CRACKDOWN ON THE MAFIA

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP73-00475R000200220001-1
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 27, 2016
• Document Release Date: January 6, 2014
• Sequence Number: 1
• Publication Date: August 22, 1964
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

STAT 7
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release @ 50-Yr 2014/01/06: CIA-RDP73-00475R000200220001-1
.u.ito V .Cilr.HAD -OWN
:
AUGUST 22, 1964
??????_.- ?
? -1, -
Crackdown on Me lvfafia
PALERMO, Sicily ? Angry
and courageous carabinieri of-
ficials here are doing what
ap-
pears to be impossible back in
? the U.S. ? cracking the mur-
derous Mafia, known in the U.S.
as the Cosa Nostra.
The carabinieri are especially
irritated because our govern-
ment insists on deporting
Itali-
an-horn, but U.S.-bred leaders
:of the American crime syndi-
cates to Italy. As an example,
. the police point to U.S. pressure
, on the Rome authorities to ac-.
'cent Chicago's suave, disdainful
'Capone era hoodlum, Paul (The
Waiter) Ricca, one of the protec-
tors of Chicago labor racketeers..
The Italians ask why we dump
our gangsters on their country
;instead-of imprisoning them. The
carabinieri ask privately what i
political influence -the thugs have ,
in their home states which keeps I
them out of prison. ? .
I
There is the ;inipression here:
that the U.S. coddles its toughest
gangsters instead of battling !
them as Italy has done for the .
past. 14 months in the first she- ,
cessful drive against the killer
_ _.? ?___
. LAST STRAW
i?
! At least 105 policemen were.;:
; killed by the Mafia, to the cara--i
binieri's:definite knowledge, be-1
tween the war's end and June 30,
? .1063, Towards the end of that ?
period , the Mafia began using ;
plastic bombs planted in fancy
Ha R ',I
Romeo sports cars to kilt
? its victims. Finally two such ex-.1
, plosions in and near, Palermo ;.1,
killed 10 police officers and the';
? government decided to crac
:down. '
IN EXILE ?? ? entire Sicilian Mafia and thero-1.
? i
IEspecially e f fecti v e is an:
Italianlaw.which gives the, cars-
binieri and the courts the right,
to move a Mafia chief or suspect
. from hi home here or in
,small-
er Sicilian communities to far-.
off tiny Villages where the Ma:-
ins? live in. isolation .and can he'
observed daily by local police.
Since last February at least ,
60 such secret Society members
have been sent more than,.500
miles from their home towns. ?
Most of them now live in North-
ern Italy. There they must exist
on less than -Si a day. They can-
not accept gifts Or receive
, visi-
tnrs They cannot go to bars.
movie houses, public gatherings,
? mix with crowds, Partitipate in
!local politics or meet with
groups numbering more than a i
few persons. They must be in
their quarters by nightfall and '
cannot leave the area without!.
Permission. !
. ? ? ? ;
? NONE TOO BIG. ? .;
dreds .
The carabinieri disclose that ? of Sici4ians with machine,
' -
no Mafia Chief is too big for their: gun fire, lethal. clubbings. and
dragnet. They have even exiled., midnight- drops into -abandoned
the. man they believe to he the..c mihe.shaftsi.,
"Honored Society." ?
???:
. . . ,:;cihn,sItti.e.',ietde.r..'.of.' the
fore tho man Who has .had direct
links with the American COSA
Nristr;.3 for; decades. He is ?Giu-
seppe ,Genc.o Ruseo, who has fly--
ed under ?"a respectable facade
for years in the small Sicilian
'town of MussomelL Evidence of
his Mafia link is in our Pentagon.,
files as .well as in carabinieri
hands. ? --?
It is known to but 'a ? few that
be was The Mafia's second in !'
command ha ck in July 1943!
when our troops 'landed in, Sicily..!
His chief t hen' INKA Calogern !
(Don Cain) Vizzini, 'the leading-
citizen of Vilialba. He headed !
the 'entire Sicilidn Mafia. There-;
fore our military people; conH-
tacted him in a successful effort]
to gain help in an asSault on rhe!
combined N.A. z i and still-loyal
Fascist armies. This gave Don ?
Cab o great power. When he died
some years after the war, his
power went secretly to Russo. .
During' the D on Calo-Russo.
reign, the Mafia murdered hun,.
It has. Over 1,000 Mafioso have
been told privately their day of
terror and control of unions is
over, though they still can inflict
damage. In addition to the exile
treatment, the, courts have heen.!
eschewing the old respect for ?
:
"honor killings." Some months ;
ago 21 Mafioso were sentenced 1
'?to terms ranging from 26 years...,
to 20 months for murder or` as,
sociating with known criminals..-i
Just the other day, another
62 were sent to prison and exile.
This show of, strength by the
courts here and by the police 3
who were aroused by the murder
Of their colleagues has begun. to I
crack the legendary "Omerta"
?which means silence on pain of
death.
THE ROUNDUP
Typical of the smashing of.
"Omerta". is the action of the
"Black Wirlow"?Mrs.'Serafina
Battaglia - Leale. Dressed in a
long black dress and a black
handkerchief covering her head
and most of her fate, she took
the :witness stand to re el off
name afer name in vengeance
against ,the Mafioso who killed,
her,husj).and. Defying "Omerta"
'
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release @ 50-Yr 2014/01/06 : CIA-RDP73-00475R000200220001-1