The smuggling trade is becoming every day more invasive and dangerous for the Italian economy : there are numerous container and truckloads of cigarettes, fake toys , puppies , drugs , alcohol and mineral oils that try to cross the border with Italian tricks more and more sophisticated . . Only the business of counterfeit goods coming from abroad according to Confindustria worth € 5 billion of lost tax revenues annually. And among cartons of cigarettes , medicines, metals - Ancona have just been intercepted 2.5 tonnes of silicon metal underground arrived from China - the chasm widens at least 6.5 billion Euros
Once the traffic to and from Italy was deal of crime
flag. Today , the industry has globalized . On the scene working the former Russian secret service agents and Chinese nationals in a few years they have built a sort of monopoly in the world of tobacco and false .
Ancona , the docks of Venice and Bari or crossings of Friuli are the main doors to enter our country. Customs officials confirm that 2010 is the year of revival of cigarette smuggling . As early as 2009 had seen a 11 percent increase in seizures . Since January , however, there has been an escalation ; only in the port of Ancona traffic cartons of cigarettes has increased by 300 percent. A Gioia Tauro in one day ended up in the net of three investigators containerarrivati from China with 31 tons of cigarettes ( equivalent to 12 per cent of all seizures in 2009) and Manchester trademark seal "Made in UK ". The trafficking of illegal tobacco , came was 15-20 percent of the market in the mid- 80s , had been defeated at the beginning of the millennium. Last year it was already risen 3 percent this year and the figure is expected to make a leap forward towards the 13 per cent average in Europe. The crackdown on excise duties , in the end, encourages smokers to turn to illegal market ";
according to the values of 2009 , due to smuggling , taxation tricolor lose € 370 million annually ; Europe has a gap of 14.5 billion euro of lost excise duty , while the producers are missing 3.7 billion in revenues every twelve months. The smugglers , estimates the World Custom Organization, instead profit from a return on investment of 375 percent. A cargo of cigarettes bought in Ukraine and sold at half price compared to the market price in the UK makes 68,500 Euros for a trip in a van , car and 1.1 million by 6800 if traveling by container . These figures alone explain why organized crime is coming back to take an interest in this line of business . " A few weeks ago, for the first time in years, we have traced in Greece Lagonissi a clandestine mass transit base standing by the Mafia ," says Yannis Kapeleris , the 007 Greek head of the anti- crime task force commissioned by President George Papandreou . China is by far at the top producers of tobacco smuggling ( 64 per cent of seizures according to the European Union ), followed by Ukraine and Russia. Clandestine factories have been found even in Greece and Belgium ;
In addition to cigarettes , even the business of smuggling drugs is a bargain now come astronomy figure of 100 billion Euros a year. With packs of illegal products equal to 50 percent of the market " in some areas of Africa and Asia ," as calculated Guido Rasi , Director General of Italy and the Italian drug firm - thankfully - 0.1 percent, " thanks to the traceability of the packaging ." Although the trend is growing. "In the world there are more illegal drugs than real ," admits Christophe Zimmerman , head of counterfeiting of the World Customs Organization. The ranking of the most popular pills in the Italian market is a faithful picture of the diseases of modern times : at the top for at least six years there have products for erectile dysfunction in men. Only in the port of Venice from the beginning of this year have been intercepted twenty thousand boxes of Viagra, Cialis and lawful. From the onset of the magic blue pill in 2004 " were seized in the world 63 million packages false and material to produce another 64 ," said Steve Allen , director of the security division of Pfizer, the manufacturer. They follow in the ranking anti-depressants , and anabolic diet . Arrive a bit ' all over the world . In network operation " Pangea " - closed a month ago by Nas and Customs Agency with five arrests and the seizure of 10 000
illegal drugs - are finite pills and vials games from Moldova , Romania, Russia and India. An unsuspecting retiree Mercedes was instead shuttled between Switzerland and San Marino to buy products not authorized in Italy or cheaper, then sold , support investigations of the Financial Police closed a few months ago, through the legal channels . A turnover of € 12 million of gains in black and 2.5 subtracted from the tax which he got in trouble 26 pharmacies in Brescia. However, in Italy , the data in hand , it is risky to buy a drug . The official network tricolor is among those with the highest transparency in Europe with a risk free rate of 0.1 per cent against the continental average of 1 per cent . The real problem is the boom in the business of smuggling drugs via the Internet. A recent study of the European Alliance for Access to safe medicines has calculated that 62 percent of the products featured on the net is fake or counterfeit . A time bomb because , inter alia, 90 percent of the sites analyzed did not require any prescription. "Another channel at risk are illegal pharmacies open by organized crime, beauty centers , gymnasiums and sex shops ," says Rasi , and concludes , " a counterfeit product may be identical to the original. But also do not have track of active principle or in some cases contain toxic substances. Just think of the recent case of heparin counterfeit U.S. alone has caused 100 deaths ";
one of the smuggling business with the highest growth rate is that of the auto parts . In Europe, the Commission estimates , between 5 and 10 percent of the parts mounted on the car is contraband for a annual turnover of 1.2 billion Euros . Italy , in this risiko of connecting rods, pedals, brakes, wheels and bearings has a dual role : as a consumer because CENSIS calculated in 1 , 6 percent of the market fake parts . But mostly as a central sorting of the material smuggled to the rest of Europe . " Much of the traffic false - to confirm Clepa , the continental organization Segment - comes to us through the ports of Italy." For the production and origin of these products , the Quality brand protection committee ( Qbpc ) has identified as the most critical area of the Zhejiang region of China , and in particular the city of Thaizou bumper and body parts and Ruj'An on air filters and of oil. "Here, alongside the official factories there is a parallel market that produces millions of fake pieces ," says the study by the research . From this area , for example, came from wheel rims for 4000 Fiat Grande Punto for a company of Treviso seized earlier this year in Venice in a container from finance. Perfect pieces to retail brand and manufacturer's codes but far more dangerous as reliability : the wheels were the wrong size (a little ' bigger than the original ) and very risky especially for those who had tried to mount them on his car . The tests carried out by the certification body TUV and Fiat have shown that three out of four cases the fakes broke before the end of the test regulations . So how bad were 180 thousand ball bearings (90 tons of material ) and counterfeit and contraband with the SKF brand in the province of Caserta. The most popular products are the spark plugs , filters, belts. But the most worrying thing - to emphasize Qbpc - "is that in recent times have been recovered from different parts of smuggling counterfeit brake systems ." These parts are used or consumers , but to save money, accept the risk , or by body builders who profit from dishonest about it on the gap in value between an original and a copy of smuggling. Scissors which is tempting because it often - despite the law authorizes the production of non-original certificates of equal quality - is still very large ;
