The Russian Mafia's Pakhan

In the Russian Mafia, the equivalent of the Don is called the Pakhan. This boss controls four operating "cells" through his second in command. The number two man is called the Brigadier. Given that this organized crime family structure originated in Russia, where secret police once ruled with terror and fostered a paranoid environment, the Pakhan employs spies to keep an eye on the Brigadier. The cells are made up of the usual suspects - soldiers who deal in drugs, prostitution, extortion, bribery and all manner of criminality. The members of the individual cells do not know members of the other cells, though they all report to the Pakhan. Just as the American Mafia mirrors the legitimate capitalistic world, the Russian Mafia reflects the communist regime where it was spawned.

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Mafia Inc.: The Long, Bloody Reign of Canada’s Sicilian Clan by André Cédilot and André Noël

As with its actors and professional football players, Canada’s Mafia families were long considered to be little more than farm teams for their many big brothers to the south. Montreal journalists André Cédilot and André Noël turn this notion on its ear to show that, perversely, this country’s organized crime underworld is arguably deeper, darker and more violent than the goings-on in New York’s five boroughs or elsewhere.

Cédilot and Noël, veteran crime reporters for La Presse, spin an exhaustive and compelling read. Much like the mob itself, Mafia Inc.’s narrative tendrils are long and widespread, and converge on an imposing subject: Montreal’s Rizzuto clan. Hailing from Sicily, Nick Rizzuto arrived in Montreal and in short order usurped the Cotroni clan to become patriarch of the country’s most important crime family. His son Vito, who helped cement the deal with bullets pumped into the bodies of rivals, eventually took over.

For whatever reason—luck of the devil, the RCMP’s zealous ineptitude, or what Cédilot and Noël call “Canadian judicial authorities’ incomprehensible indolence” toward the mob—Vito stayed out of jail, and his decades-long reign expanded the family’s influence to New York, Italy and beyond. The book is larded with keen details. For example: who knew that the Lebanese civil war was the reason why Montreal organized crime moved from hashish to cocaine, or that leaders of Quebec’s biker gangs had a childlike adoration of Montreal’s Mafia types?

The genius of Mafia Inc. is its all-important connections between organized crime, legitimate business and government. The chapter on the alleged cozy relationship between former Liberal minister Alfonso Gagliano and the Rizzuto clan (Gagliano denies any Mafia ties) is alone worth the price of admission. And the authors show how the Rizzutos, like any big and violent Mafia clan worth its salt, were crippled much as they started: with hubris and a hail of bullets.

Thanks to Martin Patriquin

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Is the Russian Mafia Now the Strongest in the World?

Officials with the US State Department believe that the Russian mafia is the mafia of all mafias. World-known mafia brands such as Cosa Nostra and Yakuza pale in comparison with the great and terrible Russian gangsters. What does that mean?

In July, Barack Obama signed a decree to introduce tough sanctions against transnational criminal groups. If US authorities suspect you of having any relation to these dark forces, they may deny you entry to the United States, block your bank accounts, and so on and so forth.

The US Department for Treasury included Russian citizens on the Brothers' Circle black lists. Officials with the ministry said that the circle operates in the Middle East, Africa, Latin America and, of course, poses a strategic danger to the interests of the United States. Thus, it just so happens that Russian gangsters rule the world.

It appears that Russia is supposed to be eternally grateful to US experts for their struggle against our mafia. However, it also appears that it is very easy to get into this mafia and very hard to get out of it. It is not the gangsters, but American officials that make you stay in the mafia.

One of the prominent members of the Russian mafia (as US officials say), Anzori Aksentyev-Kikalishvili said: "In 1994, I wrote an open letter to then-President Clinton, in which I urged him to stop the escalation of the new ideological weapon called the "Russian mafia." That letter made me a mafia mob once and for all. Now I am a dreadful mob, even more dreadful than Soviet singer Joseph Kobzon (the Americans labeled the singer a mafia mob too -ed.). He even wondered once what was so special about me that made me more dreadful for the Americans than him."

For fairness sake, we have to admit that the Americans are not alone with their opinion about it. Britain's the Daily News wrote a year ago that the Russian mafia controlled 70 percent of the Russian economy, as well as the prostitution business in Macao, China and Germany. According to British reporters, the Russian mafia controls drug trafficking in Tajikistan and Uzbekistan, the money-laundering business in Cyprus, Israel, Belgium and England. The list continues with car theft and nuclear materials smuggle.

This is very impressive indeed! How large a criminal group must be to control prostitution in China alone?

Russian criminals are highly sophisticated and uncatchable for the West. As soon as the Soviet Union collapsed, Russian criminals started to look for new homes far away from the motherland. Vyacheslav Ivankov, for example, bought a ticket to the United States as soon as he came out of prison in Russia. That was a perfect opportunity for him to change his image. In Russia, he was known as a jailbird. In the States, he earned the reputation of Robin Hood; US newspapers referred to him as the new Solzhenitsyn. Afterwards, Mr. Ivankov showed the States how to love freedom.

