The capture of Salvatore Lo Piccolo and his son, two feared Mafioso bosses, fugitives for years and considered, until the arrest, the new summit of Cosa Nostra, delivers a snapshot of the organization which has led some to hasty and dangerous optimism.
Optimism which has absolutely no reason to exist, if it is true that “Cosa Nostra” is chiefly a ‘way of thinking’.
The facts that emerges – in certain ways, puzzling and anomalous – can, instead, be extremely useful for a detailed reading of the phase which the organization is going through.
We must not limit ourselves in trying to understand who will take the place of the Lo Piccolo(s) or, in any event, who will climb to the highest step of the organization.
Instead, we have to look at some aspects of the arrest of the Lo Piccolo(s).For some time the two never walked separately for fear of ambushes. For this reason the father and son were captured together. Understandable, certainly. We should not forget, however, that we are not discussing Mafiosi of second or third rank. Therefore, if it is true that for the bosses the rule is “one of then must always remain free”, what happened is equal to the violation of a fundamental “commandment”.
Not only: the fact that two elements of the organization’s summit let themselves be captured, both at the same time, has questioned the stability (already precarious) of the gang. And again: was it possible that a boss like Salvatore Lo Piccolo had no other bodyguard whom he could trust, apart from his son, Sandro? And, if it was so, does not all this reveal an extreme fragility – precariousness – at the top, and in the structure of Cosa Nostra?
And again: another rule with reference to fugitives (good sense, more than anything else) is ‘don’t stay too long in one spot’. The Lo Piccolo(s), on the contrary, remained for a long time in the area of Carini. They considered it their secure hideout and had spent a lot of energy keeping it peaceful.
Investigations and arrests made in that zone during the months immediately prior to their capture, reveal that on several occasions, in that very zone, the Lo Piccolo(s) escaped the handcuffs by a hairsbreadth.
“They had their paws on him three times”, said the mafia boss of Torretta, without knowing he was being listened in on. Torretta is a locality very near Carini, where Salvatore Lo Piccolo had been in hiding.
Unpardonable carelessness? Desire to affirm his own charisma in an extreme challenge with the State? Necessity? – to hold fast to the command of an always more turbulent Cosa Nostra – to be in the only place just outside of Palermo in which they could feel really safe and, at the same time, not too far from the city? Or had they rely upon a secure haven which suddenly became unsafe?
Third element. The importance and the quality of the material seized by the investigators, more particularly the quantity: they say that the Lo Piccolo(s) did not move only with the documents necessary to deal with current business, but with an entire ‘office’. Was no place really safe, or had it been a further case of carelessness?
Approximately three hundred ‘pizzini’ (little notes of communication); business letters; requests for favours; annotations on extortions and bribes; accounting papers, lists of credits and debits; correspondence; missives (one of which is 10 pages); annotations on tenders and contracts; numbers of the code with which, for some time, the mafia indicates anonymous personages and ‘picciotti’(low ranking mafia subjects/bosses), who carry out delicate tasks. And even about thirty ‘pizzini’, collected in an envelope, sent to Salvatore Lo Piccolo from Bernardo Provenzano.
A treasure for investigators and magistrates!
And just think – Emanuello swallowed the most compromising ‘pizzini’, not imagining that he would die and, therefore, “return them” after an autopsy!
Certainly, the Lo Piccolo(s) did not have the time to do the same and with all that volume of material, it would hardly have been possible – and, therefore, carrying with them that baggage of precious information for any ‘enemy’, they did not appear to be ‘particularly wary’. Also, keeping in mind that they could have availed themselves of a very different mobility than Provenzano, who was sick and even more hunted.
The seized material offers enormous opportunity of development for the investigations, once they were submitted to a serious, meticulous, often slow work of decoding and research: and it was this that the investigators and magistrates of Palermo did, in the three months following the capture of the two Lo Piccolo(s).
But the ‘pizzini’, the documents, the ledger of extortions, the investigations into the names of many unsuspected people in contact with the arrested bosses of Cosa Nostra, and on affairs not even imaginable up to that moment, can but absorb only a part of the efforts of the investigators.
In fact, an analysis is needed of what the above listed contradictions can reveal, and other singular circumstances, which are gleaned, in particular, in the course and operational mode of Salvatore Lo Piccolo.