born a few years ago , the odious phenomenon of smuggling of puppies , took off in a few years, reaching today in Italy, according to the estimates of Lav, a value of about 300 million euro per year. The classic route is the one from the East
Europe, especially Hungary and Italy via the port land . Chihuahua, Yorkshire, bulldogs and other valuable species are bought in the puppy -mill premises at an average price of 65 euro around two months old, too early to detach from the mother. Crammed into cages and hidden in the luggage van and car travel for 15-16 hours to Italy where they are then introduced to the legal market with the help of conniving shops . Animals that fail to arrive at the destination, among other things, however, are in poor health . " This is forcing us to have to deal with puppies who are severely ill , suffering from major diseases such as parvovirus and distemper or infested with intestinal parasites - tells Carlo Scotti , president of the Italian veterinarians - . Not to mention hereditary disorders progeny resulting from uncontrolled , not selected by the reproductive point of view . " The gain for smugglers is very high. "On average we have loads of 300 puppies seized by - tell the Guardia di Finanza in Bologna, where a band was cut in four years had brought to Italy 70 thousand animals. Every dog is resold in Italy around € 1,000-1,500 and then , after deduction of expenses of travel, a single car made at least 30 thousand Euros each way . " The smuggling of animals , however, is not limited only to barbarism puppies . The business of trafficking in exotic animals , from parrots to pythons , spiders up iguana , that in our country 2 billion Euros per year. Every year in Italy kidnap two thousand live animals. The last bizarre blitz aired last summer on the waters of Lake Maggiore where the Guardia di Finanza has controlled a large camouflaged barge in lake traffic in August. On board 26 thousand unaware of trout fry clandestine route Italy - Switzerland - :
sabato 31 maggio 2014
Mafia, Camorra, Ndrangheta “French Connection” and the “Pizza Connection.”
Italian Organized Crime
Since their appearance in the 1800s, the Italian criminal societies known as the Mafia have infiltrated the social and economic fabric of Italy and now impact the world. They are some of the most notorious and widespread of all criminal societies.
There are several groups currently active in the U.S.: the Sicilian Mafia; the Camorra or Neapolitan Mafia; the ’Ndrangheta or Calabrian Mafia; and the Sacra Corona Unita or United Sacred Crown.
We estimate the four groups have approximately 25,000 members total, with 250,000 affiliates worldwide. There are more than 3,000 members and affiliates in the U.S., scattered mostly throughout the major cities in the Northeast, the Midwest, California, and the South. Their largest presence centers around New York, southern New Jersey, and Philadelphia.
Their criminal activities are international with members and affiliates in Canada, South America, Australia, and parts of Europe. They are also known to collaborate with other international organized crime groups from all over the world, especially in drug trafficking.
The major threats to American society posed by these groups are drug trafficking and money laundering. They have been involved in heroin trafficking for decades. Two major investigations that targeted Italian organized crime drug trafficking in the 1980s are known as the “French Connection” and the “Pizza Connection.”
These groups don’t limit themselves to drug running, though. They’re also involved in illegal gambling, political corruption, extortion, kidnapping, fraud, counterfeiting, infiltration of legitimate businesses, murders, bombings, and weapons trafficking. Industry experts in Italy estimate that their worldwide criminal activity is worth more than $100 billion annually.
A Long History
These enterprises evolved over the course of 3,000 years during numerous periods of invasion and exploitation by numerous conquering armies in Italy. Over the millennia, Sicilians became more clannish and began to rely on familial ties for safety, protection, justice, and survival.
An underground secret society formed initially as resistance fighters against the invaders and to exact frontier vigilante justice against oppression. A member was known as a “Man Of Honor,” respected and admired because he protected his family and friends and kept silent even unto death.
Sicilians weren’t concerned if the group profited from its actions because it came at the expense of the oppressive authorities. These secret societies eventually grew into the Mafia.
Since the 1900s, thousands of Italian organized crime figures—mostly Sicilian Mafiosi—have come illegally to this country. Many who fled here in the early 1920s helped establish what is known today as La Cosa Nostra or the American Mafia.
Charles “Lucky” Luciano, a Mafioso from Sicily, came to the U.S. during this era and is credited for making the American La Cosa Nostra what it is today. Luciano structured the La Cosa Nostra after the Sicilian Mafia. When Luciano was deported back to Italy in 1946 for operating a prostitution ring, he became a liaison between the Sicilian Mafia and La Cosa Nostra.
Sicilian Mafia (based in Sicily)
The Sicilian Mafia formed in the mid-1800s to unify the Sicilian peasants against their enemies. In Sicily, the word Mafia tends to mean “manly.” The Sicilian Mafia changed from a group of honorable Sicilian men to an organized criminal group in the 1920s.
In the 1950s, Sicily enjoyed a massive building boom. Taking advantage of the opportunity, the Sicilian Mafia gained control of the building contracts and made millions of dollars. Today, the Sicilian Mafia has evolved into an international organized crime group. Some experts estimate it is the second largest organization in Italy.
The Sicilian Mafia specializes in heroin trafficking, political corruption, and military arms trafficking—and is also known to engage in arson, frauds, counterfeiting, and other racketeering crimes. With an estimated 2,500 Sicilian Mafia affiliates it is the most powerful and most active Italian organized crime group in the U.S.
The Sicilian Mafia is infamous for its aggressive assaults on Italian law enforcement officials. In Sicily the term “Excellent Cadaver” is used to distinguish the assassination of prominent government officials from the common criminals and ordinary citizens killed by the Mafia. High-ranking victims include police commissioners, mayors, judges, police colonels and generals, and Parliament members.
On May 23, 1992, the Sicilian Mafia struck Italian law enforcement with a vengeance. At approximately 6 p.m., Italian Magistrate Giovanni Falcone, his wife, and three police body guards were killed by a massive bomb. Falcone was the director of Criminal Affairs in Rome. The bomb made a crater 30 feet in diameter in the road. The murders became known as the Capaci Massacre.
