That's true, but we also see after strict anti mafia laws after the Falcone and Borsellino bombings that Meloni's government is watering down Italy's anti-mafia laws.

I don't think that Meloni is directly involved with organized crime (unlike other prime ministers), but rather tries to water down the anti-mafia laws to save her allies, even at the local level

Hydra, another boss in a trap: Giuseppe Fidanzati, son of the godfather of Arenella, arrested. “He wanted to turn himself in”

Milan – The Carabinieri stopped him a stone’s throw from the Voghera prison and notified him of the prison order made enforceable by the sentence issued a few hours earlier by the Court of Cassation. Giuseppe Fidanzati , who will turn 65 on March 10 and is the son of the deceased boss of the Arenella-Acquasanta of Palermo, Gaetano, was there to turn himself in. He was arrested for the last time on December 5, 2009 in via Marghera in Milan and died in 2013 at the age of 78.

Even “Ninni”, like several others in recent days, ended up in jail fifteen months after the raid of the maxi Hydra investigation, significantly weakened by the precautionary custody order of the investigating judge Tommaso Perna who on 25 October 2023 accepted “only” 11 requests for arrest out of the 153 advanced by the District Anti-Mafia Directorate (effectively dismantling the entire accusatory system). A year later, however, the Review Court, urged by the chief prosecutor Marcello Viola and the DDA prosecutor Alessandra Cerreti, overturned everything.

The panel presided over by Judge Luisa Savoia and completed by colleagues Monica Amicone and Caterina Ambrosino ordered the precautionary custody of 41 suspects (out of the 79 targeted by the Anti-Mafia appeal), supporting the hypothesis that in recent years a three-headed organization has been formed in Lombardy, a sort of consortium in which the alleged members would have brought with them ties and criminal weight generated by their respective affiliations to the mafia, camorra and 'ndrangheta. According to the investigations of the military of the Investigative Unit, led by Colonel Antonio Coppola, it would have been precisely “Ninni“ Fidanzati one of the most authoritative referents of the unprecedented alliance, a member of a family “whose membership in Cosa Nostra is attested by the final convictions against Gaetano and his brother Stefano, respectively father and uncle of Giuseppe”.

During the investigations, the Carabinieri bloodhounds reconstructed twenty-one summits between 2020 and 2021 between Dairago, Cinisello Balsamo, Abbiategrasso, Busto Garolfo and Inveruno, convened from time to time to smooth out internal conflicts, agree on the 110% ecobonus deal, plan extortions or purchases of drug shipments: on nine occasions, the presence of Fidanzati was also recorded.

And often with him was also Paolo Aurelio Errante Parrino, 78 years old, considered the referent in the North of the Trapani clan linked to the red primrose Matteo Messina Denaro and indicated as "man of honor of the Castelvetrano family, with the tasks of decision-making, planning and identifying the actions to be taken and the strategies to be adopted for the realization of the illicit purposes of the association". According to the investigations of the DDA, "uncle Paolo" would have also passed to the boss of bosses "communications relating to deadly subjects" while he was a fugitive; also because Messina Denaro, who died in 2023, would have had a direct interest "in the huge financial deals carried out in Lombardy by the Lombard mafia system".

https://www.msn.com/it-it/notizie/m...ervertelemetry=1&noservertelemetry=1

Fratelli d'Italia , abbreviated FdI , is a radical right-wing political party from Italy . The party emerged from the right wing of the People of Freedom . Previously, the party was called Brothers of Italy – National Centre-Right ( Italian : Fratelli d'Italia – Centrodestra Nazionale ; abbreviated FdI-CN). Since 2017, the party has been called Fratelli d'Italia .
The party was founded on 17 December 2012 by Ignazio La Russa , one of the three national coordinators of the People of Freedom (PdL), under the name National Centre-Right . This split from the PdL had been agreed with Silvio Berlusconi , the leader of the PdL, in order to better represent the right wing of the party.

unlike Forza Italia, whose founders Berlusconi and Dell'Utri had direct relations with Cosa Nostra, the leaders of Fdl have never been accused of external complicity in a mafia association, except for some elements at local level

Many people believe that they're a non-factor nowadays because bodies aren't dropping all over the place and the streets aren't running red with blood. What they seem to forget is that was a certain regime that was in charge of Cosa Nostra. As we know, that regime has all but died off, with the exception of a few remnants in their 70s, 80s, and 90s. It's a new Mafia today. They've returned to trying to do everything they can to be one with the State, rather than fighting the State. It never dies, they just change their tactics and adapt to modern times. I imagine people in the 1950s and 60s were saying the same thing, that it's dead.

Well they did not. Back then local bosses had absolute power, they were walking around and showing off, everyone knew who they are and what they do. That ended with Riina, now they mostly hide. If u start showing off today, ur done.

But they seem wealthier today. I'm not reading about the monstrous bank account and hundred-million dollar/euro asset seizures in Italy and elsewhere around the world during the mob’s so-called "absolute power" decades as I am today. Because while they may have been more powerful politically and socially, they weren’t making that kind of money.

While we're at it, does the name of this thread still hold true? Ironic that it's called "Sicily's Mafia primed for reversal of fortune" yet most people seem to come here to talk shit about them.

MATTHEW MESSINA MONEY
FEBRUARY 6, 2025
3:28 PM
“Laura Bonafede organic to Cosa Nostra”: the reasons for the conviction of the teacher lover of Messina Denaro
Laura Bonafede would have been “organic to Cosa Nostra” and not only the lover of Matteo Messina Denaro, the boss arrested in 2023 after 30 years on the run. This is what is written in the reasons for the sentence of 11 years and 4 months for mafia association decreed for the teacher from Campobello di Mazara.

