The map of the mafia in Palermo and its business: betting, lace and drugs on the Colombia-USA-Italy axis
This is what emerges by sifting through the Dia's "Palermo" report sent to Parliament. The reference is to the second half of 2021


The analysis activity on the dynamics of Cosa Nostra Palermitana confirms how the mafia of the capital is a tendentially unified organization engaged in a continuous effort aimed at reorganizing itself and oriented towards the search for greater interaction between the various clans in consideration of the absence of a link structure of command at the top ". This is how Dia's "Palermo" report sent to Parliament on the second half of 2021 begins.

This difficulty in reconstituting leadership inevitably leads to a situation of uncertainty for the Cosa Nostra. "In this perspective and considering the constant inoperability of the provincial commission of Palermo, the direction and the elaboration of the lines of action - the report reads - are practiced mostly by elderly men of honor detained or recently returned to freedom. that "from the investigations it emerged that the men of honor have strengthened the" social function "in order to maintain control of the territory of reference and broaden the basis of consensus".

The Palermo mafia continues to operate in all criminal areas of interest: from drug trafficking to the imposition of "protection money", as well as from investments in economic activities of wealth illegally accumulated for the purpose of money laundering to infiltration into public administrations to condition their activity in the award of public contracts. This activity allows the clans to dispose of substantial capital and at the same time have an incisive interference in the territory

With regard to the "architecture" of the mafia in the capital, it should be noted that in recent years in Palermo the "territorial competence" of districts and families has been less rigid than in the past, varying on the basis of balances of power and consequent "inter-district agreements" ". Very often there is therefore a "loan of unskilled workers" between the various districts of Palermo.

The cornerstones on which the mafia action hinges are always the same. From the imposition of protection money, which remains “necessary”
especially for the sustenance of the families of the prisoners, to the drug trafficking often shared with other criminal organizations, both local and of foreign ethnicity. The Mafia's interest in the management of illegal gaming is not negligible, a sector that in recent decades has had a notable development thanks to the expansion of the gaming offer by the State since the end of the 90s of the last century. In this "turnover" inevitably, "new opportunities" are created for
organized crime always ready to infiltrate the lawful gaming chain. In particular, the investigative activity confirmed "the existence of a strong interpenetration between the activity of Cosa Nostra and the management and distribution on the territory
of the gaming and betting rooms in which, every day, a large amount of money moves, often stolen to any form of legal and fiscal control, not easy to quantify, which significantly replenishes the “coffers” of the mafia association to the point of becoming its most conspicuous source of income in recent years.

Furthermore, a strategic planning of drug trafficking emerged in synergy with Calabrian drug traffickers and at the same time on the Colombia-USA-Italy axis. In fact, the strong link between Cosa Nostra and North American crime should not be underestimated. Investigative activities have documented a historical and ever-present centrality of relations with the New York mafia. These aspects have also come to light thanks to the results of the “Crystal Tower” carabinieri operation which led to the arrest of some members of the Torretta family (district of Passo di Rigano-Boccadifalco). In particular, "ancient and solid connections have emerged between the members of the Torretta family and the members of the Inzerillo family who (at least until the advent of the Corleonesi headed by Riina) had commanded the district of Passo di Rigano,
huge drug trafficking. "The documents also reveal interference exercised by the mafia family of Torretta in the construction sector and discontent within the clan about the" division "of some public works.