The deeds of Mr. Ivankov in particular and the Russian mafia in general are dramatized and demonized in the West. The Russian mafia definitely exists, but it does not stand out from others of the ilk, such as Cosa Nostra, Yakuza, Ndrangheta, etc. The myth that has been created is much more profitable. Special departments were created and colossal funds were allocated to struggle against the Russian mafia. Reporters would make attention-catching headlines, and politicians would earn their scores.

The Russian mafia has thus become a brand. We have to acknowledge that Russian godfathers would often add more fuel to the fire as they decide to share their stories with the world every now and then. It is impossible to imagine a member of Cosa Nostra or Yakuza arranging a news conference. Russian mafia mobs do not hesitate to give interviews.

As a result, in 1993, the FBI headquarters in Washington established a special department for the struggle against Russian organized crime. A similar department was subsequently established in New York. It is about time the Americans should thank the Russian gangsters for creating jobs.

A typical news story about the Russian mafia is as follows: "A criminal group fraudulently appropriated $3.4 million having staged a car accident." How can the Russian mafia be the richest and the most powerful if it is the drugs that bring the largest income in the criminal world? The Russians do not produce drugs - they can only transit them. Agents can never leave suppliers behind. For example, the incomes of Colombian drug lords let them maintain a whole army, with helicopters, that can resist the attacks from US regular forces. Russian gangsters are nowhere near.

Thanks to Mikhail Sinelnikov

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CRIME BEAT RADIO SHOW’S UPCOMING SCHEDULE FOR NOV 10, 2011, THROUGH JANUARY 5, 2012, FEATURES HIT MEN, MANHUNTS, JFK ASSASSINATION, AND MAFIA LESSONS FOR LEGITIMATE BUSINESSES

CRIME BEAT: ISSUES, CONTROVERSIES AND PERSONALITIES FROM THE DARKSIDE on Artist First World Radio Network is pleased to announce its forthcoming schedule for November 10, 2011, through January 5, 2012.:Topics covered include hit men, a sensational Canadian murder investigation, Mafia lessons for legitimate business, the JFK Assassination, manhunts, and more. Here is the lineup:

• November 10—David Gibb, investigative journalist and author of Camouflaged Killer: The Shocking Double Life of Canadian Air Force Colonel Russell Williams.
• November 17—John Douglass, author of JFK and the Unspeakable: Why He Died and Why It Matters.
• November 24—Rick Porrello, author of To Kill the Irishman: The War that Crippled the Mafia, which has recently been made into the Hollywood movie, Kill an Irishman. A command appearance.
• December 1—Benjamin Runkle, Author of Wanted Dead or Alive: Manhunts from Geronimo to Bin Laden.
• December 8—Larry Mazza, Tommy Dades and Bob Mladnich discuss the Colombo Mafia war of the early 1990s...Dades was a detective during that period and Larry Mazza, a hitman. Mladinich is writing a book on the topic.
• December 15—Anthony Amore and Tom Mashberg authors of Stealing Rembrandts: The Untold Stories of Notorious Art Heists, and Eric Rasmussen, author of The Shakespeare Thefts: In Search of the First Folios.
• December 22— Lou Ferrante, author of Mob Rules: What the Mafia Can Teach the Legitimate Businessman.
• December 29— Tim Donaghy, former NBA referee and author of Personal Foul: A First-Person Account of the Scandal that Rocked the NBA. A command appearance.
• January 5— Wahida Clark, best-selling urban fiction author and entrepreneur who honed her writing skills behind bars. A command appearance.

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Anti-Mafia Tourism Comes to Sicily

In pop culture, the mafia may enjoy an image romanticized by the Sopranos, the Godfather and tabloid coverage of dapper dons. Dealing with organized crime in the real world, however, is as much fun as living down the street from the Crips and Bloods.

In Italy, groups like Sicily’s Cosa Nostra are destructive as well as economically vexing. Mob operatives routinely extort protection money from businesses, intimidating and inflicting violence on those that don’t cooperate.

These days, tourists and specialized travel agencies in Southern Italy are fighting back, by supporting business that defy the mafia. It’s a burgeoning form of responsible or ethical tourism in a region with much to offer: splendid Mediterranean countryside, stunning shorelines, hearty wines and cuisine that’s superlative even by Italy’s standards — influenced by the Greeks, Arabs, Spanish and French who invaded the island.

“There is a strong demand for [anti-mafia tourism],” said Francesca Vannini Parenti, the founder of Addiopizzo Travel, a Palermo-based agency that offers mafia-free holidays. “People want to know which shops, restaurants and hotels don’t pay protection money to the mafia.”

The addio pizzo — literally “goodbye protection money” — network of businesses was created in 2004 by a few young locals outraged that they couldn’t open a bar without paying up. Back then, organizing the mafia resistance movement was revolutionary. Today, about 700 local businesses in the Palermo region are part of the network — an encouraging if small number in an area with about 25,000 retailers. In Sicily about 70 percent of 50,000 retailers pay the protection money, according to the 2010 statistics of SOS Impresa, the anti-racketeering office of Confesercenti, the national retailers’ association.