Less than two months later, on July 19, the Mafia struck Falcone’s newly named replacement, Judge Paolo Borsellino in Palermo, Sicily. Borsellino and five bodyguards were killed outside the apartment of Borsellino’s mother when a car packed with explosives was detonated by remote control.
Under Judge Falcone’s tenure the FBI and Italian law enforcement established a close working relationship aimed at dismantling Italian organized crime groups operating in both countries. That relationship has intensified since then.
Camorra or Neapolitan Mafia (based in Naples)
The word “Camorra” means gang. The Camorra first appeared in the mid-1800s in Naples, Italy, as a prison gang. Once released, members formed clans in the cities and continued to grow in power. The Camorra has more than 100 clans and approximately 7,000 members, making it the largest of the Italian organized crime groups.
In the 1970s, the Sicilian Mafia convinced the Camorra to convert their cigarette smuggling routes into drug smuggling routes with the Sicilian Mafia’s assistance. Not all Camorra leaders agreed, leading to the Camorra Wars that cost 400 lives. Opponents of drug trafficking lost the war.
The Camorra made a fortune in reconstruction after an earthquake ravaged the Campania region in 1980. Now it specializes in cigarette smuggling and receives payoffs from other criminal groups for any cigarette traffic through Italy. The Camorra is also involved in money laundering, extortion, alien smuggling, robbery, blackmail, kidnapping, political corruption, and counterfeiting.
It is believed that nearly 200 Camorra affiliates reside in this country, many of whom arrived during the Camorra Wars.
’Ndrangheta or Calabrian Mafia (based in Calabria)
The word “’Ndrangheta” comes from the Greek meaning courage or loyalty. The ’Ndrangheta formed in the 1860s when a group of Sicilians was banished from the island by the Italian government. They settled in Calabria and formed small criminal groups.
There are about 160 ’Ndrangheta cells with roughly 6,000 members. They specialize in kidnapping and political corruption, but also engage in drug trafficking, murder, bombings, counterfeiting, gambling, frauds, thefts, labor racketeering, loansharking, and alien smuggling.
Cells are loosely connected family groups based on blood relationships and marriages. In the U.S., there are an estimated 100-200 members and associates, primarily in New York and Florida.
Sacra Corona Unita or United Sacred Crown (based in the Puglia region)
Law enforcement became aware of the Sacra Corona Unita in the late 1980s. Like other groups, it started as a prison gang. As its members were released, they settled in the Puglia region in Italy and continued to grow and form links with other Mafia groups. The Sacra Corona Unita is headquartered in Brindisi, located in the southeastern region of Puglia.
The Sacra Corona Unita consists of about 50 clans with approximately 2,000 members and specializes in smuggling cigarettes, drugs, arms, and people. It is also involved in money laundering, extortion, and political corruption. The organization collects payoffs from other criminal groups for landing rights on the southeast coast of Italy, a natural gateway for smuggling to and from post-Communist countries like Croatia, Yugoslavia, and Albania.
Very few Sacra Corona Unita members have been identified in the U.S., although some individuals in Illinois, Florida, and New York have links to the organization.
La Cosa Nostra is the foremost organized criminal threat to American society. Literally translated into English it means “this thing of ours.” It is a nationwide alliance of criminals—linked by blood ties or through conspiracy—dedicated to pursuing crime and protecting its members.
La Cosa Nostra, or the LCN as it is known by the FBI, consists of different “families” or groups that are generally arranged geographically and engaged in significant and organized racketeering activity. It is also known as the Mafia, a term used to describe other organized crime groups.
The LCN is most active in the New York metropolitan area, parts of New Jersey, Philadelphia, Detroit, Chicago, and New England. It has members in other major cities and is involved in international crimes.
History of La Cosa Nostra
Although La Cosa Nostra has its roots in Italian organized crime, it has been a separate organization for many years. Today, La Cosa Nostra cooperates in various criminal activities with different criminal groups that are headquartered in Italy.
Giuseppe Esposito was the first known Sicilian Mafia member to emigrate to the U.S. He and six other Sicilians fled to New York after murdering the chancellor and a vice chancellor of a Sicilian province and 11 wealthy landowners. He was arrested in New Orleans in 1881 and extradited to Italy.
New Orleans was also the site of the first major Mafia incident in this country. On October 15, 1890, New Orleans Police Superintendent David Hennessey was murdered execution-style. Hundreds of Sicilians were arrested, and 19 were eventually indicted for the murder. An acquittal generated rumors of widespread bribery and intimidated witnesses. Outraged citizens of New Orleans organized a lynch mob and killed 11 of the 19 defendants. Two were hanged, nine were shot, and the remaining eight escaped.
The American Mafia has evolved over the years as various gangs assumed—and lost—dominance over the years: the Black Hand gangs around 1900; the Five Points Gang in the 1910s and ‘20s in New York City; Al Capone’s Syndicate in Chicago in the 1920s. By the end of the ‘20s, two primary factions had emerged, leading to a war for control of organized crime in New York City.
The murder of faction leader Joseph Masseria brought an end to the gang warfare, and the two groups united to form the organization now dubbed La Cosa Nostra. It was not a peaceful beginning: Salvatore Maranzano, the first leader of La Cosa Nostra, was murdered within six months.
Charles “Lucky” Luciano became the new leader. Maranzano had established the La Cosa Nostra code of conduct, set up the “family” divisions and structure, and established procedures for resolving disputes. Luciano set up the “Commission” to rule all La Cosa Nostra activities. The Commission included bosses from six or seven families.
Luciano was deported back to Italy in 1946 based on his conviction for operating a prostitution ring. There, he became a liaison between the Sicilian Mafia and La Cosa Nostra.
Other Historical Highlights:
1951: A U.S. Senate committee led by Democrat Estes Kefauver of Tennessee determined that a “sinister criminal organization” known as the Mafia operated in this nation.
1957: The New York State Police uncovered a meeting of major LCN figures from around the country in the small upstate New York town of Apalachin. Many of the attendees were arrested. The event was the catalyst that changed the way law enforcement battles organized crime.
1963: Joseph Valachi became the first La Cosa Nostra member to provide a detailed looked inside the organization. Recruited by FBI agents, Valachi revealed to a U.S. Senate committee numerous secrets of the organization, including its name, structure, power bases, codes, swearing-in ceremony, and members of the organization.
