The Venezuela Family

[johnny_scootch]

"Venezuela has its own Cosa Nostra family as if it is Sicilian territory," according to the Italian police. "The structure and hierarchy of the Mafia has been entirely reproduced in Venezuela." The Cuntrera-Caruana clan had direct links with the ruling Commission of the Sicilian Mafia, and are acknowledged by the American Cosa Nostra.


After reading about the existence of a Venezuela based family it got me to thinking it's possible Venezuela is the territory through which the Caruana-Cuntrera family received their mafia franchise. Are the C-C's and the Venezuela family one and the same?

Anyone have any info on this Venezuela family?

[B.]

Salvatore Greco was living there before he died in 1978.

I'd guess the Caruana-Cuntreras are seen as members of this Venezuelan family or the Siculiana family. There is no precedent for a global mafia family defined solely by blood ties and it's unlikely they'd receive official recognition the way they are publicly written about. Not different in that regard from their friends the Rizzuto faction in Montreal.

[scagghiuni]

somebody thinks matteo messina denaro is hiding over there, but i don't believe it he's sure in sicily

[johnny_scootch]

I'd guess the Caruana-Cuntreras are seen as members of this Venezuelan family or the Siculiana family. There is no precedent for a global mafia family defined solely by blood ties and it's unlikely they'd receive official recognition the way they are publicly written about.

Once I learned about a Venezuelan family it all came together and made perfect sense. We can't deny that the C-C's were a global mafia family for a time but tradition can't be ignored either and to gain a Cosa Nostra franchise and recognition you need a territory to be based out of period. It's never worked another way but at same time we should realize that the C-C's aren't a traditional mafia family at all they are/were a new age combo of Cosa Nostra family that resembled an Ndrangheta clan and basically operated as an international drug cartel.

I'd love to know the Venezuelan family hierarchy described by the Italian Police. It'd be a safe bet to say Pasquale Cuntrera was the boss at the time the family was formed.

[motorfab]

Interesting that the Italian authorities consider the "expatriates" of Venezuela as a separate cosca. Do you have the date of this extract Johnny?

Rather than a full-fledged family in Venezuela, I have always considered the Mafia presence in South America as a network with autonomous groups. A significant number of men of honor had fled Sicily after the "First Mafia War" mainly to escape the trial of the 114. As B says. Salvatore "Ciaschiteddu" Greco, but also maybe his cousin Salvatore "L'Igegnere "Greco were also in Venezuela, probably in the mid-1960s. I guess others were there.

It was also during this period and for this reason that some of the guys from Siculiana went to Venezuela (Pasquale, Gaspare, Liborio, Paolo Cuntrera, etc ...), Montreal (Leo, Giovanni Caruana, Pietro Sciara, etc..), Toronto (Giuseppe Indelicato) or also Brazil (Giuseppe Caruana).

In Brazil, Buscetta in the early 1970s, then Badalamenti later settled there. All these people were also in association with Auguste Ricord installed in Paraguay who supplied all the heroin piplines of the Sicilians Cosa Nostra at least until 1972. It is for this reason that I think more of a network rather than to an independent family, at least until that date.

From what I understood, the Bosses of Siculiana-Cuntrera/Caruana over the period of the 60s were Giuseppe Caruana, then Leonardo Caruana from 1972 until his murder in 1981. Pasquale Caruana was recognized as the next boss until his arrest and deportation in 1992. Does that make him the boss or the first boss of Venezuela? Given the very tense relations with the Corleonesi at the time it is possible, but I do not know who succeed him.

What is certain is that Alfonso Caruana succeeded him at the head of the Cuntrera-Caruana Clan until 1998

[johnny_scootch]

Interesting that the Italian authorities consider the "expatriates" of Venezuela as a separate cosca. Do you have the date of this extract Johnny?

It was said by Italian Investigator Allesandro Pansa and is contained in an article from 5/29/97.

here is the full paragraph

The implication, as Italian investigator Alessandro Pansa has noted is that "Venezuela has its own Cosa Nostra family as if it is Sicilian territory ... Until this day, the structure and hierarchy of the Mafia has been entirely reproduced in Venezuela ... The clan has direct links with the ruling Commission of the Sicilian Mafia, and are acknowledged by the American Cosa Nostra." Pansa claims that they are the funnel for the Gambino Family. Indeed, according to Tommaso Buscetta, it was the all-powerful New York Mafia boss Carlo Gambino himself who sponsored the acknowledgement of the Cuntrera-Caruana Family.



