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Sacra Corona Unita
(; ; acronym: SCU), also known as the Fourth Mafia, is a Mafia-type criminal organization from the Apulia region in Southern Italy, and it is especially active in the areas of Brindisi, Lecce, and Taranto. Origin of the name Informer Cosimo Capodieci said the SCU used "''Sacra'' (Sacred) because at the time of the affiliation the new member is "baptized", the ''Corona'' because it resembles a crown, meaning the rosary typically used in Church in order to carry out the functions of Jesus Christ and the cross, ''Unita'' because it was necessary to be connected to one another, similar to the rings of a chain." History Sacra Corona Unita was formed in the late 1970s and early 1980s and was formally established in a prison in 1983, according to a document found by investigators in the cell of the organisation's founder, . The Sacra Corona Unita was created to counter the overwhelming power in the prisons and on the Apulian territory of some of the more established mafia organisati ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Apulia
Apulia ( ), also known by its Italian language, Italian name Puglia (), is a Regions of Italy, region of Italy, located in the Southern Italy, southern peninsular section of the country, bordering the Adriatic Sea to the east, the Strait of Otranto and Ionian Sea to the southeast and the Gulf of Taranto to the south. The region comprises , and has 3,874,166 inhabitants as of 2025. It is bordered by the other Italian regions of Molise to the north, Campania to the west, and Basilicata to the southwest. The regional capital is Bari. In ancient times, more precisely at the beginning of the first millennium BC, the region of Apulia was inhabited by the Iapygians, while during the 8th century BC its coastal areas were populated by Magna Graecia, ancient Greeks. Later, the region was conquered by the ancient Romans. It was then conquered by the Byzantine Empire, Byzantines, followed by the Normans, the Kingdom of Aragon, Aragonese and the Spanish Empire, Spanish. Subsequently, it bec ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Montenegrin Mafia
The Montenegrin mafia (Crnogorska mafija/Црногорска мафија) refers to the various criminal organizations based in Montenegro or composed of Montenegrins. Outside of the country Montenegrin gangs are active throughout Europe-notably Serbia. The gangs tend to specialize in narcotics smuggling, tobacco smuggling and arms trafficking. 2021 Serious and Organized Crime Threat Assessment of Montenegro (SOCTA) identifies 10 high-risk organized crime groups in Montenegro, with Kavač and Škaljari clans being by far most prominent, and playing the central role in so called Balkan cartel. Most of the other high risk organized crime groups in Montenegro are either subservient to, or allied with one of two aforementioned Kotor clans. Major crime groups in Montenegro specialize in narcotics smuggling, although highly profitable cigarette smuggling is a focus of several criminal associations. History The history of the Montenegrin mafia is deeply intertwined with the politi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Carabinieri
The Carabinieri (, also , ; formally ''Arma dei Carabinieri'', "Arm of Carabineers"; previously ''Corpo dei Carabinieri Reali'', "Royal Carabineers Corps") are the national gendarmerie of Italy who primarily carry out domestic and foreign policing duties. It is one of Italy's main law enforcement agencies, alongside the Polizia di Stato and the Guardia di Finanza. As with the Guardia di Finanza but in contrast to the Polizia di Stato, the Carabinieri are a military force. As the fourth Military branch, branch of the Italian Armed Forces, they come under the authority of the Ministry of Defence (Italy), Ministry of Defence; for activities related to inland public order and security, they functionally depend on the Ministry of the Interior (Italy), Ministry of the Interior. In practice, there is a significant overlap between the jurisdiction of the Polizia di Stato and Carabinieri, and both of them are contactable through 112 (emergency telephone number), 112, the European Union's ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Raggruppamento Operativo Speciale