Addiopizzo directs tourists to the shops, restaurants and hotels where it is certain none of their money will go to the mob. Addiopizzo can make reservations and publishes a map of Palermo indicating these establishments. The group offers holiday packages to discover the "hot spots" in the fight against the mafia in Palermo and its surroundings. These include meetings with locals on the frontlines of the resistance. Participants in their tours say these are crucial to increasing their understanding of the mafia and what fighting it entails.

“I was very moved” said one German student on the tour, after meeting with Ignazio Cutro, a businessman who is under police protection after exposing men who tried to extort money from him. “He and his family live in complete isolation now. Afterward, his children lost all their friends at school – even his brother doesn’t speak to him anymore.”

So far, Addiopizzo mainly offers guided tours for schools and university students but it hopes to attract larger crowds. In September, Addiopizzo launched a one-day tour of Palermo which includes stops at the mafia victims square, the courthouse, police headquarters and the home of Paolo Borsellino, a leading anti-mafia prosecutor, assassinated in 1992.

Through the tour, participants learn the history of the resistance to the mafia, as old as the mafia itself, dating back to the end of the 19th century. They hear details about the legal fight against the mafia over the years led by prosecutors and the difficulties faced by police officers charged with tracking the mafiosi.

The guides also detail the collusion between the mafia and political elites, and they recount the Catholic Church's attitude toward the Cosa Nostra: mostly silence for decades, except for the resistance of a couple of isolated priests. And to illustrate how film has portrayed the mafia, the tour visits the steps of Palermo’s opera house where one of the famous and final scenes of Godfather III was shot. In that scene, Mary, the daughter of Michael Corleone, the Godfather, is killed in front of him by a rival clan.

Meanwhile, the tour stops for lunch at the Focacceria San Francesco. The restaurant, which offers a celebrated veal spleen and ricotta sandwich, is also well known for its owner, Vincenzo Conticello. He was one of the first in Palermo to expose his extortionists.

In 2005, a man came to the Focacceria to ask him to pay a regular fee. He refused and reported the incident to the police. The man and two accomplices were arrested and in 2008, received prison sentences of 10 to 16 years for extortion. Conticello has been living under police protection since then. “This is one of the very publicized cases, the majority of the ones who (report the mafia) today face limited risks," said Valerio d’Antoni, a lawyer affiliated with Addiopizzo who provides support to businesses to resist the mafia. "When the businessman is very determined, the mafia understands it is better to let it go.”

Still, there can be repercussions, says Parenti.

Last year about 50 acts of intimidation occurred in Palermo, according to SOS Impresa. These included arson, vandalism and “glue attacks” in which a shop’s locks are glued shut, a sign that the property doesn’t really belong to the owner. “Often the ones who (resist) become isolated," Parenti said. "One of our members, a bar owner in a small town, lost all his clients after [resisting]. If everybody would stand up against the mafia, we wouldn’t need heroes anymore.”

Addiopizzo is not alone in using tourism to fight the mob. Another organization, Libera Terra (Free land), specializes in finding socially productive uses of assets seized from the mafia. In Italy, more than 11,500 assets have been seized from the mafia half of that in Sicily, according to government estimates.

Libera Terra, offers similar "ethical" travel packages, shows visitors how socially conscious organizations are currently producing organic pasta, wine, and traditional preserves on the land once owned by Cosa Nostra. In the stunning Sicilian hinterlands close to Corleone, a small town made famous by The Godfather and home of famous mafia bosses, Libera Terra farms about 300 hectares of land.

It also runs a bed and breakfast on the “Corleone lands” nearby. The charming stone farmhouse with a beautiful view of the surrounding hills once belonged to top mafia boss Toto Riina in the 1980s and the mastermind behind the assassinations of the famous anti-mafia prosecutors Falcone and Borsellino in 1992. He is currently in prison.

Since its inception 10 years ago, Libera Terra has pushed to create businesses that are run legally, respecting labor laws, worker’s rights and the environment. It offers higher wages, benefits and dignity to its employees, say officials. “Our message is that one can work legally and make a decent living out of it, that there is an alternative to the mafia," said Francesco Galante, Libera Terra communication director. In Sicily, the unemployment rate reaches 14.7 percent. That gives the mafia a powerful lure.

“At the beginning we felt very isolated," said Galante. "Nobody wanted to work with us or commit to it. But things changed when workers understood that we offered better working conditions and also that there was no danger.”

In the early years, the organization's crops were vandalized or set on fire and their agricultural tools were stolen. A decade later, that type of intimidation has ceased. “The mafia knows that if they attack us, we will get lots of media attention and official support," Galante said. "With this visibility, they will have more difficulties doing business.”

Today, Libera employs 30 people and is flooded with job applications. It sells its own brands of organic wine, olive oil and pasta throughout Italy and visitors are starting to crowd the scenic bed and breakfast and its restaurant.

“The campaigns for responsible consumer behavior have had a notable impact," said Umberto Santino, author of a book on the anti-mafia movement and director the Giuseppe Impastato Sicilian Information Center on the mafia. "They have received a lot of support from consumers.”

“However, if we look at how many businesses participate, this is still a very small minority," he added. "We have made progress since the 1990’s but there is still a long way to go.”

Thanks to Caroline Chaumont

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