This is a really great article but I'm sure you may have read it in the past


https://www.tni.org/en/paper/rothschilds-mafia-aruba

[felice]

yes, in venezuela there was a family founded by the caruana cuntrera plus a decina of another family based in valencia that later become a full indipendent family as well

[CabriniGreen]

If Venezuela wasnt a separate family, then it simply was a branch of the Caruana- Cuntrera family. Kinda like the Triassi brothers ran Ostia for them.....



Vito Triassi, the "colonel" of the Caruana-Cuntrera clan, rival of the Spada, died in Tenerife
Vito Triassi, the "colonel" of the Caruana-Cuntrera clan, rival of the Spada, died in Tenerife
Monday 4th February 201901:15

by Emilio Orlando

A heart attack killed Vito Triassi, one of the bosses who made good and bad weather on the Roman coast. The man was in Tenerife, Spain, when he fell ill and collapsed on the ground while he was near his home. The homonymous clan controlled the racket of beaches, kiosks and some establishments in Ostia together with drug trafficking. Together with his brother Vincenzo Triassi he was the colonel of the historic Caruana-Cuntrera mafia family of Siculiana in the province of Agrigento.








Vito Triassi, boss of the Caruana-Cuntrera clan ...

The mafia infiltration of the Sicilian clan was carried out in Ostia after the "colonization" of the Banda della Magliana. Vito and Vincenzo Triassi were sent to Ostia to stay obliged, but they continued their criminal activity which began in Sicily, with the control of almost all of the economic activities on the Roman coast.


The drug and arms trafficking was managed by the historic Caruana-Cuntrera di Siculiana mafia family. According to investigations by the district anti-mafia directorate, the Triassi family dealt with drug and arms trafficking that also came from the Balkans. They were linked to the Fasciani clan and had close relations with the survivors of the Banda della Magliana.

In May 2006 Triassi had already been kicked in Ostia , under his home in the area of ​​the Cape Verde Islands. Not even a year after a new attack. It was September 20, 2007 in Casal Palocco, on the Roman coast, when two people shot him. He was hospitalized in Ostia hospital and underwent surgery. And he got away with it on this occasion too. In 2011, on the other hand, his brother Vincenzo was ambushed. And since then the judicial problems for the clan also began.


The motive for the attack lay in the friction of two criminal groups that controlled Ostia for the underworld. The last blitz that saw the Triassi in handcuffs was the anti-crime operation baptized by the investigators "Maverick" which beheaded the clan between Lazio and Sicily with forty-two arrests. Yesterday it was a heart attack that took his life.

[CabriniGreen]

Interesting that the Italian authorities consider the "expatriates" of Venezuela as a separate cosca. Do you have the date of this extract Johnny?

It was said by Italian Investigator Allesandro Pansa and is contained in an article from 5/29/97.

here is the full paragraph

The implication, as Italian investigator Alessandro Pansa has noted is that "Venezuela has its own Cosa Nostra family as if it is Sicilian territory ... Until this day, the structure and hierarchy of the Mafia has been entirely reproduced in Venezuela ... The clan has direct links with the ruling Commission of the Sicilian Mafia, and are acknowledged by the American Cosa Nostra." Pansa claims that they are the funnel for the Gambino Family. Indeed, according to Tommaso Buscetta, it was the all-powerful New York Mafia boss Carlo Gambino himself who sponsored the acknowledgement of the Cuntrera-Caruana Family.



This is a really great article but I'm sure you may have read it in the past


https://www.tni.org/en/paper/rothschilds-mafia-aruba

This is part of the reason the question of recognition is a thorny one. They were ALWAYS partners with the Gambino family, even though they ran a parallel network. Like its said, the Gambinos sponsored- recognized the clan. The Bonnanos gave tacit approval when they let them kill the Violis. We know Settecasi and the Sicilian mafia recognized them. They were partners with Salvatore Greco too.

They held power in Sicily, Rome, Montreal, and Venezuela.

The Triassi are like their Rizzutos of Rome, but not as powerful.

[motorfab]

Interesting that the Italian authorities consider the "expatriates" of Venezuela as a separate cosca. Do you have the date of this extract Johnny?

