Nicaso, Antonio and Lamothe, Lee. Global Mafia: The New World Order of Organized Crime. Toronto: Macmillan Canada, 1995. 203 pages.
These two Canadian reporters take a look at organized crime in Canada. In recent years Canada has noticed an upsurge in activity, perhaps because of its unguarded border, loose customs restrictions, nonexistent or weak anti-racketeering and money-laundering laws, and soft sentencing. "Canada has been described, after Sofia, Bulgaria, as the most active center of Eastern European mafia activity outside of Russia.... Canada operates as a free-for-all zone, a kind of underworld laboratory where groups of various nationalities plan conspiracies and work, if not together, then, with a few exceptions, in harmony." (page 23)About half of this book provides a "big picture" overview of Sicilian, Calabrian, American, and Russian mob activity, Chinese and Vietnamese gangs, Triads and Yakuza, bikers, and Colombian cartels. The introduction begins by discussing the myth that the American mob, at its 1957 Apalachin meeting, decided to stay away from drugs. This theory was presumed by law enforcement for years and ended up in the movie "The Godfather," but it was based on a 180-degree misreading of the evidence. The other half of this book is less valuable, as it narrates some big Canadian busts in police-reporter style. It's slightly entertaining, but doesn't illuminate the topic at hand; by now we already agree that mobsters are bad guys and the RCMP are good guys.
Sterling, Claire. Octopus: The Long Reach of the International Sicilian Mafia. New York: Simon & Schuster (Touchstone Edition), 1991. 384 pages.
Sterling, Claire. Thieves' World: The Threat of the New Global Network of Organized Crime. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1994. 304 pages.
Claire Sterling, an American reporter based in Italy, became prominent with the publication of The Terror Network (1981), a article in Reader's Digest on the plot to kill the Pope (1982), and an expanded version of the same theme, The Time of the Assassins (1983). Her general thesis -- that the Soviets are responsible for terrorism -- was endorsed by Alexander Haig and William Casey, but her critics charge that she relies heavily on CIA disinformation and her books are an example of "blow back.""Octopus" doesn't suffer from any of these problems; it is the best book available in English on the Sicilian Mafia. Sterling has ready access to all the Italian literature on the subject, and has clearly done her homework. The history of Mafia families in Sicily and their wars with the authorities are covered in detail. More importantly, Sterling offers a glimpse of the Sicilian's international heroin and cocaine smuggling, from the Medellin Cartel and Japanese Yakuza to the "pizza connection" that was uncovered in a New York courtroom in 1986. This global reach -- through refineries, smuggling routes, money laundering, and deals with other organizations -- places law enforcement at a definite disadvantage. Put the squeeze on in one place, and the drugs ooze out somewhere else.
"Thieves' World" is as timely today as "The Terror Network" was in 1981. It's disturbing that it took a mere thirteen years for Sterling to recast the face of evil from the KGB to organized crime, but despite the alarmist tone, this book appears to be solid. It's about four major international problems -- the Russians, the Chinese Triads, the Japanese Yakuza, and Colombia's cocaine cartels. Sterling contends that they cooperate with each other and are getting sophisticated with laundering and reinvestments, while many banks and financial markets are looking the other way. Most governments, meanwhile, are powerless: central authority has collapsed in the eastern bloc, and in the west, the European Community can't agree on how to pool their resources, or even on standardizing laws concerning surveillance, search and seizure, confiscation, and laundering. Considering the difficulty of investigating this topic, Sterling does a credible job of reporting.