The Raggruppamento Operativo Speciale (ROS), or Special Operations Group, is part of the Italian Carabinieri. History Founded on 3 December 1990 to coordinate investigative activities against organized crime, it is now the main investigative arm of the Carabinieri, dealing with organized crime and mafia. The ROS reports directly to the Carabinieri General Command. It was created from the remains of the Special Anti-terrorism Unit, built up in the 1970s by General Carlo Alberto Dalla Chiesa to combat terrorism in Italy. It had centers in Genoa, Naples, Milan, Padua, Rome and Turin. Having defeated the Red Brigades in the 1980s, the Special Anti-terrorism Unit was also employed to investigate organized crime. Organization The ROS command center coordinates the activities of 26 regional anti-crime sections. The headquarters is organized as follows: * Commanding Officer ** Command Office ** Anti-terrorism Department ** Violent Crimes Department ** Technical Investigations Departmen ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nuova Camorra Organizzata
The Nuova Camorra Organizzata (in English: New Organized Camorra) was an Italian Camorra criminal organization founded in the late 1970s by a Neapolitan Camorrista, Raffaele Cutolo, in the region of Campania. It was also known by the initials NCO. The organization was established with the purpose of renewing the old rural Camorra, which dealt in contraband cigarettes and extortion schemes in the Neapolitan fruit market. To this end, Cutolo created a structured and hierarchical organization, in stark contrast to the traditional Camorra clans which are usually fragmented. History Formation The founder of this organization, Raffaele Cutolo, also known as ''"'o Professore"'' (The Professor), was born on 20 December 1941 in Ottaviano, a village in the hinterland of Naples. At the age of 18, on 24 February 1963, he committed his first homicide and was subsequently convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment, reduced to 24 years after appeal. He was sent to Poggioreale, Naples’ pr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Raffaele Cutolo
Raffaele Cutolo (; 4 November 1941 – 17 February 2021) was an Italian crime boss and leader of the Nuova Camorra Organizzata (NCO), an organisation he built to renew the Camorra. Cutolo had a variety of nicknames including '''o Vangelo'' ("the gospel"), '''o Princepe'' ("the prince"), '''o Professore'' ("the professor") and '''o Monaco'' ("the monk"). Apart from 18 months on the run, Cutolo lived entirely in maximum-security prisons or psychiatric prisons after 1963. At the time of his death he was serving multiple life sentences for murder. Early years Cutolo, the youngest of three, was born in Ottaviano, a town in the hinterland of Naples, into a close-knit Catholic peasant family with no prior ties to the Camorra. After a happy childhood—he did well at primary school and was an altar boy—, he lost his father prematurely in 1953 at the age of twelve. His father, an agricultural labourer, had worked for years as a sharecropper to support the family. One day, the landown ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
La Stampa
(English: "The Press") is an Italian daily newspaper published in Turin with an average circulation of 87,143 copies in May 2023. Distributed in Italy and other European nations, it is one of the oldest newspapers in Italy. Until the late 1970s and early 1980s, when the country underwent a nationalization process, and were not real national daily newspapers, as their geographical area of circulation was mostly limited to Piedmont for and Lombardy for ; thus, both papers shared a readership that was linked to its place of residence and its social class, mostly from the industrialist class and financial circles. has "historically" been Turin's newspaper of record. It is considered one of Italy's leading national newspapers alongside , , , and . History and profile The paper was founded by Vittorio Bersezio, a journalist and novelist, in February 1867, with the name ''Gazzetta Piemontese''. In 1895, the newspaper was bought and by then edited by Alfredo Frassati (father of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rosary
The Rosary (; , in the sense of "crown of roses" or "garland of roses"), formally known as the Psalter of Jesus and Mary (Latin: Psalterium Jesu et Mariae), also known as the Dominican Rosary (as distinct from other forms of rosary such as the Rosary-based prayers, Franciscan Crown, Bridgettine Rosary, Rosary of the Holy Wounds, etc.), refers to a set of prayers used primarily in the Catholic Church, and to the physical string of knots or beads used to count the component prayers. When referring to the prayer, the word is usually capitalized ("the Rosary", as is customary for other names of prayers, such as "the Lord's Prayer", and "the Hail Mary"); when referring to the prayer beads as an object, it is written with a lower-case initial letter (e.g. "a rosary bead"). The prayers that compose the Rosary are arranged in sets of ten Hail Marys, called "decades". Each decade is preceded by one Lord's Prayer ("Our Father"), and traditionally followed by one Glory Be. Some Catholics ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Taranto
