Duro golpe a la mafia italo-estadounidense. ¡Como de película!, para un buen guion holywoodense.
De repente me pareció estar viendo a Denzel Washington, protagonizando a Frank Lucas en el filme "Ganter americano".
Este jueves nos despertamos con la noticia de que alrededor de 80 personas fueron detenidas en Italia y EE UU en un operativo anti mafia; el Eje Palermo que inauguro el señor Charles Lucky Luciano sigue vivo, pero también hay que decirlo, la inteligencia y la cooperación contra el crimen organizado funcionan.
La operación denominada Puente viejo (Old Bridge) fue puesta en práctica por magistrados de Nueva York y de la fiscalía antimafia italiana, de Palermo. La investigación llevo cinco años e involucra a miembros de Cosa Nostra.
Puente viejo es la mayor operativo contra la mafia desde los tiempos de la Pizza Connection, que reveló los vínculos entre la mafia italiana y norteamericana para controlar el trafico de drogas en la pasada década de los años 80. Quién no recuerda, que allá a finales de los 70 y principios de los 80, se descubrió que el eje Palermo-Nuev York. encabezado entonces por Gaetano Badalamenti distribuía heroína y cocaína a través de pizzerías. Entonces se calcula que durante cinco años se importaron de Italia a EE UU varias toneladas de droga valoradas en más de 1,600 millones de dólares.
En la operación de hoy, el responsable de la lucha contra el crimen de la Policía de Estado en Italia, Francesco Gratteri, ha precisado que hasta el momento hay 77 personas detenidas, 19 en Palermo , más otras cuatro que estaban ya en la cárcel, y 54 en EE UU. Lo más importantes es que entre ellos, figuran importantes jefes mafiosos como los responsables de los clanes italo-estadounidenses Gambino e Inzerillo, Frank Cali , de 43 años, y Filippo Casamento, de 82.
Frank Calí -conocido como Frank Boy-, es considerado jefe de la familia Gambino, que ha funcionado como puente entre Italia y EE UU y que habría establecido contactos con Bernardo Provenzano, jefe de jefes (capo di tutti capi) durante 13 años, y con su sucesor Salvatore lo Piccolo, arrestado en noviembre del año pasado, junto a su hijo Sandro. Se cree que ambos cometieron diversos asesinatos. Hoy Lo Piccolo se encuentra aislado en la cárcel de máxima seguridad en Terni, en el centro de Italia..
A la detención de Provenzano en abril de 2006, Lo Piccolo se convirtió en el nuevo padrino de la Cosa Nostra.
Piccolo no pudo hacer lo que hizo Provenzano -conocido también como El fantasma de Corleone, Binnu el tractor o Zio Binu (tio Bernardo, jefe supremo de la Cosa Nostra, durante 13 años-, lograr unificar a todas las familias, apelando una estrategia para infiltrarse inteligentemente en la economía y la política nacional e internacional. Provenzano fue detenido en Corleone, Italia, después de una larga investigación.
Y que tienen ue ver Provezano con lo de hoy. Mucho. Los pizzini (papelitos escritos a mano o con máquina de escribir a través de los cuales, se comunicaba con el mundo exterior, con sus cómplices y su familia) encontrados entonces fueron clave en la investigación puente viejo. (veáse http://fredalvarez.blogspot.com/2006_04_12_archive.html)
El Fiscal nacional antimafia, Piero Grasso, ha indicado que Cosa Nostra estaba intentando volver a controlar el mercado de estupefacientes, en particular de cocaína, en Italia y que había reforzado las relaciones entre las familias de Cosa Nostra de Palermo y EE UU, con especial referencia a la Gambino de Nueva York.
Los sospechosos detenidos en Italia fueron inculpados entre otros cargos de homicidio, asociación mafiosa y extorsión: "Pienso que la mafia siciliana intenta, a través de un diálogo reforzado con la mafia de Nueva York, volver a recuperar el mercado de la droga, más lucrativo que el de la extorsión", dijo Franceso Messineo, fiscal general antimafia de Palermo
En Nueva York fueron inculpados 62 sospechosos de pertenecer a tres de las cinco grandes familias mafiosas, Gambino, Genovese y Bonnanno, de los cuales 54 fueron detenidos, indicó Benton Campbell, fiscal del distrito Este.
