NCJ Number
123371
Date Published
1990
Length
384 pages
Annotation
This account of the history and operation of the Sicilian Mafia explains how it controls the international heroin market and how it is also heavily involved in cocaine trafficking.
Abstract
The narrative emphasizes that this criminal organization is currently stronger than ever and is not the weakening organization that many believe it to be. Its rise to global power began with a secret convenant made some 30 years ago, when leaders of the American Mafia gave their Sicilian counterparts control over the heroin market in the United States. Today the Sicilians operate throughout the world from their headquarters in Palermo, Sicily. Until the 1980's law enforcement professionals were unaware of the scope and power of this criminal organization and did not share information with officials in other nations. The Great Sicilian Mafia War of 1981-83 resulted in the defections of many leaders, as well as arrests, trials, and convictions. However, the organization continues to be powerful. Photographs, chapter notes, index, and 159 references.