Here are the names most frequently mentioned in the above books:
ADAMITA EMMANUELE AFFATIGATO MARCO AGCA MEHMET ALI AGOSTINO DOMENICO (MIMMO) AGOSTINO PASQUALE AGRON EVSEI AIELLO MICHELANGELO ALBERTI GERLANDO ALEKSEEV ALEXANDER (DOPE DEALER) ALEKSEEV ANATOLIY ALEKSEEV EUGENIY ALFIERI CARMINE AMATO BALDASSARE (BALDO) AMBROSOLI GIORGIO AMERICAS VENTURES ASSOCIATES ANASTASIA ALBERT ANDREOTTI GIULIO ANSLINGER HARRY J ARCILA BERNARDO ASAF Y BALA JORGE AYALA GIUSEPPE BADALAMENTI AGOSTINO BADALAMENTI GAETANO BADALAMENTI LEONARDO BAHL LUDOVICA MORABITO BALAGULA MARAT BARDELLINO ANTONIO BARTOLOTTA FARO BELLITTI FRANCESCO BERWANGER PEDRO BESENTHAL FRANK BEYER NICHOLAS BIAGI ENZO BIELING WOLFRAM BLACKBURN WAYNE BOMBARI MICHELE BONANNO JOSEPH BONO ALFREDO BONO GIUSEPPE BONTATE STEFANO BONVENTRE CESARE BONVENTRE JOHN BORSELLINO PAOLO BOTERO MANUEL BRUNO ANGELO BURBULIS GENNADI BUSCETTA ANTONIO BUSCETTA BENEDETTO BUSCETTA TOMMASO CALDERONE ANTONINO CALO PIPPO (GIUSEPPE) CALVI ROBERTO CANCIANI ANDREA CANDELA PIETRO CAPONE AL CARNEVALE CORRADO CARUANA GIOVANNI CARUANA LEONARDO CASACCIA GIANCARLO CASAMENTO FILIPPO CASAMENTO FRANCO CASCIO FERRO VITO CASSARA ANTONINO (NINNI) CASTELLANO PAUL (BIG PAUL) CATALANO SALVATORE (TOTO) CATANIA GIUSEPPE (PINO) CHEBOTAREV GENNADI CHEDDIE IVAN CHINNICI ROCCO CIACCIO MONTALTO GIANGIACOMO CIANCIMINO VITO CINCINNATO LUCIANO CLARKE FLOYD I CLIFFORD TOM COLEMAN JESSE COLOMBO JOSEPH COMMISSO COSIMO (THE QUAIL) CONDELLO DOMENIC CONTORNO SALVATORE (TOTUCCIO) COPPOLA ROBERTO COSTELLO FRANK CROCHET JEAN-LOUIS CROSSWELL EDGAR CUFFARO GIUSEPPE (JOE) CUNTRERA GASPARE CUNTRERA LIBORIO CUNTRERA PAOLO CUNTRERA PASQUALE DALLA CHIESA CARLO ALBERTO DANG NGOC TUNG (TOMMY) DE BELLIS VINCENT FRANK DE GENNARO GIANNI DE MICHELIS GIANNI DELLA CROCE ANIELLO JOSEPH DI CARLO FRANCESCO DI CRISTINA GIUSEPPE DI GIACOMO BIAGIO DI MAGGIO ROSARIO DI PISA CALCEDONIO DOKIYCHUK ALEXANDER DOLCE ROMANO EWELL MONA FALCONE GIOVANNI FERLITO ALFIO FERRARO SALVATORE FIDANZATI GAETANO (TANINO) FILIPPONE SALVATORE FILONOV ALBERT FILONOV JUDITH REYNOLDS FILONOV OLGA FILONOV SERGEY FILONOV TARAS FILSHIN GENNADI FITUNI LEONID FLENDA AGOSTINO FORMICA RINO FRANZESE MICHAEL FREEH LOUIS JOSEPH FRYE DAVID GALANTE CARMINE GALAS LESZEK GALASSO PASQUALE GALATOLO JOHN GALLEGO JESUS GAMBINO CARLO GAMBINO GIUSEPPE GAMBINO JOHN GAMBINO PAUL GAMBINO ROSARIO GANCI GIUSEPPE GAROFALO ANDREW FRANK GELLI LICIO GENCO RUSSO GIUSEPPE GENOVESE VITO GIANCANA SAM GIBBINS COLIN GINNETTI JOHN RAYMON (RAY) GIULIANI RUDOLPH W GIULIANO BORIS GONZALES MANUEL GOTTI GENE GOTTI JOHN JOSEPH GRANT ALEX GRATTERI NICOLA GRAVANO SALVATORE (SAMMY) GRECO LEONARDO GRECO MICHELE GRECO PINO (SCARPUZEDDU) GRECO SALVATORE (CICHITEDDU) GUAY RACHEL GUIMARAES MARIA CRISTINA GULEVICK E MARTIN GUROV ALEXANDER HANSEN TOM (RCMP) HELLS ANGELS HERZOG