiar to the crime wave afflicting Mexico at the moment. A law enforcement officer, judge, or politician can either accept silver or lead. Plus, the history of crime for some these criminals is family orientated and spans generations. It is all they know. Their devotion to family overrides the law and is almost clannish. Blood is thicker than water. The situation seems far more profound and ingrained in Italy and Sicily than with their North American cousins. The Feds have been able to essentially break the back of the Italian Mafia in America. One of the most successful components has been the RICO Act.

Under RICO, a person who is a member of an enterprise that has committed any two of 35 crimes—27 federal crimes and 8 state crimes—within a 10-year period can be charged with racketeering. Those found guilty of racketeering can be fined up to $25,000 and sentenced to 20 years in prison per racketeering count. In addition, the racketeer must forfeit all ill-gotten gains and interest in any business gained through a pattern of "racketeering activity." RICO also permits a private individual harmed by the actions of such an enterprise to file a civil suit; if successful, the individual can collect treble damages.

en.wikipedia.org...

They have to cut off the money supply, and that is how the RICO law has functioned. It makes things more difficult for criminals to initiate their scams, because if they are caught it will affect the entire group. I am unfamiliar with the legal system in Italy, but perhaps they should think about a law as far reaching as the US RICO Act?

Of course they are going to have to enforce it, which is the tough part when these criminals are some of the most blood thirsty mongrels on the face of the earth. Hopefully, through stringent enforcement and robust tactics, the criminals will resort to offing each other in pursuit of the dwindling access to that almighty dollar?

As bad as this sounds, sometimes one has to confront brutality with brutality. If these goons have no respect for law enforcement, government, or even basic human life? Then the authorities and the government need to take the gloves off when dealing with them.

[edit on 13-7-2010 by Jakes51]

reply to post by no special characters & Jakes51


Thanks for these incredibly informative posts. I'm short of time unfortunately, but I had to acknowledge the thoughtful input.

The solution put forward in the previous post is draconian, but clearly necessarily so. Could it possibly work in Italy if adopted?


Zagari: Please keep us updated from the Italian news too, if any significant developments occur as a result of these arrests.