It was said by Italian Investigator Allesandro Pansa and is contained in an article from 5/29/97.

here is the full paragraph

The implication, as Italian investigator Alessandro Pansa has noted is that "Venezuela has its own Cosa Nostra family as if it is Sicilian territory ... Until this day, the structure and hierarchy of the Mafia has been entirely reproduced in Venezuela ... The clan has direct links with the ruling Commission of the Sicilian Mafia, and are acknowledged by the American Cosa Nostra." Pansa claims that they are the funnel for the Gambino Family. Indeed, according to Tommaso Buscetta, it was the all-powerful New York Mafia boss Carlo Gambino himself who sponsored the acknowledgement of the Cuntrera-Caruana Family.



This is a really great article but I'm sure you may have read it in the past


https://www.tni.org/en/paper/rothschilds-mafia-aruba

Thank you ! Yes indeed I already read this article a few years ago when I started to be interested in Cuntrera-Caruana. I just read it again, thanks for that.

Besides, you quote Vito Triassi in your previous post, he was married to one of the daughters of Santo Caldarella, one of the chiefs of the clan. I believe his brother Vincenzo was also married to Caldarella's other daughter.

Another prominent name quoted in the article is Carlo Zippo, a Neapolitan (not a Camorra member I think) involved in drug trafficking with Buscetta & the C-Cs and who laundered a lot of money in Aruba. I believe he was convicted in the 90s

[CabriniGreen]

Interesting that the Italian authorities consider the "expatriates" of Venezuela as a separate cosca. Do you have the date of this extract Johnny?

It was said by Italian Investigator Allesandro Pansa and is contained in an article from 5/29/97.

here is the full paragraph

The implication, as Italian investigator Alessandro Pansa has noted is that "Venezuela has its own Cosa Nostra family as if it is Sicilian territory ... Until this day, the structure and hierarchy of the Mafia has been entirely reproduced in Venezuela ... The clan has direct links with the ruling Commission of the Sicilian Mafia, and are acknowledged by the American Cosa Nostra." Pansa claims that they are the funnel for the Gambino Family. Indeed, according to Tommaso Buscetta, it was the all-powerful New York Mafia boss Carlo Gambino himself who sponsored the acknowledgement of the Cuntrera-Caruana Family.



This is a really great article but I'm sure you may have read it in the past


https://www.tni.org/en/paper/rothschilds-mafia-aruba

Thank you ! Yes indeed I already read this article a few years ago when I started to be interested in Cuntrera-Caruana. I just read it again, thanks for that.

Besides, you quote Vito Triassi in your previous post, he was married to one of the daughters of Santo Caldarella, one of the chiefs of the clan. I believe his brother Vincenzo was also married to Caldarella's other daughter.

Another prominent name quoted in the article is Carlo Zippo, a Neapolitan (not a Camorra member I think) involved in drug trafficking with Buscetta & the C-Cs and who laundered a lot of money in Aruba. I believe he was convicted in the 90s

You can trace the Cherry Hill guys power as well. When Cali organizes the shipment for the Sicilians Mandala and Nichhi, he did it through a Miami based trafficker from Venezuela. He clearly inherited Gambino- Inzerillo contacts, that they may have shared with the Caruana- Cuntreras. Mutolo said he split a heroin shipment between the 2 groups. Cali was no drug dealer like THAT, at least not while cutting his teeth in NY.

I actually posted the stuff on the Triassi brothers. I got interested in them watching Suburra, which made me curious about the mafia in Ostia.


I've found it interesting for awhile, Cali organizing that shipment. Because he didnt cultivate those contacts, the Gambino brothers did, the Inzerillos, the Cuntreras.

What's interesting to me, is it seems the Caruana- Cuntreras capabilities in the Narco- Industry were severely curtailed by a series of arrest and seizures, whereas the Inzerillos contacts were still viable.

If they had shared contacts, I wonder why in the early 2000s, the Rizzutos seem to struggle to source large loads of cocaine, whereas Cali, through the Inzerillos, had no problem. The Cuntreras might have been too hot.

Which family is Caldalrella?

[motorfab]

Interesting that the Italian authorities consider the "expatriates" of Venezuela as a separate cosca. Do you have the date of this extract Johnny?

It was said by Italian Investigator Allesandro Pansa and is contained in an article from 5/29/97.

here is the full paragraph

The implication, as Italian investigator Alessandro Pansa has noted is that "Venezuela has its own Cosa Nostra family as if it is Sicilian territory ... Until this day, the structure and hierarchy of the Mafia has been entirely reproduced in Venezuela ... The clan has direct links with the ruling Commission of the Sicilian Mafia, and are acknowledged by the American Cosa Nostra." Pansa claims that they are the funnel for the Gambino Family. Indeed, according to Tommaso Buscetta, it was the all-powerful New York Mafia boss Carlo Gambino himself who sponsored the acknowledgement of the Cuntrera-Caruana Family.