Los cargos incluyen, entre otros, homicidio, extorsión, narcotráfico, fraude postal, lavado de dinero y juego ilegal, vinculados sobre todo a actividades del clan Gambino.
Los cargos incluyen, entre otros, homicidio, extorsión, narcotráfico, fraude postal, lavado de dinero y juego ilegal, vinculados sobre todo a actividades del clan Gambino.
Entre los inculpados figuran el capo ("boss") del clan Gambino John D'Amico, su adjunto Domenico Cefalu y el "consigliere" Joseph Corozzo, así como otros miembros importantes del grupo mafioso. Corozzo y Cefalu fueron detenidos y se desconoce la suerte de D'Amico.
La redada es el fruto de una investigación de cinco años y algunos de los cargos se remontan a los años 70, cuando los Gambino estaban dirigidos por Paul Castellano, padrino del clan antes de ser asesinado en 1986 frente al restaurante Sparks en Manhattan, por orden de John Gotti, que tomó su lugar. Gotti, apodado el "Dapper Don" fue apresado en 1998 y condenado a 77 años de cárcel, donde murió de cáncer en 2002, siendo reemplazado por D'Amico en la jerarquía delictiva.
Los cinco grupos italianos de Nueva York, primos hermanos de la Cosa Nostra:
Hay en Italia cinco grupos mafiosos, la Cosa Nostra (Sicilia); La Camorra (Nápoles); La'Ndrangheta (Calabria; La Sacra Corona Unita, (de la región de Puglia) y la Stidda, también de Sicilina.
La Cosa Nostra (cosa nuestra o sólo de nosotros), es la esencia de la mafia.
Hoy la Cosa Nostra, según el World Drug Report "es una organización criminal, cuya base es Sicilia, que tiene estructuras y afiliados en cada continente". El documento añade que "es una organización vertical con 5 mil miembros regionales".
En efecto, es una de las organizaciones criminales más importantes del mundo, con claro ascendente sobre todas las demás. Su estructura es jerárquica de tipo piramidal. Cada familia se adscribe a una zona, a un espacio, a una región. Sus principales lugares de asentamiento son, Palermo, Marsala, Agrigento o Catania, aunque tiene ramificaciones que llegan a España, Alemania, Francia, Suiza, Gran Bretaña, Rusia y, obviamente, EE UU y América Latina.
Se supone, aunque es imposible saberlo, que en el mundo debe haber por lo menos unos 50,000 hombres de honor. Sus actividades son ilimitadas.
En efecto, es una de las organizaciones criminales más importantes del mundo, con claro ascendente sobre todas las demás. Su estructura es jerárquica de tipo piramidal. Cada familia se adscribe a una zona, a un espacio, a una región. Sus principales lugares de asentamiento son, Palermo, Marsala, Agrigento o Catania, aunque tiene ramificaciones que llegan a España, Alemania, Francia, Suiza, Gran Bretaña, Rusia y, obviamente, EE UU y América Latina.
Se supone, aunque es imposible saberlo, que en el mundo debe haber por lo menos unos 50,000 hombres de honor. Sus actividades son ilimitadas.
La Cosa Nostra es prima de las cinco familias mafiosas norte americanas; con redes con las Tríadas chinas, con la Yakuza japonesa, y las múltiples y poderosas mafiyas rusas, y si le buscamos también hay relación con los carteles de narcotraficantes colombianos y mexicanos
Forman parte de la globalizacón del crimen organizado.
Las cinco familias en EE EU:
En los años ochentas, el entonces fiscal de hiero Rudolph Giuliani, investigó las actividades de las cinco familias. Empleo tres años de investigación y poco más de más de 100 agentes del FBI y detectives de la policía neoyorquina; logró acopiar miles de horas de grabaciones conseguidas a través del control de 90 teléfonos y la instalación de 80 micrófonos secretos (concretamente los micrófonos atravesaban paredes y podían captar conversaciones a centenares de metros de distancia). Para lograr estos procesamientos, Giuliani logró la colaboración de 30 testigos protegidos.