Today, La Cosa Nostra is involved in a broad spectrum of illegal activities: murder, extortion, drug trafficking, corruption of public officials, gambling, infiltration of legitimate businesses, labor racketeering, loan sharking, prostitution, pornography, tax-fraud schemes, and stock manipulation schemes.
Named after legendary boss Vito Genovese, the Genovese crime family was once considered the most powerful organized crime family in the nation. Members and their numerous associates engaged in drug trafficking, murder, assault, gambling, extortion, loansharking, labor racketeering, money laundering, arson, gasoline bootlegging, and infiltration of legitimate businesses.
Genovese family members are also involved in stock market manipulation and other illegal frauds and schemes as evidenced by the recent FBI investigation code named “Mobstocks.”
The Genovese crime family has its roots in the Italian criminal groups in New York controlled by Joseph Masseria in the 1920s. The family history is rife with murder, violence, and greed.
Early History—Masseria and Maranzano
Masseria sparked the so-called “Castellammarese War” in 1928 when he tried to gain control of organized crime across the country. The war ended in 1931 when Salvatore Maranzano conspired with Masseria’s top soldier, Charles “Lucky” Luciano, to have Masseria killed. Maranzano emerged as the most powerful Mafia boss in the nation, setting up five separate criminal groups in New York and calling himself “Boss of Bosses.”
Two of the most powerful La Cosa Nostra families—known today as the Genovese and Gambino families—emerged from Maranzano’s restructuring efforts. Maranzano named Luciano the first boss of what would later be known as the Genovese family. Luciano showed his appreciation less than five months later by sending five men dressed as police officers to Maranzano’s office to murder him.
Luciano, Costello, and Genovese
With Maranzano out of the way, Luciano become the most powerful Mafia boss in America and used his position to run La Cosa Nostra like a major corporation. He set up the LCN Commission, or ruling body, composed of seven bosses, and divided the different rackets among the families.
In 1936, Luciano was sentenced to 30 to 50 years in prison. Ten years later, he was released from prison and deported to Italy, never to return. When he was convicted, Frank Costello became acting boss because Genovese—then just an underboss—had fled to Italy to avoid a murder charge. His return to the states was cleared when a key witness against him was poisoned and the charges were dropped.
Costello led the family for approximately 20 years until May of 1957 when Genovese took control by sending soldier Vincent “the Chin” Gigante to murder him. Costello survived the attack but relinquished control of the family to Genovese. Attempted murder charges against Gigante were dismissed when Costello refused to identify him as the shooter.
In 1959, it was Genovese’s turn to go to prison following a conviction of conspiracy to violate narcotics laws. He received a 15-year sentence but continued to run the family through his underlings from his prison cell in Atlanta, Georgia.
Valachi Sings—and Lombardo Leads
About this time, Joseph Valachi, a “made man,” was sent to the same prison as Genovese on a narcotics conviction. Labeled an informer, Valachi survived three attempts on his life behind bars. Still in prison in 1962, he killed a man he thought Genovese had sent to kill him. He was sentenced to life for the murder.
The sentencing was a turning point for Valachi, who decided to cooperate with the U.S. government. On September 27, 1963, he appeared before the U.S. Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations and testified that he was a member of a secret criminal society in the U.S. known as La Cosa Nostra.
In 1969, several years after Valachi began cooperating with the FBI, Vito Genovese died in his prison cell. By then the Genovese family was under the control of Philip “Benny Squint” Lombardo. Unlike the bosses before him, Lombardo preferred to rule behind his underboss. His first, Thomas Eboli, was murdered in 1972. Lombardo promoted Frank “Funzi” Tieri, and later Anthony “Fat Tony” Salerno as his front men.
Throughout the 1980s, the Genovese family hierarchy went through several changes. Tieri, recognized on the street as the Genovese family boss in the late 1970s, was convicted for operating a criminal organization through a pattern of racketeering that included murder and extortion.
Salerno then fronted as boss until he had stroke in 1981. In 1985, Salerno and the bosses of the other four New York families were convicted for operating a criminal enterprise—the LCN Commission. Lombardo, his two captains in prison and his health failing, turned full control of the Genovese family over to Gigante—the man who tried to kill Costello 30 years earlier.
Fish on the Hook
In 1986, a second member turned against the Genovese family when Vincent “Fish” Cafaro, a soldier and right-hand-man to Anthony Salerno, decided to cooperate with the FBI and testify. According to Cafaro’s sworn statement, Gigante ran the family from behind the scenes while pretending to be mentally ill. Cafaro said this behavior helped further insulate Gigante from authorities while he ran the Genovese family’s criminal activities.
Gigante’s odd behavior and mumbling while he walked around New York’s East Village in a bathrobe earned him the nickname “the Odd Father.” After an FBI investigation, Gigante was convicted of racketeering and murder conspiracy in December 1997 and sentenced to 12 years. Another FBI investigation led to his indictment on January 17, 2002, accusing him of continuing to run the Genovese family from prison. He pled guilty to obstruction of justice in 2003.
Gigante died in prison in December 2005 in the same federal hospital where Gambino family leader John Gotti had died in 2002.
Over the years, FBI investigations have revealed how organized criminal groups have proliferated and impacted much of the world. Partnerships with foreign law enforcement agencies are essential to combat global organized crime groups.
Among the partnerships the FBI is involved with is the Italian American Working Group, which meets every year. The group addresses organized crime, cyber crime, money laundering, international terrorism, illegal immigration, cooperating witnesses, drug smuggling, art theft, extradition matters, and cigarette smuggling. The U.S. and Italy take turns hosting the meetings.
Labor racketeering is the domination, manipulation, and control of a labor movement in order to affect related businesses and industries. It can lead to the denial of workers’ rights and inflicts an economic loss on the workers, business, industry, insurer, or consumer.
The historical involvement of La Cosa Nostra in labor racketeering has been thoroughly documented:
- More than one-third of the 58 members arrested in 1957 at the Apalachin conference in New York listed their employment as “labor” or “labor-management relations.”
- Three major U.S. Senate investigations have documented La Cosa Nostra’s involvement in labor racketeering. One of these, the McClellan Committee, in the late-1950s, found systemic racketeering in both the International Brotherhood of Teamsters and the Hotel Employees and Restaurant Employees International Union.
- In 1986, the President’s Council on Organized Crime reported that five major unions—including the Teamsters and the Laborers International Union of North America—were dominated by organized crime.
