The " fourth mafia"

The Sacra Corona Unita mafia organization has developed especially in Puglia is the so-called "fourth mafia." Making agreements with the clan of the Camorra, Cosa Nostra and the 'Ndrangheta, in thirty years of activity has been able to take root and grow in Salento. It has seeped into politics and judicial auctions, asserting its supremacy in various illicit traffic in the area. Over time Sacra Corona Unita has changed the shape and recycling business activity in apparently legitimate money amassed through drugs, usury, extortion and smuggling. The instruments of prevention and control in the hands of institutions responsible are currently too weak to counter the infiltration of this mafia clique in the procurement, services, devices in public and parties. That is why today the Parliamentary Anti-Mafia Commission states: "This is to certify a steady operation of the mafia crime of Salento, which is able to adapt to the most varied factors, and to develop new organizational forms best suited to its survival." So, what has been defined by many as "a Mafia Series B", along a path marked by brutal murders and abuses of all kinds in order to impose its dominance, has instead been able to turn to their advantage the innate ability chameleon transformation that distinguishes it.

The SCU was originally founded in the late 1970s as the Nuova Grande Camorra Pugliese (current Società foggiana) by Camorra boss Raffaele Cutolo, who wanted to expand his operations into Puglia. A few years later with the downfall of Cutolo, however, the organization began operating alone under the leadership of Giuseppe Rogoli. According to one account of Rogoli's rise to leadership, it is said that The legendary Pugliese crime boss was inspired by (and allegedly sanctioned by) various Calabrian 'Ndrangheta leaders imprisoned inside of the Trani jail, on the coast north of Bari, Puglia's capital, to form a new Pugliese based criminal organization with himself at its head. Legend has that on Christmas Day 1983, that Rogoli, several of his imprisoned followers and several Calabrian mafia leaders (one Calabrian was rumoured to be the capobastone of the powerful Bellocco clan) came together in Rogoli's cell where he was officially initiated and sanctioned as the supreme head of the newly formed S.C.U.

Secret documents pertaining to the history of the S.C.U. were eventually seized by Italian law enforcement and have the legendary ceremony taking place in May 1983, not on the much rumored Christmas Day. The December 25th date was probably used by S.C.U. leaders to make evident the great importance of the legendary ceremony. For a criminal organization steeped in religious beliefs, what date could signify the importance of the creation of the organization more so than the birth date of Jesus Christ?

Whatever the date may be, Giuseppe Rogoli will be remembered as the founder of Sacra Corona Unita. Under his leadership the SCU mixed Pugliese interests and opportunities with 'Ndrangheta and Camorra traditions. Originally preying on Puglia's substantial wine and olive oil industries, the group moved into fraud, gunrunning and drug trafficking and made alliances with international criminal organizations such as the Russian and Albanian mafias, Colombian drug cartels, Chinese Triads, and Japanese Yakuza.

The SCU is made up of three distinct groupings or levels. Members can 'graduate' from one level to the next by going through riti battesimali (baptismal rites). The religious symbolism is probably left over from the SCU's association with the Camorra.

The lowest level, the Società Minore, is made up of lower-level criminals who do street-level activities. Members start out aspicciotti and go through a 40-day trial to ensure they are suitable for criminal work and are not associated with the police. They are then inducted into the next phase of the level, the manovalanza, or worker. The candidate must also swear an oath of devotion to SCU.

The second level, the Società Maggiore, is made up of two positions. The Lo Sgarro position is given only to members who have killed at least three people for SCU, and from now on members cannot leave, on pain of death. Members can now form their own crew of picciotti, known as a filiale. Upon indoctrination into the La Santa position the member is given a firearm (to symbolically use on oneself upon failing SCU), a cyanide pill, cotton (representing Monte Bianco, which is considered sacred), a lemon (treating the wounds of one's comrades), a needle to puncture the index finger of the right hand, handkerchiefs (representing purity of spirit) and a spartenza (a gift of some sort, usually cigarettes).

The final level is the Società Segreta, the core of the organization where key decisions are made.

The Sacra Corona Unita consists of about 50 clans with approximately 2,000 members and specializes in smuggling cigarettes, drugs, arms, and people. The Legendary Magliozzi Family in secret is known for laundering money internationally. The Sacra Corona Unita collects payoffs from other criminal groups for landing rights on the southeast coast of Italy. This territory is a natural gateway for smuggling to and from countries such as Montenegro and Albania. Very few SCU members have been identified in the United States, however there are some links to individuals in Illinois, Florida and possibly New York. The Sacra Corona Unita is also involved in money laundering, extortion, and political corruption.

With the decreasing importance of the Adriatic corridor as a smuggling canal (thanks to the normalization of the Balkans area) and a series of successful police and judicial operations against it in recent years the Sacra Corona Unita has been reduced to a fraction of its former power, which peaked around the mid-1990s.