Pizzo (mafia)The pizzo (ˈpittso) is protection money paid to the Mafia often in the form of a forced transfer of money resulting from extortion. The term is derived from the Sicilian pizzu ('beak'). To let someone wet their beak (Sicilian language fari vagnari u pizzu) is to pay protection money. The practice is widespread in Southern Italy, not only by the Sicilian Cosa Nostra, but also by the 'Ndrangheta in Calabria and the Camorra in Campania.
StiddaThe Stidda; ˈstiɖːa) is a Sicilian and Maltese Mafia-type criminal organization and criminal society centered in the central-southern part of Sicily and Malta. Members are known as stiddari or stiddaroli. It is most active in the rural parts of southern Sicily and Malta and is a rival to the Cosa Nostra, originating as a dissident offshoot group of the Sicilian Cosa Nostra. Some members have a star tattooed on their bodies. Little is known of the origins of the organization, though it is believed to have come about in a similar fashion to the Mafia, in the same rural environment of Sicily.
Transnational organized crimeTransnational organized crime (TOC) is organized crime coordinated across national borders, involving groups or markets of individuals working in more than one country to plan and execute illegal business ventures. In order to achieve their goals, these criminal groups use systematic violence and corruption. Common transnational organized crimes include conveying drugs, conveying arms, trafficking for sex, toxic waste disposal, materials theft and poaching.
Yamaguchi-gumiis Japan's largest yakuza organization. It is named after its founder Harukichi Yamaguchi. Its origins can be traced back to a loose labor union for dockworkers in Kobe before World War II. It is one of the largest criminal organizations in the world. According to the National Police Agency, it had 3,800 active members at the end of 2022. The Yamaguchi-gumi are among the world's wealthiest gangsters, bringing in billions of dollars a year from extortion, gambling, the sex industry, arms trafficking, drug trafficking, real estate and construction kickback schemes.
GangA gang is a group or society of associates, friends or members of a family with a defined leadership and internal organization that identifies with or claims control over territory in a community and engages, either individually or collectively, in illegal, and possibly violent, behavior. The word gang derives from the past participle of Old English gan, meaning . It is cognate with Old Norse gangr, meaning .
CataniaCatania (kəˈtɑːniə, alsoUK-ˈteɪn-, US-ˈtæn-, Sicilian and kaˈtaːnja) is the second largest municipality in Sicily, after Palermo, both by area and by population. Despite its reputation as the second city of the island, Catania is the largest Sicilian conurbation, among the largest in Italy, as evidenced also by the presence of important road and rail transport infrastructures as well as by the main airport in Sicily, fifth in Italy. It is located on Sicily's east coast, at the base of the active volcano, Mount Etna, and it faces the Ionian Sea.
GangsterA gangster is a criminal who is a member of a gang. Most gangs are considered to be part of organized crime. Gangsters are also called mobsters, a term derived from mob and the suffix -ster. Gangs provide a level of organization and resources that support much larger and more complex criminal transactions than an individual criminal could achieve. Gangsters have been active for many years in countries around the world. Gangsters are the subject of many novels, films, television series and video games.
AcerraAcerra (aˈtʃɛrra) is a town and comune of Campania, southern Italy, in the Metropolitan City of Naples, about northeast of the capital in Naples. It is part of the Agro Acerrano plain. Acerra is one of the most ancient cities of the region, likely founded by the Osci with the name of Akeru (Acerrae, Ἀχέρραι). It first appears in history as an independent city during the great war of the Campanians and Latins against Rome. Shortly after the conclusion, in 332 BC, the Acerrani, in common with several other Campanian cities, obtained the Roman "civitas", without the right of suffrage.
History of NaplesThe history of Naples is long and varied, dating to Greek settlements established in the Naples area in the 2nd millennium BC. During the end of the Greek Dark Ages a larger mainland colony – initially known as Parthenope – developed on the Pizzofalcone hill in the 8th century BC, and was refounded as Neapolis in the 6th century BC: it held an important role in Magna Graecia. The Greek culture of Naples was important to later Roman society. When the city became part of the Roman Republic in the central province of the Empire, it was a major cultural centre.
Mafia stateIn politics, a mafia state is a state system where the government is tied with organized crime to the degree when government officials, the police, and/or military became a part of the criminal enterprise. According to US diplomats, the expression "mafia state" was coined by Alexander Litvinenko. Mafia and Yakuza In a critical review of Moisés Naím's essay in Foreign Affairs, Peter Andreas pointed to the long existence of Italian mafia and Japanese Yakuza, writing that there were close relationships between those illicit organisations and respective governments.