- In the early 1980s, former Gambino Family Boss Paul Castellano was overheard saying, “Our job is to run the unions.”
Labor racketeering has become one of La Cosa Nostra’s fundamental sources of profit, national power, and influence.
FBI investigations over the years have clearly demonstrated that labor racketeering costs the American public millions of dollars each year through increased labor costs that are eventually passed on to consumers.
Labor unions provide a rich source for organized criminal groups to exploit: their pension, welfare, and health funds. There are approximately 75,000 union locals in the U.S., and many of them maintain their own benefit funds. In the mid-1980s, the Teamsters controlled more than 1,000 funds with total assets of more than $9 billion.
Labor racketeers attempt to control health, welfare, and pension plans by offering “sweetheart” contracts, peaceful labor relations, and relaxed work rules to companies, or by rigging union elections.
Labor law violations occur primarily in large cities with both a strong industrial base and strong labor unions, like New York, Buffalo, Chicago, Cleveland, Detroit, and Philadelphia. These cities also have a large presence of organized crime figures.
We have several investigative techniques to root out labor law violations: electronic surveillance, undercover operations, confidential sources, and victim interviews. We also have numerous criminal and civil statutes to use at our disposal, primarily through the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organization (RICO) Statute.
The civil provisions of the RICO statute have proven to be very powerful weapons, especially the consent decrees. They are often more productive because they attack the entire corrupt entity instead of imprisoning individuals, who can easily be replaced with other organized crime members or associates.
Consent decrees are most effective when there is long-term, systemic corruption at virtually every level of a labor union by criminal organizations. A civil RICO complaint and subsequent consent decree can restore democracy to a corrupt union by imposing civil remedies designed to eliminate such corruption and deter its re-emergence.
The Teamsters are the best example of how efficiently the civil RICO process can be used. For decades, the Teamsters has been substantially controlled by La Cosa Nostra. In recent years, four of eight Teamster presidents were indicted, yet the union continued to be controlled by organized crime elements. The government has been fairly successful at removing the extensive criminal influence from this 1.4 million-member union by using the civil process.
We work closely with the Office of Labor Racketeering in the Department of Labor and with the U.S. Attorneys’ offices in investigating violations of labor law.
Camorra and cigarette smuggling
Several were the elements that contributed to the spread of contraband in the period immediately following the Second World War. The attitude of tolerance of the authorities and the population , the presence of a major port located in the center of the Mediterranean, the contemporary phase of the reorganization of the local Camorra and the absence of a dominant clan played an important role .
After World War II 50% of cigarettes consumed came from clandestine factories of the Napoletano, 30% from smuggling through the ports of Marseilles , Gibraltar and Tangier , while only 20% came from the State monopoly .
But the boom years of the trade of cigarettes to the Camorra were those ranging from 1970 to 1973 , five thousand people were used as laborers by smugglers , four smugglers . Fifty thousand people from around the supporters , relatives and retailers, lived contraband.
Gigi Di Fiore, in full text on the Camorra titled " The Camorra and its stories . Organized crime in Naples, from its origins to the latest wars, " describes very well what was the social impact of the phenomenon: "
( smuggling) became a kind of mass service , widely considered quasi-legal , which gave employment to huge groups desperate nothing part . The port of Naples , in the center of the Mediterranean, offering ideal conditions for smuggling cigarettes in stores starting from the Moroccan coast , while the controls were almost non-existent in the general tolerance . The smuggling took immediately to reduce social reconstruction in post-war "
Explodes in the north of Naples , the traffic of contraband cigarettes . Is the heart of the town of Afragola , where smuggling has never stopped and two ' families ' - of which there are ongoing investigations - divide the deal and territory with about a hundred stations at various points of sale distributed of urban land. When seizures are made tight , stations moving in Cardito and neighboring countries .
From the main crossroads of the historic center to the peripheral streets the scene is always the same: guys in their twenties and thirties who say they can not find work or who have lost their fifties and sell contraband cigarettes for the entire day , often earning no more than twenty euro . You see them in overalls, sneakers with purse or backpack. A look that even studied to be recognized . Next to them a wooden display the same for all , made in series by the same carpenter and provided by the ' system ' , which are put on display - just like in a shop window - some empty packets , as well as the boxes are provided in all polystyrene of the same size with perfectly sorted by brand cigarettes , plastic bags - all the same even those - to hide them if necessary, often in the cabins Enel. The most ingenious also build double bottoms in the trash cans .
There is no shortage of signs with rudimentary brands of cigarettes for sale , and the name , as in a real tobacconist, ' From Pablo Escobar cigarettes Em @ il and Morris ' . Fake cigarettes or that recall famous brands - like Jin Ling reminiscent of the Camel , but instead of the camel have printed a ram - Chinese , Arab or produced in Italy but destined to the foreign market and then re-enter illegally are also sold for € 2 to the package.
The deal for ' the organization ' varies from 200 to 900 Euros per day for each ' stall ' . The number of cigarettes provided changes according to the place where they are - whether or not the busiest - and in the days of the week: on Monday, for example, you sell more. The maximum quantity is on average always about 120 packets , to avoid triggering the arrest , which hardly happens .
Many guys that come from the store and already have gone to jail you ' recycle ' passing smuggling. If you are caught the goods are seized , is to produce minutes with a fine that varies according to grams - which is hardly ever paid - and take a complaint on the loose . The smugglers stopped almost always have the same lawyer and do not escape for one reason: the copy of the minutes is evidence that serves to prove their ' boss ' who have not stolen anything . He should also report the number of packages sold for each brand and the collection - which also mark the sum paid, and the rest given to the customer - on scraps of paper, often found during seizures . The ' clan ' and assign them to a new location after a day are on the road again .
" Montenegro , for a decade, under the government of Milo Djukanovic , has been a haven for illegal trafficking , providing impunity to criminals and the guaranteed supply of goods trafficked illegally using coastal resorts such as Bar , Kotor and Zelenica as logistical bases ." This is what writes the preliminary hearing judge of the Court of Bari Susanna De Felice in the written judgment with which , in February , 2013, acquitted " for not having committed the crime ," the Serbian businessman Stanko Subotic , who is accused of criminal association aimed at money laundering and smuggling cigarettes as part of the process on the alleged criminal organization that , between 1994 and 2002, would introduce contraband cigarettes in Puglia recycling million euro in Switzerland , Cyprus and other tax havens .