ALEXANDER HESS HENNER HOOVER J EDGAR HORVATH GEORG (RIEMERLING GERMANY) IERINO VITTORIO INGRATI COSIMO INGRATI SALVATORE INTERPOL INZERILLO SALVATORE IORIZZO LAWRENCE S IVANKOV VYACHESLAV K (YAPONCHIK) JONES RALPH (U.S.EMBASSY) JURADO FRANK KALINICHENKO VLADIMIR KALLSTROM JAMES K KARPETZ VITALY KEFAUVER ESTES (D-TN) KERRY JOHN FORBES (D-MA) KINTEX COMPANY KOH BAK KIN KOHL HELMUT KORJAGINA TATJANA KOWEZSKO ANDRZEJ KUZIN ALEKSANDR VICTOROVICH KUZIN GROUP INTERNATIONAL LA BARBERA ANGELO LA BARBERA SALVATORE LA CASSE MICHEL LA MATTINA NUNZIO LA PORTA PAOLO LA TORRE PIO LANDGRAF HEIDI LANSKY MEYER LANTE NICOLA LAWN JOHN C LE VIEN DOUGLAS LEGGIO LUCIANO LENA IGNAZIO LIMA SALVO (SALVATORE) LIVATINO ROSARIO LO PRESTI IGNAZIO LOPATIN VLADIMIR LUCCHESE TOMMY (THREE-FINGER BROWN) LUCIANO LUCKY (CHARLES) MACRI ANTONIO MACRI VINCENZO MADONIA FRANCESCO (CICCIO) MADONIA GIUSEPPE MAFARA FRANCESCO (FRANCO) MAIMONE MARIO MANGANO ANGELO MANGANO VINCENT MANNINO DOMENICK MANOLIO ALEJANDRO MARANZANO SALVATORE MARCENO CALOGERO MARCHESE FILIPPO MARTIN RICHARD (U.S.ATTORNEY) MAURER JURGEN MESSINA LEONARDO MICELI CRIMI GIUSEPPE MIDDLETON GREG MIKULITS FRANZ MODONA GUIDO NEPPI MONTALTO SALVATORE MONTANA GIUSEPPE MOODY JAMES E (FBI) MORABITO SANTO PASQUALE MORI CESARE MORRA ANTHONY MUSSOLINI BENITO MUSULLULU YASAR MUTOLO GASPARE NAPOLI ANTONINO (NINO) NAPOLI GAETANO (TOMMY) NAPOLI VINCENZO (ENZO) NAVARRA MICHELE NICOLI MICHEL NIELSEN JORGEN QUIST NUNN SAM (D-GA) ORJUELA RODRIGUEZ RAFAEL OSPINA VARGAS ORLANDO CEDIEL OSTROGONAC DEZIDER PALERMO CARLO PANESSA FRANK PANSA ALESSANDRO PASSIC GREGORY PAVLOV VALENTIN PEARSON PAUL (BRITAIN) PETERSON VIRGIL W PIANCONE LOUIS PIANCONE MICHAEL PINET MARCEL JOSEPH PISTONE JOSEPH D POPOV GAVRIL PREISFREUND MICHAEL PROFACI JOSEPH PROPAGANDA DUE (P2) PROVENZANO BERNARDO PUCCIO THOMAS PULEO FILIPPO PUMA FELICE RESTAGNO VINCENZO REYNOLDS GRAHAM RICH MARC DAVID RIINA SALVATORE (TOTO) RIZZOTTO PLACIDO RIZZUTO NICK ROCCISANO VINCENZO RODA FRANK ROGOLI GIUSEPPE ROMA FOODS RONSISVALLE LUIGI ROSE CHARLES (U.S.ATTORNEY) RUSSO GIUSEPPE GENCO RUTSKOI ALEKSANDR V SALAMONE ANTONIO SANTAPAOLA BENEDETTO (NITTO) SAPIO ROBERTO SARTI LUCIEN SCHILIRO LEWIS D SCIACCHITANO GIUSTO SCOTTO VINNIE SERRANO DIEGO SETTECASE GIUSEPPE SEVILLANO JOAQUIN SICA DOMENICO SILAEV IVAN SINAGRA VINCENZO SINDONA MICHELE SMITH KATE (RCMP) SPADARO TOMMASO SPATOLA ROSARIO STANFA JOHN TARASOV ARTJOM TEJANI ROSHAN TELESFORD ALEX TERRANOVA CESARE TORTONE DANTE TREMONTI JACK TRIADS TUMA ROMEU UGURLU ABUZER UVAROV BORIS VALACHI JOSEPH M VIGNA PIERLUIGI VIOLA GUIDO VIOLI PAUL VITALE LEONARDO VIZZINI CALOGERO WAKKAS SALAH AL DIN WANTA LEO EMIL WARIDEL PAUL WARREN ROBERT (DEA) WILSON WARREN (RCMP) YAKUZA YELTSIN BORIS ZACHERT HANS-LUDWIG ZAZA MICHELE ZIPPO CARLO
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