Signs not to be under-estimated: perhaps essential to better understand what is really happening within Cosa Nostra.
Perhaps certain questions will never be resolved, but in the meantime, we should be very careful not to interpret everything in an overly simplistic way. It is not enough to say that the connective fibre of this organization has deteriorated, that the “blunders” in the conduct of some exponents, also important ones, of Cosa Nostra should be taken at face value and that we can only profit by them!
Profit by them – agreed, but not without taking the trouble to understand what the facts really are. Thus, avoiding the idea of seeing a war as won – or almost – which, on the contrary, is only just beginning (perhaps against a “Cosa Nostra” not only very different, but even more lethal).
Let us proceed according to order.
The impression that one gathers, looking at the present state of Cosa Nostra, according to the “ideological-cultural” canons and the traditional system of the mafia, is that of an organization which seems to show signs of extreme difficulty not unlike those already seen in the five powerful New York families. To clarify: the Gambino(s) of the Gotti epoch, and the Bonanno(s) of the Massino period, crushed by the multiplication of other mafias, by FBI operations and, also, by the management of bosses not up to dealing with the “tradition” and situation (being too much taken with the search for easy earnings, useless and petty fights, street gang warfare, but also weakened by important cases, at the summit, of turning State’s evidence).
Inside the American Cosa Nostra, as in the Sicilian Cosa Nostra, someone may have thought that there could be neither ‘safety’ nor ‘development in business affairs if the two organizations did not operate in symbiosis. Perhaps the indications of a renewed close tie between Sicilian and Italo-American mafia families (also Canadian mafia families) are connected to this awareness.
It is a “question” which probably goes beyond the problem of the re-entry into Sicily, of the losers of the mafia war of the 80’s – a “problem” of overseas relations which, perhaps, Salvatore Lo Piccolo did not and could not manage alone. And the fact that this is something more than a ‘simple sensation’ can be seen by focussing very closely on the figure of Lo Piccolo.
A tendency to blustering arrogance – a way of living which, in many manifestations, is the exact opposite of what is prescribed by the Mafiosi rules, which makes Salvatore Lo Piccolo – ex-bodyguard of the ‘padrino’, Saro Riccobono of San Lorenzo and Partanna (victim of the “lupara Bianca”, “white sawn-off shotgun” { a journalistic term used to described a mafia-style killing in which the body cannot be found} during the mafia war of the 80’s) – extremely different from Bernardo Provenzano, and not only for a generational fact. Although without culture, Provenzano possessed great perspicacity and particular diplomatic and political talents, in other words, the stuff of a leader.
A talent of Lo Piccolo was certainly the instinct of understanding which way the wind was blowing. In fact, thanks to this instinct, first he saved himself from the butchery of the 80’s, by jumping onto the Corlionese bandwagon, and then he became indispensable to Provenzano. His instinct saved him, once more, from the ‘contratto’ (the sentence of death) put on his head by the boss, Nino Rotolo, but it did not save him from the handcuffs.
What does Salvatore Lo Piccolo say now, when meditating in his cell about the end of his career? Prison is the result of an enormous error or, in this case, only the least of the problems.
Then there are “weaknesses”. Certain aspects of his economic helpfulness and of his power as boss: Salvatore Lo Piccolo loved to show off these aspects, and even more, did his son, Sandro … glaring ostentation also in the way of sealing the peace between families at Carini: in a restaurant with tens of ‘picciotti’ and their followers … as if there were no need to hide themselves!
An attitude, on the whole, in total contradiction with the image of the Cosa Nostra which, under the ensign of caution, regains and respects the rules. The image and the idea of Cosa Nostra which was dear to Provenzano: and yet, paradoxically, it is the same solid, rigorous, ‘obedient to the rules’ image that the Lo Piccolo(s) wanted to transmit to the rest of the organization … advertising it through the “Decalogo” (“Rights and Duties”).