The process is resulted from the investigation of the then PM of the DDA Giuseppe Scelsi against the former President of the Republic of Montenegro Milo Djukanovic ( now prime minister ) and the former Minister of Finance of Montenegro , Miroslav Ivanisevic . Ivanisevic was acquitted in May 2010, while the position of Djukanovic was closed in April 2009 because of diplomatic immunity . "The collusion and patronage of the then President of Montenegro Milo Djukanovic with dangerous criminals and smugglers Italian and coverage and protection guaranteed to them by the Montenegrin police in the 90s, - writes the preliminary hearing judge - as is clear from the investigations carried out , by outcomes of wiretaps and the statements made by multiple characters inserted at the senior levels of the various criminal factions of the " sign" . "
After World War II 50% of cigarettes consumed came from clandestine factories of the Napoletano, 30% from smuggling through the ports of Marseilles , Gibraltar and Tangier , while only 20% came from the State monopoly .
But the boom years of the trade of cigarettes to the Camorra were those ranging from 1970 to 1973 , five thousand people were used as laborers by smugglers , four smugglers . Fifty thousand people from around the supporters , relatives and retailers, lived contraband.
Gigi Di Fiore, in full text on the Camorra titled " The Camorra and its stories . Organized crime in Naples, from its origins to the latest wars, " describes very well what was the social impact of the phenomenon: "
( smuggling) became a kind of mass service , widely considered quasi-legal , which gave employment to huge groups desperate nothing part . The port of Naples , in the center of the Mediterranean, offering ideal conditions for smuggling cigarettes in stores starting from the Moroccan coast , while the controls were almost non-existent in the general tolerance . The smuggling took immediately to reduce social reconstruction in post-war "
Explodes in the north of Naples , the traffic of contraband cigarettes . Is the heart of the town of Afragola , where smuggling has never stopped and two ' families ' - of which there are ongoing investigations - divide the deal and territory with about a hundred stations at various points of sale distributed of urban land. When seizures are made tight , stations moving in Cardito and neighboring countries .
From the main crossroads of the historic center to the peripheral streets the scene is always the same: guys in their twenties and thirties who say they can not find work or who have lost their fifties and sell contraband cigarettes for the entire day , often earning no more than twenty euro . You see them in overalls, sneakers with purse or backpack. A look that even studied to be recognized . Next to them a wooden display the same for all , made in series by the same carpenter and provided by the ' system ' , which are put on display - just like in a shop window - some empty packets , as well as the boxes are provided in all polystyrene of the same size with perfectly sorted by brand cigarettes , plastic bags - all the same even those - to hide them if necessary, often in the cabins Enel. The most ingenious also build double bottoms in the trash cans .
There is no shortage of signs with rudimentary brands of cigarettes for sale , and the name , as in a real tobacconist, ' From Pablo Escobar cigarettes Em @ il and Morris ' . Fake cigarettes or that recall famous brands - like Jin Ling reminiscent of the Camel , but instead of the camel have printed a ram - Chinese , Arab or produced in Italy but destined to the foreign market and then re-enter illegally are also sold for € 2 to the package.
The deal for ' the organization ' varies from 200 to 900 Euros per day for each ' stall ' . The number of cigarettes provided changes according to the place where they are - whether or not the busiest - and in the days of the week: on Monday, for example, you sell more. The maximum quantity is on average always about 120 packets , to avoid triggering the arrest , which hardly happens .
Many guys that come from the store and already have gone to jail you ' recycle ' passing smuggling. If you are caught the goods are seized , is to produce minutes with a fine that varies according to grams - which is hardly ever paid - and take a complaint on the loose . The smugglers stopped almost always have the same lawyer and do not escape for one reason: the copy of the minutes is evidence that serves to prove their ' boss ' who have not stolen anything . He should also report the number of packages sold for each brand and the collection - which also mark the sum paid, and the rest given to the customer - on scraps of paper, often found during seizures . The ' clan ' and assign them to a new location after a day are on the road again .
" Montenegro , for a decade, under the government of Milo Djukanovic , has been a haven for illegal trafficking , providing impunity to criminals and the guaranteed supply of goods trafficked illegally using coastal resorts such as Bar , Kotor and Zelenica as logistical bases ." This is what writes the preliminary hearing judge of the Court of Bari Susanna De Felice in the written judgment with which , in February , 2013, acquitted " for not having committed the crime ," the Serbian businessman Stanko Subotic , who is accused of criminal association aimed at money laundering and smuggling cigarettes as part of the process on the alleged criminal organization that , between 1994 and 2002, would introduce contraband cigarettes in Puglia recycling million euro in Switzerland , Cyprus and other tax havens .
The process is resulted from the investigation of the then PM of the DDA Giuseppe Scelsi against the former President of the Republic of Montenegro Milo Djukanovic ( now prime minister ) and the former Minister of Finance of Montenegro , Miroslav Ivanisevic . Ivanisevic was acquitted in May 2010, while the position of Djukanovic was closed in April 2009 because of diplomatic immunity . "The collusion and patronage of the then President of Montenegro Milo Djukanovic with dangerous criminals and smugglers Italian and coverage and protection guaranteed to them by the Montenegrin police in the 90s, - writes the preliminary hearing judge - as is clear from the investigations carried out , by outcomes of wiretaps and the statements made by multiple characters inserted at the senior levels of the various criminal factions of the " sign" . "
Children and illegal production of mica in India
India, children who are at risk snake bites extracting the mineral lipstick, nail polish and toothpaste
The " Mica " is an essential ingredient that gives tone shiny and bright lipsticks , foundation and many of the make-up products commonly for sale
But do we really know where it comes from this ingredient and what hides behind its production ? Most of the mica used in the world would come from India and would be pulled by children, forced to work in exploitative conditions .
Children exposed to snake bites . Because most of the production of mica is illegal in India , the exploitation of child labor would be just as popular and would be without rules. Children at the age of 12 years, or even less , would work for days dealing with the extraction of mica . The work is hard and dangerous. Children are exposed to attacks by snakes and scorpions bites . The quarries from which is extracted the mineral are frequently subject to collapse. The small exploited workers are exposed to cuts, wounds and abrasions of the skin , as well as respiratory diseases also very serious , such as bronchitis , silicosis and asthma .