According to the GUP of Palermo, it is not possible that Matteo Messina Denaro, a fugitive for 30 years then arrested on January 16, 2023 in Palermo, shared important Cosa Nostra secrets, such as his movements or his location, with a person who was not organic to the mafia organization only because he was sentimentally linked to her. Therefore, the teacher Laura Bonafede is defined as " part of Cosa Nostra " and sentenced to 11 years and 4 months for mafia association. 

continua su: https://www.fanpage.it/attualita/la...per-la-maestra-amante-di-messina-denaro/
https://www.fanpage.it/

As you prob know founder Ignazio La Russa is Sicilian., he is the President of the Senate.
A report broadcasted on Rai3 in october 2023. The Report investigation concerned the La Russa family’s rise to power and its alleged connections to the Italian mafia. After the program was aired, La Russa lashed out against Report, calling its editors “disgusting slanderers” and repeating his threats of legal action. Local journalist unions and press freedom groups denounced La Russa's actions.

How are prison sentences served in Italy? Is there early release or does 11 years mean 11 years?

You will have to serve at least 2/3 I believe.

we should see how much they earned in the past net of inflation, during the 70s and 80s the bosses were very rich thanks to international drug trafficking and public contracts; furthermore, the law on confiscation of assets only became effective in the 1990s and many of today's seizures refer to wealth accumulated in the past

there is early release for good behavior, even for mafiosi, they take away about 3 months a year

yes, according to the turncoat Luigi Ilardo killed in 1996 Vincenzo and Antonino La Russa, both brother and father of Ignazio, had links with Cosa Nostra but they were never investigated for this reason

I wouldn't be surprised if those seized goods end up in the Mafia's hands again, through new front men or they buy it back somehow. Asset seizures look good on paper.

Yes it does, once it goes on public auction , people are afraid of buying it and then its bought again by people connected to mafia. Its never ending circle.

Police arrest 181 in massive Cosa Nostra operation
Blow to Mafia's attempts to rebuild

Police on Tuesday staged a huge operation to arrest 181 suspected Cosa Nostra members in relation to a probe by investigators in Palermo into the Mafia syndicate's attempt to rebuild in the area of the Sicilian capital after a series of clampdowns over recent years landed thousands of people in jail.
Among other things, the investigation revealed that jailed Mafia bosses have been able to continue to coordinate criminal activities, including drug trafficking and meetings of mobsters, from prison thanks to micro-SIM cards and encrypted mobile phones illegally smuggled into their cells.

https://www.ansa.it/english/news/20...d8167e0-59d3-4478-81b8-17eecff3cb66.html

Anti-mafia maxi blitz: hundreds of arrests
The investigation, with over 1,200 carabinieri involved, has revealed the organizational chart of the main families

There were 181 arrests made during the night and early morning hours, by the Palermo District Anti-Mafia Directorate. The maxi-operation led to the arrests and handcuffs of bosses, "colonels", men of honor and extortionists of various "mandamenti" of the Sicilian capital and the province.

The investigation, conducted by the Carabinieri and coordinated by the prosecutor Maurizio de Lucia and the deputy prosecutor Marzia Sabella, revealed the organizational chart of the main families, the clans' affairs and the umpteenth attempt by Cosa Nostra to reconstitute the provincial Cupola and to react to the harsh repression that in recent years has led to thousands of other arrests.

The main districts involved in the investigation are those of Santa Maria di Gesù, Porta Nuova, San Lorenzo, Bagheria, Terrasini, Pagliarelli and Carini. In addition to the 181 arrests, two orders of presentation to the judicial police were notified .

A total of 1,200 Carabinieri from the provincial commands of Sicily, from the Anti-Crime Department of the ROS of Palermo, are involved in the operation - with the air cover of a helicopter from the 9th Helicopter Unit of Palermo - with the support of the "red berets" of the Helicopter Squadron Cacciatori of Sicily, of the 12th "Sicilia" Regiment, of the 14th "Calabria" Battalion and other specialized components of the force.

Those arrested are accused, to varying degrees , of mafia-type criminal association, attempted murder, extortion, committed or attempted, aggravated by mafia methods, association aimed at the illicit trafficking of narcotics, personal aiding and abetting, crimes involving weapons, against property, against the person, and illegal gambling.

Maxi anti-mafia blitz, the names of the arrested

https://livesicilia.it/mafia-palermo-181-arresti-nomi/

Police in Sicily arrest almost 150 people in mafia crackdown
More than 1,200 officers involved in dawn raids in Palermo, in biggest operation against Cosa Nostra since 1984

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/feb/11/sicily-police-palermo-mafia-crackdown-cosa-nostra

Wow that is a massive operation Falcone would be proud !

That many people arrested, doesn't mean they're all going to prison for long periods of time. Maybe the more notorious gangsters, household names and habitual offenders, but that's about it.

Many are collateral damage, but several bosses of the Cupola will go down some just released from prison.

But it's really all the others who make things happen in my opinion.

Checks in Colombia on alleged death of mafioso Motisi

https://www.ansa.it/amp/english/new...554c3b0-28d3-4720-9fec-76f82abbbfef.html

What organization does the Laudani Clan belong to? Cosa Nostra or Stidda?

66 is pretty young Messina Denaro was 61.

it is close to Cosa Nostra but maintains its autonomy