What Is The Mafia?
Question to Porrello: Exactly what is the Mafia? The Mafia, more specifically the Italian-American Mafia, is a group of criminals organized into “families,” and operating primarily in North America. Also known as La Cosa Nostra, at one time there were 26 families in the United States – roughly one for each major city. The Mafia “commission,” composed of bosses of numerous families, mostly New York, was the overseeing authority for all of the other La Cosa Nostra families. The Mafia has its roots in Sicily, where the larger and more powerful Sicilian Mafia operates from. …and with Prohibition came the birth and growth spurt of nationally organized crime. Newly-conceived Mafia families jockeying for power were waging battles that killed scores, frightened citizens, and gave birth to screaming headlines and grand funeral processions never before experienced in the New World. But it all began years ago and miles away. Sicily is an unforgiving land, with a harsh climate and soil that relu
A type of cheese?” and the same is true of Germany. Because, for many Germans, the mafia is the stuff of folklore, films like the Godfather and of novels, they don’t even have the slightest idea about their gentle-natured pizza maker that greets them, and I know this is also true of those that were killed in Duisburg, who were known as good neighbours, very friendly and approachable. This kind of thing is impossible for the average German to understand. As regards the German politicians, over and above their direct involvement in specific cases, admitting that the mafia does exist in Germany represents a major problem because it would lead to an even greater problem in terms of public conscience, above all because the only problem acknowledged by the German Government are the Islamists, not the Mafia. D.M.: But these names that you revealed in your book, did you uncover them during your investigations or how else did you manage to put together all of these clues that paint such a varie