For every kilogram of ore mined earn only 5 rupees ( 5 cents) a price in sharp contrast with the earnings guaranteed by the trade ensures that the mica on the international market , which can get up to $ 1,000 per kilo. Around the production of the mineral will be in India ( and perhaps not only ) around a real criminal. Children should attend school are forced to work and subjected to exploitation.
For make-up, toothpastes and varnishes . The exploitation of child labor is the price that the children have to pay because the rich will always have a make-up fashion. It would be interesting to know the names of companies that use mica from India and illegal channels . The mineral is used in cosmetics for its brilliance . The white mica can also be used in toothpaste , for its slight abrasive effect in cleaning the surface of the teeth . It is a common ingredient used not only in the cosmetics industry , but even in the natural one, with particular reference to mineral make-up . Its use also affects gloss and enamels, which gives it color and brightness. Much of this ingredient would come from poorer regions of eastern India .
Eye code " CI 77019 " . The Australian cosmetics company Napoleon Perdis , which comprises the brands MAC , Clinique, Bobbi Brown and Estee Lauder, told The Sydney Morning Herlad that less than 10 % of mica used in their products is of Indian origin and did not believe that their own cosmetics can be associated with child labor. Other cosmetic industry giants such as L' Oreal, Lancome, Redken and Maybelline , The Body Shop and Yves Saint Laurent have refused to answer some questions about the origin of the mica used in cosmetic products. It would therefore be quite difficult to know the actual location of extraction of valuable mineral used in cosmetics. To avoid the mica, it is sufficient to read the ingredients listed on the labels . Its presence may be indicated with the code CI 77019 , or with the term of glimmer , besides simply as mica .
The " Mica " is an essential ingredient that gives tone shiny and bright lipsticks , foundation and many of the make-up products commonly for sale
But do we really know where it comes from this ingredient and what hides behind its production ? Most of the mica used in the world would come from India and would be pulled by children, forced to work in exploitative conditions .
Children exposed to snake bites . Because most of the production of mica is illegal in India , the exploitation of child labor would be just as popular and would be without rules. Children at the age of 12 years, or even less , would work for days dealing with the extraction of mica . The work is hard and dangerous. Children are exposed to attacks by snakes and scorpions bites . The quarries from which is extracted the mineral are frequently subject to collapse. The small exploited workers are exposed to cuts, wounds and abrasions of the skin , as well as respiratory diseases also very serious , such as bronchitis , silicosis and asthma .
For every kilogram of ore mined earn only 5 rupees ( 5 cents) a price in sharp contrast with the earnings guaranteed by the trade ensures that the mica on the international market , which can get up to $ 1,000 per kilo. Around the production of the mineral will be in India ( and perhaps not only ) around a real criminal. Children should attend school are forced to work and subjected to exploitation.
For make-up, toothpastes and varnishes . The exploitation of child labor is the price that the children have to pay because the rich will always have a make-up fashion. It would be interesting to know the names of companies that use mica from India and illegal channels . The mineral is used in cosmetics for its brilliance . The white mica can also be used in toothpaste , for its slight abrasive effect in cleaning the surface of the teeth . It is a common ingredient used not only in the cosmetics industry , but even in the natural one, with particular reference to mineral make-up . Its use also affects gloss and enamels, which gives it color and brightness. Much of this ingredient would come from poorer regions of eastern India .
Eye code " CI 77019 " . The Australian cosmetics company Napoleon Perdis , which comprises the brands MAC , Clinique, Bobbi Brown and Estee Lauder, told The Sydney Morning Herlad that less than 10 % of mica used in their products is of Indian origin and did not believe that their own cosmetics can be associated with child labor. Other cosmetic industry giants such as L' Oreal, Lancome, Redken and Maybelline , The Body Shop and Yves Saint Laurent have refused to answer some questions about the origin of the mica used in cosmetic products. It would therefore be quite difficult to know the actual location of extraction of valuable mineral used in cosmetics. To avoid the mica, it is sufficient to read the ingredients listed on the labels . Its presence may be indicated with the code CI 77019 , or with the term of glimmer , besides simply as mica .
US policy in the Horn of Africa.
This is a memo written from an official with the UN Mission in Ethiopia and Eritrea in 2006 detailing a meeting with Jenday Frazer, the Bush Administration's Assistant Secretary of State for African affairs. It is interesting in that it undercuts Bush administration officials' later assertions that they did not encourage Ethiopia to invade Somalia in 2006. It also reveals a bias on the part of Frazer in favor of Ethiopia and against Eritrea that many including former US Ambassador to the UN John Bolton believe set back difficult negotiations on the border dispute between the two countries. The document has not been released until now. It will be of interest to people who follow US policy in the Horn of Africa.http://file.wikileaks.org/file/frazer-somalia-memo-2006.pdf
venerdì 30 maggio 2014
Kenya National Commission on Human Rights report
Since mid-2007 the Kenyan Police have engaged in an orgy of extra-judicial killings and disappearances. With the connivance of the country's political leadership, over 500 young men have been killed or disappeared. This Sep 2008 Kenya National Commission on Human Rights report, The Cry of Blood, is an account of these crimes and a call for the United Nations to intervene.
Despite being submitted to the authorities in Kenya and to the United Nations Committee Against Torture, the Report is not publicly available in Kenya, even on the official website of the Kenya National Commission on Human Rights.
The Report contains evidence of a high-level policy to assassinate Kenyan citizens with impunity. This policy is still in effect, hence the urgency of getting this report to a global and Kenyan audience via Wikileaks.
The Report contains annexes which detail the names of the men executed by the Kenya Police and those who have been disappeared. It also contains medical forensic evidence implicating the Kenyan Police, morgue records and post mortem examination reports.
