The Mafia - Sicily - page 608

The 'New' Mafia
Up until WWII the Mafia had operated almost exclusively in the countryside, but with the
end of the conflict Cosa Nostra began its expansion into the cities. It took over the con-
struction industry, channelling funds into its bank accounts and creating a network of kick-
backs that were factored into every project undertaken. In 1953 a one-off meeting between
representatives of the US and Sicilian Mafias resulted in the creation of the first Sicilian
Commission, which had representatives of the six main Mafia families (or cosche, literally
meaning 'artichoke') to efficiently run its next expansion into the extremely lucrative world
of narcotics. At the head of the commission was Luciano Liggio from Corleone, whose
'family' had played a vital role in developing US-Sicilian relations.
Throughout the 1960s and '70s the Mafia earned billions of dollars from the drug trade.
Inevitably, the raised stakes made the different Mafia families greedy for a greater share
and from the late 1960s onwards Sicily was awash with vicious feuds that left hundreds
dead.
The most sensational assassination was that of the chief prefect of police, General Carlo
Alberto Dalla Chiesa, whom the national government had sent to Sicily to direct anti-Mafia
activities. Dalla Chiesa was ambushed in Palermo in 1982, and his brutal murder led to
prosecutors and magistrates being granted wider powers of investigation.
The first real insight into the 'New Mafia' came with the arrest of mafioso Tommaso
Buscetta, also in 1982. After nearly four years of interrogation, headed by the courageous
Palermitan investigating magistrate Giovanni Falcone, Buscetta broke the code of silence.
His revelations shocked and fascinated the Italian nation, as he revealed the innermost
workings of La Società Onorata (the Honoured Society; the Mafia's chosen name for it-
self). Tragically, Falcone was assassinated in 1992, as was another courageous anti-Mafia
magistrate, Paolo Borsellino.
In 1986, 500 top mafiosi were put on trial in the first maxiprocesso (supertrial) in a spe-
cially constructed bunker near Palermo's Ucciardone prison. The trial resulted in 347 con-
victions, of which 19 were life imprisonments and the others jail terms totalling a stagger-
ing 2665 years.
In January 1993, the authorities arrested the infamous capo di tutti capi (boss of bosses),
Salvatore (Totò) Riina, the most wanted man in Europe. He was charged with a host of
murders, including those of magistrates Falcone and Borsellino, and sentenced to life im-
prisonment.