This is a really great article but I'm sure you may have read it in the past


https://www.tni.org/en/paper/rothschilds-mafia-aruba

Thank you ! Yes indeed I already read this article a few years ago when I started to be interested in Cuntrera-Caruana. I just read it again, thanks for that.

Besides, you quote Vito Triassi in your previous post, he was married to one of the daughters of Santo Caldarella, one of the chiefs of the clan. I believe his brother Vincenzo was also married to Caldarella's other daughter.

Another prominent name quoted in the article is Carlo Zippo, a Neapolitan (not a Camorra member I think) involved in drug trafficking with Buscetta & the C-Cs and who laundered a lot of money in Aruba. I believe he was convicted in the 90s

You can trace the Cherry Hill guys power as well. When Cali organizes the shipment for the Sicilians Mandala and Nichhi, he did it through a Miami based trafficker from Venezuela. He clearly inherited Gambino- Inzerillo contacts, that they may have shared with the Caruana- Cuntreras. Mutolo said he split a heroin shipment between the 2 groups. Cali was no drug dealer like THAT, at least not while cutting his teeth in NY.

I actually posted the stuff on the Triassi brothers. I got interested in them watching Suburra, which made me curious about the mafia in Ostia.


I've found it interesting for awhile, Cali organizing that shipment. Because he didnt cultivate those contacts, the Gambino brothers did, the Inzerillos, the Cuntreras.

What's interesting to me, is it seems the Caruana- Cuntreras capabilities in the Narco- Industry were severely curtailed by a series of arrest and seizures, whereas the Inzerillos contacts were still viable.

If they had shared contacts, I wonder why in the early 2000s, the Rizzutos seem to struggle to source large loads of cocaine, whereas Cali, through the Inzerillos, had no problem. The Cuntreras might have been too hot.

Which family is Caldalrella?

Santo Caldarella was a member of the Siculiana's cosca. He emmigrated with the C-C's in Canada/Venezuela during the 60's. I post a photo of him on this thread viewtopic.php?f=31&t=6626

I know the Cherry Hill Gambinos were powerful Mafia people, but my knowledge of the Gambino Crime Family is very limited. I will read your thread

[motorfab]

As he's mentioned in the article Johnny posted, I would have a question for the Italian experts: What family did Pietro Davi belong to? I never really knew ... Palermo Centro? I read that he was a relative to the La Barbera brothers

[scagghiuni]

As he's mentioned in the article Johnny posted, I would have a question for the Italian experts: What family did Pietro Davi belong to? I never really knew ... Palermo Centro? I read that he was a relative to the La Barbera brothers

i thought brancaccio

[B.]

I'll bet Nick Gentile knew the older generations of the clan. Too bad he didn't mention more about Siculiana. In a way Gentile is the predecessor to them as he was a major heroin trafficker from Siculiana with ties all over. His nephew in Vancouver had ties to the Bonanno group in Montreal, so you have to figure the Caruanas and Cuntreras in Montreal and Toronto knew about their compaesano Giuseppe Gentile on the west coast.

I saw a report on Ribera mafia members active in the 1940s/50s and it listed a Caruana. The vowel at the end of names used to get confused, so I wonder if it is the same as Caruano, a known Riberese mafia name, or if there are also Caruanas in the Ribera mafia. In Ribera there are many Rendas and Rizzutos, like in Cattolica, so there's crossover in names among these villages.

NJ DeCavalcantes from Ribera are friends with the Cattolicensi and Siculianesi Bonanno members in Montreal. When Nick Gentile went to Quebec in the 1910s he brought a man from Ribera with him. There was a colony from Siculiana in Montreal already at that time, which I suspect Gentile visited. We heard recently from Sicilian investigators that the Ribera mafia has slot machines in Canada with the Cattolicensi. These are long-standing relationships.

I think the Caruana-Cuntreras and their friends are a continuation of the old Agrigento network. Wish we knew more about the early Siculiana presence in Canada and whether it included mafiosi. Gentile visiting at that time is a good indication there were mafia contacts.

The way the Venezuela family is described makes sense. The Sicilian mafia has members in Canada and the US that are still formally affiliated with their Sicilian family, so it would be the same for the Caruana-Cuntreras. They could still be members of the Venezuela or Siculiana families while living in Canada. Agostino Cuntrera was suspected of being a Bonanno member, which if true would show that they are willing to get made or transfer into local groups when possible.