Some of the key findings drawn from the KNCHRs investigations are:
a) That the evidence gathered by the KNCHR establishes patterns of conduct by the Kenya Police that may constitute crimes against humanity.
b) That extra-judicial executions and other brutal acts of extreme cruelty have been perpetrated by the Police against so-called Mungiki adherents and that these acts may have been committed pursuant to official policy sanctioned by the political leadership, the Police Commissioner and top police commanders.
c) That whereas initially the police mainly used firearms to execute the suspects, they subsequently changed their modus operandi and have since been using such methods as strangulation, drowning, mutilation and bludgeoning. The change of strategy was to make members of the public believe that rival Mungiki gangs are responsible for the killings. As such, the cause of death for majority of the latest victims has been blunt trauma, strangulation, drowning or mutilation using sharp objects as illustrated by post-mortem reports attached hereinafter (Refer to Annex 4). Several witnesses told the KNCHR that the killer squads carry machetes, iron bars, ropes and other crude weapons in their vehicles.
d) That the police spokesperson Mr. Eric Kiraithe has on several occasions attributed the wave of killings to rival Mungiki gangs. He claims that there is a schism within the Mungiki movement pitting Maina Njenga and Ndura Waruinge. This may be a ploy to divert public attention and conceal the grotesque illegal conduct of the police.
e) That the disappearances and extra-judicial killings heightened following public statements made by top government officials suggesting an official policy to ruthlessly deal with suspected Mungiki members and other criminals. During Madaraka day celebrations on June 1, 2007, President Mwai Kibaki warned that Mungiki sect members should expect no mercy. Two days later, on June 3, 2007, about three hundred suspected Mungiki members were arrested and at least twenty killed when they were reportedly caught administering oaths to recruits. After this incident, Michuki publicly remarked that Tutawanyorosha na tutawamaliza. Hata wenye wameshikwa kwa kuhusiana na mauaji ya hivi majuzi, siwezi nikakwambia wako wapi leo. Nyinyi tu mtakuwa mkisikia mazishi ya fulani ni ya kesho — "We will pulverize and finish them off. Even those arrested over the recent killings, I cannot tell you where they are today. What you will certainly hear is that so and sos burial is tomorrow".
f) That on 20/9/07, the then Minister for Foreign Affairs Hon Raphael Tuju, during the Loius Otieno Live program on Citizen TV, said that For the past few months, up to 400 people were killed because they were Mungiki. The KNCHR is in possession of the TV clip of Minister Tuju making the admission, which was transmitted live.
g) That these acts were ordered, directed or coordinated by the top leadership of the Kenya Police acting jointly with a common purpose.
h) That by the time of compiling this report, the KNCHR had compiled at least three hundred names of persons who have either been killed or disappeared. Additionally, there are at least two hundred other persons whose identity the KNCHR was unable to establish since they were merely booked in mortuaries as unknown. Many of these bodies were subsequently disposed by the respective mortuary authorities after they remained unclaimed by their relatives for long.
i) That the KNCHR continues to receive complaints from families of persons who have disappeared including allegations of people arrested by police and who have not been heard of since the date of arrest or where persons arrested by police have later turned up dead in mortuaries.
j) That the Kenya Police appears responsible for the abduction and killing of Kimani Ruo who was arrested outside Nairobi Law Courts in June 2007 moments after he was acquitted by the court for charges of being a member of Mungiki.
k) That the police may be involved in an extortion racket where they arrest individuals and demand for money from their relatives to secure their release. The KNCHR has successfully intervened on a number of occasions and secured the release of individuals held by the police.
The report needs to be widely read because the Kenya press will not discuss this evidence of crimes committed by the Kenya Police for political reasons - the victims are mainly alleged members of the Mungiki sect which because of sustained political propaganda is regarded by many Kenyans as a terrorist cult.
When the crimes of the Kenya Police are widely known, there will be pressure to commit the Kenya Police Commissioner and other high ranking Kenyans to the International Criminal Court. They have been able to avoid justice and enjoy impunity in Kenya. Until now.
Bradley Manning claims to be a patriot and has admitted to having divulged information that the world needed to know .
A soldier , Bradley Manning, the whistleblower Wikileaks , is right now tortured in a U.S. military prison . ( In the Marine Corps base in Quantico , Virginia) . For collusion with the enemy. (Law of 1917 on espionage that allows you to blame anyone wishing to prejudice the United States). Undergoes a complete isolation that can lead to madness, with permission cropped and newspapers for air , completely naked and covered with insults by other inmates. It is in total solitary confinement , without bedding, without physical exercises and subjected to severe physical and cruel humiliations . Bradley is still waiting to be tried for divulging military documents "secrets" to WikiLeaks , including a video of U.S. soldiers massacring Iraqi civilians . Obviously his inhuman treatment is part of a campaign of intimidation to silence any informants and to suppress WikiLeaks .
A CIA report in 2004 said that nudity , such as sleep deprivation and dietary manipulation , serve to put the prisoner in a condition such that " learns to spend his well-being and needs the information immediately before that conceals . "
The U.S. government is divided on this and stalls , diplomats publicly criticizing the military for the treatment meted out to Bradley Manning, and could not be otherwise for the image of the country at war for democracy across the world,
Indeed , " The current president has pursued to date five people for denouncing dysfunction and for providing confidential information to the press ," the American administration (AFP) . And yet , Philip Crowley, spokesman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, told the truth , namely, that the treatment meted out to the soldier Manning was " ridiculous, counterproductive and stupid ." He resigned on March 13.
Bradley Manning claims to be a patriot and has admitted to having divulged information that the world needed to know . You may also be at odds with the approach of Wikileaks and the opinion of those who provided information , but the torture of Bradley Manning is illegal - in addition to not receive a fair trial because up to now has not been formally accused of anything , a bit ' like prisoners with somatic middle East Guantanamo - and shameful and constitutes a violation of fundamental rights of human dignity, for which we all strive , even in Italy .
A CIA report in 2004 said that nudity , such as sleep deprivation and dietary manipulation , serve to put the prisoner in a condition such that " learns to spend his well-being and needs the information immediately before that conceals . "
The U.S. government is divided on this and stalls , diplomats publicly criticizing the military for the treatment meted out to Bradley Manning, and could not be otherwise for the image of the country at war for democracy across the world,
Indeed , " The current president has pursued to date five people for denouncing dysfunction and for providing confidential information to the press ," the American administration (AFP) . And yet , Philip Crowley, spokesman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, told the truth , namely, that the treatment meted out to the soldier Manning was " ridiculous, counterproductive and stupid ." He resigned on March 13.
Bradley Manning claims to be a patriot and has admitted to having divulged information that the world needed to know . You may also be at odds with the approach of Wikileaks and the opinion of those who provided information , but the torture of Bradley Manning is illegal - in addition to not receive a fair trial because up to now has not been formally accused of anything , a bit ' like prisoners with somatic middle East Guantanamo - and shameful and constitutes a violation of fundamental rights of human dignity, for which we all strive , even in Italy .
Iscriviti a:
Post (Atom)