Según un informe policial presentado ante el Senado en 1985, la acusación de Giuliani afirmaba que las familias Genovese, Gambino, Luchese, Colombo y Bonanno, formaban parte de la comisión, auténtico consejo de administración del crimen organizado, que fue formada en 1931 por el célebre Charles Lucky Luciano para coordinar en todo el país las actividades de los distintos clanes mafiosos.
Según un informe policial presentado ante el Senado en 1985, la acusación de Giuliani afirmaba que las familias Genovese, Gambino, Luchese, Colombo y Bonanno, formaban parte de la comisión, auténtico consejo de administración del crimen organizado, que fue formada en 1931 por el célebre Charles Lucky Luciano para coordinar en todo el país las actividades de los distintos clanes mafiosos.
Las cinco familias de la Mafia neoyorquina, cuyos nombres provienen de los hombres que las dirigieron en su origen, tenían entonces 860 miembros y 2,000 asociados.
La investigación de Giuliani, decía entoces:
Familia Gambino.- Es la más poderosa de las cinco. Desde 1977 está dirigida por Paul Castellano, alias Big Paul, de 72 años, primo y cuñado de Carlos Gambino, fun dador de la familia. Ésta controla varios sindicatos, casinos de Atlantic City, restaurantes y joyerías.
Familia Genovese.- El padrino de la familia Genovese es Phil Lombardo, octogenario, enfermo y retirado en Florida. El verdadero jefe es Anthony Salerno, alias Fat Tony, de 72 años. Las principales actividades son la pornografía, el control de sindicatos y los préstamos usurarios.
Familia Colombo.- Está dirigida por Gennaro Langella, de 46 años, que derrocó a Carmine Persico, alias The Snake (La Serpiente), detenido el 15 de febrero. Las actividades fundamentales de este grupo mafioso son el tráfico de drogas, el juego y la extorsión.
Familia Bonanno.- Tiene al frente, desde 1969, a, Philip Rastelli, de 67 años. Es la menos fuerte de las cinco y, al parecer, concentra su actividad en el tráfico de droga, en el que colabora con grupos de la Mafia siciliana.
Familia, Luchese.- El padrino es, desde 1974, Antonio Corallo, de 72 años. Las principales actividades del grupo son los préstamos usurarios, el juego, el tráfico de drogas y el control de sindicatos.
Nota de The New York Times, February 7, 2008
In Big Mob Sweep, Gambino Leaders Are Indicted
By William . Rashbaum
In Big Mob Sweep, Gambino Leaders Are Indicted
By William . Rashbaum
Federal and state authorities early Thursday began rounding up scores of accused organized crime figures on a series of indictments charging murder, racketeering, construction extortions and other crimes in the largest such sweep in recent memory, law enforcement officials said.
About 80 people — among them the entire Gambimo family hierarchy and reputed figures from the Genovese and Bonanno families — are named in two indictments, along with union and construction industry officials, the law enforcement officials said.
By about 10 a.m., 52 people were already in custody, including the family’s acting underboss, Domenico Cefalu, and consigliere, Joseph Corozzo, the officials said. The acting boss, who prosecutors identified as John D’Amico, known as Jackie the Nose, was not yet in custody and several officials said he was believed to be on vacation.
The arrests were announced this morning at a news conference at the office of United States Attorney Benton J. Campbell in Brooklyn.
The charges, which are being brought in United States District Court in Brooklyn and state Supreme Court in Queens, also include seven murders — three dating back more than a quarter century — along with racketeering, extortion and state gambling charges, officials said.
“This investigation was extraordinary in that it penetrated the inner workings of the Gambino family and simultaneously reached back in time to hold several members of the Gambino family accountable for their prior crimes,” Mr. Campbell said at the news conference this morning.
New York State Attorney General Andrew M. Cuomo said the case was built in large part with the aid of an informer who helped record hundreds of hours of mob conversations.
