They were two very different godfathers separated by 4,000 miles of ocean. John Gotti was the Teflon don, a New York mobster who adored public attention and defied lawmen to get him. Toto Riina was a peasant from rural Sicily, a boss who operated in the shadows. In the late ’80s and early ’90s it required two very different approaches to bring them to justice. ibid.
In Sicily it would take a revolution by the people to put Riina behind bars. ibid.
In the 1960s the history of the Mafia changed for ever when the Sicilian Mob began flooding the United States with … heroin: heroin would turn the Mafia into a global organisation and make them more money than they had ever made before; but it would also sow the seeds of their own destruction. Inside the Mafia: Going Global, National Geographic 2005
Shutting down the French Connection was indirectly opening the door to … the Sicilian Mafia. ibid.
Galante: a heroin man … multi-billion-dollar profits and unparalleled violence. In the ’70s the Bonanno family was known as … the heroin family. ibid.
The Sicilians set up a sophisticated smuggling system … Toto Riina … his factories were producing ton after ton of pure heroin. ibid.
The Sicilians had turned on Galante. ibid.
Henry Hill regularly used Pizza restaurants for his heroin drop-offs. ibid.
It was perhaps the most lucrative criminal racket in history. Between 1979 and 1984 the Sicilian Mafia smuggled nearly two billion dollars’ worth of heroin into the US. It made mobsters on both sides of the Atlantic rich. It also led to war. In Sicily rival bosses fought for control of the heroin-trafficking empire. The terror this war unleashed drove one godfather to break Omerta, the Mafia’s sacred code of silence. His act of betrayal would lead to a transatlantic assault on the Mafia and make the first serious dent in their worldwide power. Heroin was flooding into the United States in the late 1970s. Smuggled inside Italian food products and distributed through Pizzarias owned by the Sicilian Mafia. It was known as the Pizza Connection. The US faced an epidemic of heroin addiction. But for American gangstas heroin meant money. And lots of it. Inside the Mafia: The Great Betrayal, National Geographic 2005
In 1981 & 1982 the bodies of Riina’s victims were turning up on the streets of Palermo every three days. ibid.
Riina had murdered his way to the top of the Sicilian Mafia to seize control of the heroin trade to the US. Hundreds of people may have been killed on his orders. Few in Sicily had the courage to stand up to him. ibid.
The most spectacular trial in Mafia history – the Maxi Trial was about the begin. Falcone would lead the prosecution. The star witness was Tommaso Buscetta. The trial began in February 1986. 3,000 armed soldiers guarded the bunker. Plus an army tank. Nearly 500 defendants were scheduled for trial … He was on the witness stand for a week protected by bullet-proof glass repeating what he had already told Judge Falcone … 344 Mafiosi were found guilty. ibid.
It’s a plan in part relying on the help of one of the most notorious gangstas in America and his criminal empire. This is the story of mob boss Lucky Luciano and the astonishing secret coalition the US Navy never wanted told. Wartime Crime s1e6: The Sicilian Connection, Yesterday 2018
Sicily: Benito Mussolini’s rise to power has threatened to put an end to the Mafia. ibid.
WWII: ‘Operation Husky is fledged, and this plan is to take the US 7th army and the British 8th army and hit Sicily in the south.’ ibid. Geoffrey Wawro, University of Texas
Salvatore Riina played a leading role in the Mafia war that lasted from 1981 to 1983; in Sicily more than a thousand deaths have been attributed to it. Mafia Confidential, National Geographic 2018
‘He was the most lovable person in the world.’ ibid. driver
‘There was a massacre in Palermo; a homicide a day.’ ibid. commentator
‘Kill them all! Kill the kids too!’ ibid. Riina, attributed
‘Riina was the emblem of Cosa Nostra orthodoxy.’ ibid. commentator
‘It is a tragedy of intrigue, mystery and death. But also of life, passion and struggle. The stage is set for an extraordinary story where good and evil confront each other.’ A Very Sicilian Justice: Taking on the Mafia, Al Jazeera 2016
An unprecedented trial where politicians, the police and the Mafia are in the dock together. [Judge] Di Matteo is now the threatened man in Italy and the most protected. ibid.
‘In one year 200 people were killed.’ ibid.
‘I was brought up on the legend of Giovanni Falcone and Paolo Borsellino.’ ibid. lawyer of murdered anti-Mafia judges
475 Mafioso were brought to court; 346 were found guilty. ibid.
‘It’s an organisation that wants to exercise power in place of the state.’ ibid. commentator
In 1993 the Mafia unleashed a wave of bombings across Italy. ibid.
In Palermo, Italy, the Italian state is on trial for colluding with the Mafia. ibid.
That the state made a secret pact with Riina’s successor … in return for ending the bombing campaign. ibid. testimony
The State/Mafia trial is still ongoing. All the accused denied the charges against them … The hunt for the explosives continues. ibid.
Do you recognize me? Corleone I [Il Capo dei Capi] starring Caludio Gioe & Daniele Liotti & Simona Cavallari & Marco Leonardi & Salvatore Lazzaro & Marco Leonardi & Alfredo Pea et al, opening scene, Sky Arts 2013
Workers, this is the voice of the Socialist Party! It is the voice of the Sovereign People. ibid. cart through town
As of tomorrow you and your friends work for me. ibid. Don
In Corleone, one man defends the rights of the less fortunate but also guarantees the rigour of the law. That man is my friend Michele Navarra! Corleone II, Pozzallo
It’s the last time I run. The last. ibid. him to her
The new Palermo will rise here. 7-storey buildings with elevators, heated and tiled toilets. Corleone III, new partner
Seven dead, blown to bits. In Palermo. A car loaded with explosives. ibid. chief rozzer
How many have you killed? Corleone IV, her to him opening scene
To be the boss of Corleone takes imagination and grandiose thinking. ibid. bloke in hospital bed
Let’s go. Shoot only when I say. Corleone V, gangsta
You should have looked out for him. It’s your fault they killed him. ibid. wife
Our children must have everything. ibid. gangsta to wife
But you’re my biggest sin. ibid. Vito to gangsta
For example, if you touch Mafia people, you’ll touch DC people. And touching Christian Democrats, you touch Church people. Corleone VI, rozzer to rozzer
It’s impossible. They’re everywhere. They ruin everything. You can’t protect me. You can’t protect the baby. You can’t even protect yourself. ibid. rozzer’s wife to rozzer
The military has overthrown Allende’s Socialist government nominating General Pinochet their permanent head. ibid. television news
Toto Riina has had eighty people killed so far. He’s a butcher. ibid. gangsta
The Red Brigades have claimed responsibility for the kidnap of Aldo Moro. ibid. television news
There’s a war on the mainland. Terrorists are killing cops, judges, journalists, they even killed Moro. Corleone VII, rozzer to missus
Heroin. They’ve started refining it here. The Mafia is no longer an intermediary. ibid. head rozzer
That jerk made one of my men an offer! ... If we don’t stop him, Riina will screw us. Corleone VIII, committee gangsta
Money serves to get friends, and friends give you power. ibid. Riina
Have you read the papers? Secret societies, P2, all that stuff. They’re all there – generals, prefects, ministers, secret services. ibid.
Democracy is chatter. Corleone IX, Riina
The Mafia seems like an unstoppable tide. ibid. communist
They’re everywhere. They’re worse than the Red Brigades. The Brigades are against the State, the Mafia is inside the State. ibid. rozzer
We’re waging war against the Italian state. ibid. Riina