Criminology

Italian mafia: How crime families went global

Italian police have carried out a spate of anti-mafia raids, arresting dozens of suspects near Naples, Rome and Agrigento in Sicily.

Illegal drugs, arms trafficking, extortion, contract killings, political bribery, prostitution, art thefts... the list of crimes is long.

So who are the Italian mafia?

Sicilian Mafia - Cosa Nostra

The Sicilian gangs established the model for other mafias. They meted out local justice in the 1800s, then grew in power and sophistication.

Cosa Nostra means "our thing" - it is the original Mafia, with a capital M, based on family clans.

It is famous for the "omertà" - a code of silence demanding extreme loyalty. Turncoats risk torture and death, or punishment of their relatives.

Even today they settle some business disputes and retrieve stolen goods in Sicily, undermining the slow-moving Italian courts. But many despise them for the "pizzo" - protection money - that they extort from businesses...