Taranto (; ; previously called Tarent in English) is a coastal city in Apulia, Southern Italy. It is the capital of the province of Taranto, serving as an important commercial port as well as the main Italian naval base. Founded by Spartans in the 8th century BC during the period of Greek colonisation, Taranto was among the most important '' poleis'' in Magna Graecia, becoming a cultural, economic and military power that gave birth to philosophers, strategists, writers and athletes such as Archytas, Aristoxenus, Livius Andronicus, Heracleides, Iccus, Cleinias, Leonidas, Lysis and Sosibius. By 500 BC, the city was among the largest in the world, with a population estimated up to 300,000 people. The seven-year rule of Archytas marked the apex of its development and recognition of its hegemony over other Greek colonies of southern Italy. During the Norman period, it became the capital of the Principality of Taranto, which covered almost all of the heel of Apulia. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lecce
Lecce (; ) is a city in southern Italy and capital of the province of Lecce. It is on the Salentine Peninsula, at the heel of the Italian Peninsula, and is over two thousand years old. Because of its rich Baroque architecture, Lecce is nicknamed "The Florence of the South". "Lecce stone"—a particular kind of limestone—is one of the city's main exports, because it is very soft and workable, and thus suitable for sculptures. Lecce is also an important agricultural centre, chiefly for its olive oil and wine production, as well as an industrial centre specializing in ceramics. Lecce is home to the University of Salento. History According to legend, a city called ''Sybar'' existed at the time of the Trojan War, founded by the Messapii. It was conquered by the Romans in the 3rd century BC, receiving the new name of ''Lupiae''. Under the emperor Hadrian (2nd century AD) the city was moved to the northeast, taking the name of Licea or Litium. Lecce had a theater and an ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Brindisi
Brindisi ( ; ) is a city in the region of Apulia in southern Italy, the capital of the province of Brindisi, on the coast of the Adriatic Sea. Historically, the city has played an essential role in trade and culture due to its strategic position on the Italian Peninsula and its natural port on the Adriatic Sea. The city remains a major port for trade with the Balkan Peninsula, Greece and the Middle East. Its industries include agriculture, chemical works, and the generation of electricity. From September 1943 to February 1944, Brindisi was the provisional government seat of the Kingdom of Italy, meaning that the city has been one of the 5 capitals in the history of Italy. Etymology The name comes from the Latin , through the Greek , is a corruption of the Messapic language, Messapian , meaning "head of the deer", and probably referring to the shape of the natural harbour. It is related to Albanian language, Albanian bri, brî - pl. Brini zi (black horn) brirë, brinë ("horn"; " ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Southern Italy
Southern Italy (, , or , ; ; ), also known as () or (; ; ; ), is a macroregion of Italy consisting of its southern Regions of Italy, regions. The term "" today mostly refers to the regions that are associated with the people, lands or culture of the Historical region, historical and cultural region that was once politically under the administration of the former Kingdoms of Kingdom of Naples, Naples and Kingdom of Sicily, Sicily (officially denominated as one entity and , i.e. "Kingdom of Sicily on the other side of Strait of Messina, the Strait" and "across the Strait") and which later shared a common organization into Italy's largest List of historical states of Italy, pre-unitarian state, the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies. The island of Sardinia, which was not part of the aforementioned polity and had been under the rule of the Alps, Alpine House of Savoy, which would eventually annex the Bourbons' southern Italian kingdom altogether, is nonetheless often subsumed into the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