“The message today is clear: organized crime still exists in the city and the state of New York,” Mr. Cuomo said. “We like to think that it’s a vestige of the past. It’s not. It is as unrelenting as weeds that continue to sprout in the cracks of society.
“The second message, which is equally clear,” he added, “is that we will not rest until organized crime is a distant memory in New York.”
The arrests by the F.B.I. and investigators from several other agencies were coordinated with a sweep that netted dozens of accused organized crime figures in Sicily. Those charges are not directly linked to the New York arrests, but officials said they were part of a new American-Italian strategy aimed at severing the close cooperative relationship between the Gambino family and the Sicilian mob.
In addition to Mr. D’Amico, Mr. Cefalu and Mr. Corozzo, the 82-count federal indictment charges six Gambino captains, who serve as the family’s midlevel managers, along with more than a dozen soldiers, officials said. A large number of family associates are also being charged.
The construction extortion aspects of investigation, which began more than three years ago, focused on the trucking industry, which hauls away dirt excavated from major construction projects, officials said. Several union officials were also charged in a scheme to steal union benefits.
Among those charged was Anthony Delvescovo, a project manager and director of tunnel operations for Schiavone Construction Company, a heavy construction firm that has worked on major public works projects in the New York area, according to the indictment.
Four trucking company executives, from companies including SRD Contracting, Firehawk Enterprises, Jo-Tap Industries, Andrews Trucking and Dump Masters of NY Inc., were also charged.
The trucking firms were licensed by the city’s Business Integrity Commission, an agency which polices private carting companies and businesses that haul construction debris. The commission, which also had a role in the investigation, was expected to move to revoke the companies’ licenses today.
The construction projects cited in the case include a Nascar track in Staten Island, where site preparation work was done but which was never completed because racing officials scuttled the plan in the face of community opposition, officials said.
Also the subject of extortions was the Liberty View Harbor project in Jersey City, the officials said.
The seven murders include five that prosecutors are charging were committed by one Gambino soldier, Charles Carneglia, between 1976 and 1990, officials said. The first was the slaying of Albert Gelb, a highly decorated court officer who arrested Mr. Carneglia in a Queens diner after noticing he was carrying a pistol. Mr. Gelb was shot four days before he was to testify against Mr. Carneglia in that case.
The last killing was an armored car guard, Jose Delgado Rivera, an armored car guard who was shot in the back during a robbery, the officials said.
Law enforcement officials also described a case in which they said Mr. Corozzo, the consigliere, ordered the shooting of a member of the competing Luchese crime family. The victim, Robert Arena, was fatally shot at close range as he sat in a car in Brooklyn in 1996 in retribution for the murder of a Corozzo crew member.
“The shooter in that case was already arrested,” New York City Police Commissioner Raymond W. Kelly said in a statement. “But the boss who ordered it was indicted today.”The federal case, which was investigated by the F.B.I. along with the United States Department of Labor, the Waterfront Commission, the State Organized Crime Task Force, among other agencies, was based on hundreds of hours of secretly recorded conversations made by a construction executive who had gained the confidence of crime family members, officials said.
In the state case, brought by the office of Queens District Attorney Richard A. Browne, 26 people were charged with gambling, loan-sharking and promoting prostitution, officials said. Twenty of the people had been arrested by about 10 a.m., officials said.
The leadership of the family — Mr. D’Amico, Mr. Cefalu and Mr. Corozzo — were all charged in federal court with racketeering conspiracy and extortion and, if convicted, face up to 20 years in prison on multiple counts.
Anahad O’Connor contributed reporting.
About 80 people — among them the entire Gambimo family hierarchy and reputed figures from the Genovese and Bonanno families — are named in two indictments, along with union and construction industry officials, the law enforcement officials said.
By about 10 a.m., 52 people were already in custody, including the family’s acting underboss, Domenico Cefalu, and consigliere, Joseph Corozzo, the officials said. The acting boss, who prosecutors identified as John D’Amico, known as Jackie the Nose, was not yet in custody and several officials said he was believed to be on vacation.
The arrests were announced this morning at a news conference at the office of United States Attorney Benton J. Campbell in Brooklyn.
