The alleged new head of the Cosa Nostra has been detained in a raid that led to 48 other arrests. Italy's Carabinieri named the suspect as 80-year-old Settimo Mineo, who officially works as a jeweller.
Image: picture alliance/dpa/ANSA/IO. Petyx
Advertisement
Italian police said on Tuesday they dismantled the upper echelons of the Sicilian Mafia by apprehending 49 people, including the newly-elected chairman of the Sicilian Mafia's top executive body, the Palermo Provincial Commission.
The 80-year-old Settimino Mineo has a long criminal record but his name was not previously known to a wider public. His role had been to help the Cosa Nostra regain its strength and act as a power-broker between crime families.
Mineo was detained in a raid that led to the other arrests. Police said he was heir to notorious Mafia boss Toto Riina, who died in prison last year.
The suspects are accused of extortion, illegal gun possession, arson, Mafia association and other crimes.
Interior Minister Matteo Salvini called the sweep in the Sicilian capital, Palermo, an "extraordinary operation."
Referring to the top echelons of the Sicilian Mafia, he said the operation had "dismantled the new 'Cupola' of Cosa Nostra."
Italy's interior minister, Matteo Salvini, takes part in the demolition of a villa built illegally by an alleged Mafia family in Rome last monthImage: Reuters/A. Bianchi
Salvini's Mafia crackdown
"Our law enforcement agencies are among the best in the world, and these operations do nothing but confirm it," Salvini tweeted.
Salvini also praised police operations in the northern Italian cities of Turin and Bolzano. The raids saw 15 members of the Nigerian mafia arrested in Turin, and eight drug dealers in Bolzano.
Salvini has adopted a heavy-handed approach towards the Mafia. Last month, he took part in the demolition of a villa built illegally by an alleged Mafia family in Rome.
Cosa Nostra has been in decline since the mid 1990s. A Mafia killing campaign of senior judges and politicians was met with a series of high-profile arrests with former Mafia boss Bernardo Provenzano being caught in 2006. He died in prison.
The 'Ndrangheta from Calabria has replaced Cosa Nostra as Italy's strongest crime group. It made inroads into Germany and is considered the leading smuggler of cocaine in Europe.
Great mafia movies — from 'The Godfather' to 'The Sopranos'
Drama, action, crime, violence and iconic bosses — organized crime makes for great films. Here is a selection of absolute mob movie classics.
Image: picture alliance/United Archives
'Gomorrah'
The 2008 Italian film "Gomorrah" is based on the book by Roberto Saviano, which describes the clandestine business of a clan within the powerful Sicilian Camorra crime syndicate. Saviano has been under police protection because of death threats following the publication of his bestselling non-fiction investigative work in 2006.
Image: picture-alliance/Everett Collection/IPC FIlms
'The Godfather'
Francis Ford Coppola was one of the first filmmakers to focus on the structures of organized crime with his 1972 hit feature film "The Godfather," a veritable mafia classic. Marlon Brando masterfully plays Don Vito Corleone, the head of a New York mafia family. Part II of the saga followed in 1974, part III in 1990.
Image: picture alliance/United Archives
'Goodfellas'
Martin Scorsese's 1990 mafia blockbuster starring Robert de Niro is a classic mob movie. Based on a true story, it's the film adaptation of Nicholas Pileggi's non-fiction book entitled "Wiseguy" that chronicles the life of a mafia mobster. Pileggi co-wrote the screenplay with Scorsese. "Goodfellas" is regarded as one of the greatest mafia films ever made.
Image: Deutsche Kinemathek/Warner Bros./Berlinale/dpa
'The Departed'
Martin Scorsese (center), himself the son of Italian immigrants, directed numerous mafia films over his career. "The Departed," starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Matt Damon and Jack Nicholson as a Boston crime boss, won four Oscars. Two of the characters are loosely based on a real-life famous gangster and a corrupt FBI agent.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa
'Mean Streets'
Still a classic gangster film today, "Mean Streets" (1973) was Martin Scorsese's first mafia film, and the first time he worked with actor Robert De Niro. Set in New York City's Little Italy neighborhood — some of the greatest gangster films of all times take place in NY's gritty atmosphere — the film is about the daily struggles of a young Mafioso.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/KPA Honorar & Belege
'Al Capone'
Al Capone was a Chicago crime boss notorious during the prohibition era. He was known for always wearing a fedora hat, a loud tie and never leaving the house without his bodyguards. The above photo is a rare picture of the mobster taken at a football game in Chicago in 1931. Richard Wilson directed the 1959 film starring Rod Steiger as Al Capone.
Image: picture-alliance/AP Photo
'The Untouchables'
In Brian de Palma's "The Untouchables" (1987), based on the book of the same name, a team of four officers brings down Al Capone. Sean Connery won an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his portrayal of Jimmy Malone, a Bureau of Prohibition officer fed up with corruption.
Image: imago/United Archives
'The Sopranos'
"The Sopranos" (six seasons, 1999-2007 on HBO) is a superb TV series starring the late James Gandolfini as New Jersey mob boss Tony Soprano. The show revolves around Tony's personal and business life, and the complex problems that land him in the office of a therapist. According to a US studio, a prequel to the hit mafia drama is being developed as a movie.