Typewritten, all in capital letters, the ‘decalogo’ of the perfect Mafioso states verbatim from the first commandment that: “One cannot introduce oneself to another Cosa Nostra friend - a third person must make the introduction”. Then it intimates: “One does not look at the wives of our friends”. And again: “One does not associate with the Police”. The fourth concerns social life: “One does not frequent pubs or clubs”. From the fifth to the ninth, the rules of behaviour within the organization are cited: “availability; precision; respect for the women and the money of other Mafiosi”. The tenth gives precise regulations for the affiliates on who cannot become part of the Cosa Nostra: “who has a close relative within the Forces of Law and Order” or “who has infidelity of the sentimental kind in the family” and “who has very bad conduct and does not consider moral values important”.
With the sheets of the ‘decalogo’, the investigators seized a sacred image with the ritual formula of affiliation: “I swear to be loyal to Cosa Nostra. If I should betray it, my flesh must burn like this image burns”.
From the behaviour of the Lo Piccolo(s), it would appear to say, a ‘decalogo’ made for the lower ranks, not for the bosses.
In the end, it is no wonder that it has no value, not even for many followers … including Francesco Franzese, sought to serve a life sentence handed down by the Messina magistrates, and arrested on the 2nd August, 2007, – the man who was to furnish precious elements to investigators, in following the tracks of the Lo Piccolo(s)!
The admission of Franzese to the Cosa Nosta is one of the violations of the rules of the ’decalogo’, one of the errors which will cost the Lo Piccolo(s) dearly, who, however, had had some doubt about the criminal who was to turn State’s evidence.
It is Franzese himself who recounts: “Salvatore Lo Piccolo did not have a good opinion of me” – he said to the magistrates – “he had seen that I had a tattoo and, probably, he knew that I had used drugs…”.
To turn a blind eye to some small transgressions – go ahead – but to fail to notice, or to actually ignore a particular which could definitively undermine the credibility of the Mafioso DNA of Franzese is unpardonable…. It is not clear whether the Lo Piccolo(s) knew that Frazese had ‘cops’ in his family. “My maternal grandfather” – explained Franzese – “was a warrant officer of the Carabinieri and my paternal grandfather was a warrant officer in the Army”.
“However, the Lo Piccolo(s) needed new people” – added Franzese – “they needed to re-organize and enrol the largest number of people in the city of Palermo, and I think that, perhaps, this… perhaps, was the reason why they didn’t make too fine a distinction, either with me or the others”.
Also for the way of imposing the ‘pizzo’ (protection money), the Lo Piccolo(s), contrary to Provenzano, did not make too subtle a point of it!
Precisely from the ‘pizzini’ seized – together with a good quantity of Rolex watches, in the hideout of Franzese – comes forth the first complete accounting record of the extortions in the times of Salvatore Lo Piccolo.
The information of the Ministry of the Interior states that from the ‘pizzo’, the Lo Piccolo(s) cashed, on an average, 75 thousand euro each day. According to what emerges from the enquiries of the Mobile Squad of Palermo, in the Partanna Mondello quarter alone, Lo Piccolo collected a good 120 thousand euro a month.
It was the result of a saturation action which had imposed the ‘pizzo’ also on small retail dealers: a change in strategy of the rule ‘pay a small sum, but everyone pays’ to ‘everyone pays and that’s it – who refuses, explodes’ produced the attacks on deposits, petrol distributors, excavators, cement mixer trucks.
A lot of noise, chinks in the thick curtain of resignation and silence.
Not at random that among the ‘pizzini’ seized by the investigators, in the Villa of Giardinello, there was a list with the names of twenty small business owners of Palermo, inscribed to ‘Goodbye pizzo’, the Committee that had challenged Cosa Nostra inciting the merchants to rebel against the extortion racket. Perhaps the mafia wanted to strike them for having adhered to the very Committee which, in Palermo, is playing a really important role in rousing the conscience of the people and supporting who wants to rebel against the Mafioso system.
The money from the extortions was recycled in drug trafficking: money employed to pay the soldiers regularly, increase the enrolments, but also to pay the handsome salaries of the bosses.
In fact, as soon as Salvatore Lo Piccolo assumed control of Cosa Nostra in Palermo, he decided to increase his own ‘salary’: 40 thousand euro a month, almost the double of that of Bernardo Provenzano. And this already says much. To his son, Sandro, 25 thousand euro a month; other lavish sums for the wife and children of the padrino – while to the ‘picciotti’, a basic salary of 1 thousand euro a month, variable according to the job, with the authorization of doing private business from time to time, but only with the consent of the padrino.