The charges, which are being brought in United States District Court in Brooklyn and state Supreme Court in Queens, also include seven murders — three dating back more than a quarter century — along with racketeering, extortion and state gambling charges, officials said.
“This investigation was extraordinary in that it penetrated the inner workings of the Gambino family and simultaneously reached back in time to hold several members of the Gambino family accountable for their prior crimes,” Mr. Campbell said at the news conference this morning.
New York State Attorney General Andrew M. Cuomo said the case was built in large part with the aid of an informer who helped record hundreds of hours of mob conversations.
“The message today is clear: organized crime still exists in the city and the state of New York,” Mr. Cuomo said. “We like to think that it’s a vestige of the past. It’s not. It is as unrelenting as weeds that continue to sprout in the cracks of society.
“The second message, which is equally clear,” he added, “is that we will not rest until organized crime is a distant memory in New York.”
The arrests by the F.B.I. and investigators from several other agencies were coordinated with a sweep that netted dozens of accused organized crime figures in Sicily. Those charges are not directly linked to the New York arrests, but officials said they were part of a new American-Italian strategy aimed at severing the close cooperative relationship between the Gambino family and the Sicilian mob.
In addition to Mr. D’Amico, Mr. Cefalu and Mr. Corozzo, the 82-count federal indictment charges six Gambino captains, who serve as the family’s midlevel managers, along with more than a dozen soldiers, officials said. A large number of family associates are also being charged.
The construction extortion aspects of investigation, which began more than three years ago, focused on the trucking industry, which hauls away dirt excavated from major construction projects, officials said. Several union officials were also charged in a scheme to steal union benefits.
Among those charged was Anthony Delvescovo, a project manager and director of tunnel operations for Schiavone Construction Company, a heavy construction firm that has worked on major public works projects in the New York area, according to the indictment.
Four trucking company executives, from companies including SRD Contracting, Firehawk Enterprises, Jo-Tap Industries, Andrews Trucking and Dump Masters of NY Inc., were also charged.
The trucking firms were licensed by the city’s Business Integrity Commission, an agency which polices private carting companies and businesses that haul construction debris. The commission, which also had a role in the investigation, was expected to move to revoke the companies’ licenses today.
The construction projects cited in the case include a Nascar track in Staten Island, where site preparation work was done but which was never completed because racing officials scuttled the plan in the face of community opposition, officials said.
Also the subject of extortions was the Liberty View Harbor project in Jersey City, the officials said.
The seven murders include five that prosecutors are charging were committed by one Gambino soldier, Charles Carneglia, between 1976 and 1990, officials said. The first was the slaying of Albert Gelb, a highly decorated court officer who arrested Mr. Carneglia in a Queens diner after noticing he was carrying a pistol. Mr. Gelb was shot four days before he was to testify against Mr. Carneglia in that case.
The last killing was an armored car guard, Jose Delgado Rivera, an armored car guard who was shot in the back during a robbery, the officials said.
Law enforcement officials also described a case in which they said Mr. Corozzo, the consigliere, ordered the shooting of a member of the competing Luchese crime family. The victim, Robert Arena, was fatally shot at close range as he sat in a car in Brooklyn in 1996 in retribution for the murder of a Corozzo crew member.
“The shooter in that case was already arrested,” New York City Police Commissioner Raymond W. Kelly said in a statement. “But the boss who ordered it was indicted today.”The federal case, which was investigated by the F.B.I. along with the United States Department of Labor, the Waterfront Commission, the State Organized Crime Task Force, among other agencies, was based on hundreds of hours of secretly recorded conversations made by a construction executive who had gained the confidence of crime family members, officials said.
In the state case, brought by the office of Queens District Attorney Richard A. Browne, 26 people were charged with gambling, loan-sharking and promoting prostitution, officials said. Twenty of the people had been arrested by about 10 a.m., officials said.
The leadership of the family — Mr. D’Amico, Mr. Cefalu and Mr. Corozzo — were all charged in federal court with racketeering conspiracy and extortion and, if convicted, face up to 20 years in prison on multiple counts.
Anahad O’Connor contributed reporting.
Fuente: agencias.
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