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Encyclopedia > Sacra corona unita
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Map highlighting the location of Puglia in Italy
Map highlighting the location of Puglia in Italy

Sacra Corona Unita, or United Sacred Crown, is a Mafia-like criminal organization from Apulia (in Italian Puglia) region in Southern Italy, and is especially active in the areas of Brindisi and Lecce and not, like people tend to believe, in the region as a whole. Image File history File links Italy_Regions_Apulia_Map. ... Image File history File links Italy_Regions_Apulia_Map. ... The Mafia (also referred to as Cosa Nostra or the Mob), is a criminal secret society which first developed in the mid-19th century in Sicily. ... Organized crime or criminal organizations are groups or operations run by criminals, most commonly for the purpose of generating a monetary profit. ... This article is about the Italian region. ... Brindisi is an ancient city in the Italian region of Puglia, the capital of the province of Brindisi. ... This is about the Italian city of Lecce. ...

Contents

Background and activities

The SCU is relatively new, first appearing in 1983. It has some religious symbolism, similar to the Camorra. SCU leader and founder Giuseppe Rogoli revealed a pyramidal structure to the SCU, with camorristi (soldiers) at the bottom; as well as sgarristi (enforcers), santisti, evangelisti, and trequartino levels of membership. The crimine was the boss. The Sacra Corona Unita consists of about 50 Clans with approximately 2,000 members and specializes in smuggling cigarettes, drugs, arms, and people. 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 post-Communist countries like Croatia, Yugoslavia, 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. Investigations by police and reports showed the SCU had links to the Colombians, other Italian crime groups, as well as Russian and Asian organized crime groups. The SCU were behind the smuggling of thousands of Albanians into Italy, and have been called "modern-day slave traders". The SCU also sent Albanian women into prostitution in Italy.[1] 1983 (MCMLXXXIII) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... The camorra is a mafia-like criminal organization, or secret society, in the region of Campania and the city of Naples in Italy. ... Yugoslavia (Jugoslavija in the Latin alphabet, Југославија in Cyrillic; English: Land of the South Slavs) describes three political entities that existed one at a time on the Balkan Peninsula in Europe, during most of the 20th century. ... Official language(s) English[1] Capital Springfield Largest city Chicago Largest metro area Chicago Area  Ranked 25th  - Total 57,918 sq mi (149,998 km²)  - Width 210 miles (340 km)  - Length 390 miles (629 km)  - % water 4. ... Official language(s) English Capital Tallahassee Largest city Jacksonville Largest metro area Miami Area  Ranked 22nd  - Total 65,795[1] sq mi (170,304[1] km²)  - Width 361 miles (582 km)  - Length 447 miles (721 km)  - % water 17. ... NY redirects here. ...


Symbolism

Informer Cosimo Capodieci said the SCU used "the Crown (Corona) because it resembles a crown, meaning the rosary typically used in Church in order to carry out the functions of Jesus Christ and the cross... United (Unita) because it was necessary to be connected to one another, similar to the rings of a chain."[2]


Rivals

The internal difficulties of the SCU aided the birth of antagonistic criminal groups such as:

  • Remo Lecce Libera - formed by some leading criminal figures from Lecce, who claim to be independent from any criminal group other than the 'Ndrangheta. The term Remo indicates Remo Morello, a criminal from the Salento area, killed by criminals from the Campania region because he opposed any external interference;
  • Nuova Famiglia Salentina - formed in 1986 by De Matteis Pantaleo, from Lecce and stemming from the Famiglia Salentina Libera born in the early 1980s as an autonomous criminal movement in the Salento area with no links with extra-regional Mafia expressions;
  • Rosa dei Venti - formed in 1990 by De Tommasi in the Lecce prison, following an internal division in the SCU.[3]

The Calabrian Ndrangheta (from the Greek word andragathía for heroism and virtue), pronounced en-drang-ay-ta, is one of the most powerful and ruthless mafia organisations in Italy. ... Salento Salento (Salentu in dialect) is the south-eastern extremity of the Apulia region of Italy. ... For other uses, see Campania (disambiguation). ...

Notes

  1. ^ FBI Investigative Programs Organized Crime
  2. ^ as quoted in The Global Mafia, pg 69
  3. ^ Le criminalità organizzate nell'Italia meridionale continentale: camorra, 'ndrangheta, sacra corona unita Carlo Alfiero, Generale di Brigata - Comandante Scuola Ufficiali CC

See also


  Results from FactBites:
 
Sacra Corona Unita: Discover the Apulian Mafia, Italy's 4th mafia organization, founded in the 1980s in Bari, Puglia - ... (8072 words)
Sacra Corona Unita, or United Sacred Crown, is a Mafia-like criminal organization from Apulia (in Italian Puglia) region in Southern Italy, and is especially active in the areas of Brindisi and Lecce and not, like people tend to believe, in the region as a whole.
Sacra Corona Unita is a relatively new organisation, and Guiseppe Ronoli from Brindisi by origin, is considered to be its founder.
Sacra Corona Unita este impartita in 47 de clanuri si are in compunere 1561 de membri permanenti.
Federal Bureau of Investigation - Organized Crime - Italian Organized Crime - Overview (3502 words)
Law enforcement became aware of the Sacra Corona Unita in the late 1980s.
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.
  More results at FactBites »


 

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