He was certainly careful to guarantee economic security to Salvatore Lo Piccolo troops, but not only: he was, in fact, at the same time employed in seeking the route to navigate in a sea in tempest, with elements of the crew almost in mutiny or, worse still, thirsting to hang the Captain on the main mast.
Unstable balances among Mafiosi administrative districts, within the same families and between factions: i.e. the imprisoned bosses like Santapaola, Bagarella, the Corleonese – the first ones – the losers of the mafia war of the 80’s.
Precisely the re-entry of the losers, the so-called ‘runaways’ – first in line, the Inzerillo(s) (survivors of the blood bath decided by the Corleonese, and reprieved on the condition of never returning to Sicily) – was at the centre of the clash between Salvatore Lo Piccolo, on the one side, and Nino Rotolo and Antonino Cinà, on the other. The first, favourable to the re-entry, the other two, guarantors of the Corleonese orthodoxy, decidedly against.
Rotolo has been in prison for over a year, but Gianni Nicchi, the man to whom has been entrusted the ‘contratto’ on the head of the Lo Piccolo(s), or rather, their death sentence, is still at large. It is probable that the morning of the 5th November, the Lo Piccolo(s) and the Mafiosi, Andrea Adamo and Gaspare Pulizzi expected a sortie of Nicchi and his men, not certainly the Police. Otherwise, why carry two guns apiece?!
Now – as the newspaper “La Stampa” wrote the day after the arrest of Francesco La Licata – there is a real and proper void of power inside Cosa Nostra. And the opportunity-necessity to make money may not be enough to assuage rancour or change the ideas of many, like Leoluca Bagarella and many big bosses behind bars, who maintain that they are not sufficiently in the thoughts of those outside prison.
Within the Cosa Nostra today, is the strong idea of components who want to make everyone feel the intimidating capacity and the renewed wish to clash with the State: this could also explain the threats and acts of intimidation against a coherent and courageous journalist, like Lirio Abbate: signs of the rage of the Mafiosi, above all, of those in prison.
It is certain that with the arrest of the Lo Piccolo(s), the ‘social seat remains without legal representation….’ As La Licata writes, who has evoked the possibility that Cosa Nostra returns to the situation that existed before the institution of the ‘commission’, when the internal quarrels were not amortized by any ‘central body’, and they will be resolved with the law of the ‘lupara’.
But, at this point, if an ‘administratorship’ of Palermo is unthinkable, under the protection of the top Mafioso of Trapani, i.e. Matteo Messina Denaro, it is also true that the Trapanese boss will inevitably be called to perform the role of holding the balance of power.
Matteo Messina Denaro is the last charismatic boss of the old guard – notwithstanding that he is relatively young in years – who has remained a fugitive. It is unlikely that Cosa Nostra can do without a leader, who has demonstrated to conciliate the use of violence and ruthlessness with the entrepreneurial and political instinct.
Naturally, we cannot forget that also he has little to be happy… and calm about …. in a land where the Police have arrested, one after the other, bosses of the Mangiaracina, Virga and Bonafede calibre.
Finally: Cosa Nostra is not made only of Matteo Messina Denaro or of Raccuglia, of Lo Piccolo, Rotolo, Cagarella, Riina or Provengano….Attorney Grasso is right: Cosa Nostra is living bad moments. And yet that which some define as high mafia, mafia in kid gloves, third level, that which imprisons the conscience, which makes choices and governs, is still in its place.For this mafia, whether Lo Piccolo or someone else guides the troops, whether from the city, Palermo or from the province, from Corleone or from another small town, or even from the province near Trapani, is of little consequence…. if the results are guaranteed.
This is why it is not enough to ask oneself ‘who’ will now govern Cosa Nostra: the reasoning of the Anti-mafia Attorney, Piero Grasso – already at a few hours from the capture of the Lo Piccolo(s) – appears extremely well-founded: it is not enough to try to understand how the mafia will react, but what will become of the mafia? A question which could also
be, ‘what will it become? or what will take its place?
What will be in the place of the Cosa Nostra in the way that we know it?