New arrests in Torretta

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CabriniGreen
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Re: New arrests in Torretta

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Also, I'm not trying to argue either, I could honestly talk about the minutiae of this crap all day, lol....
CabriniGreen
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Re: New arrests in Torretta

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Like, there is literally no one else to talk to about this stuff, I really cherish this board....
felice
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Re: New arrests in Torretta

Post by felice »

Yes, cocaine was strange indeed. Francesco Puglisi explains that he once went to NY having dinner with several mobsters of the Gambino family (including Grillo) and he realized people were taking coke so he just added it in the table of his flat (5 grams) in case Grillo would have needed
felice
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Re: New arrests in Torretta

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Even because cocaine is really considered bad among the sicilian mafia. Just one episode in this investigation:
Someone is spreading a rumor that Calogero Zito (Simone's son) is using cocaine with his wife. This someone is confrented by Calogero Badalamenti who tells him to stop to spread this rumor around otherwise he will personally kill his children. Badalamenti is then saying the episode to Simone Zito and Zito says he said to his son that if he finds him using drugs he would personally kill and bury him to save his grandchildren.
JohnnySalami
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Re: New arrests in Torretta

Post by JohnnySalami »

felice wrote: Sat Jul 17, 2021 12:31 pm yes that's him, varisco was moving heroin for the gambino brothers in the late 80s. he was living in the usa.

no, lorenzo mannino b.1946 wasn't ever arrested for mafia in italy, his brother calogero was. another brother, luigi, was murdered because he was a hot head.
I dont dispute anything you say felice because your a credible source but it was a well known on 18th ave that lorenzo (b.1946) had gotten arrested last time he was in italy. In fact now its said he want to sell all his properties he has over there.

I had gotten his brothers names mixed up but in a previous post of mine I had mentioned he had a brother killed years ago and another who was doing time in detroit

His brother calogero used to be the maitre'd at il colosseo after the original ponte vecchio closed down. Prior to lorenzo owning the restaurant he used to be a hairdresser/barber
scagghiuni
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Re: New arrests in Torretta

Post by scagghiuni »

felice wrote: Sun Jul 18, 2021 2:17 am Even because cocaine is really considered bad among the sicilian mafia. Just one episode in this investigation:
Someone is spreading a rumor that Calogero Zito (Simone's son) is using cocaine with his wife. This someone is confrented by Calogero Badalamenti who tells him to stop to spread this rumor around otherwise he will personally kill his children. Badalamenti is then saying the episode to Simone Zito and Zito says he said to his son that if he finds him using drugs he would personally kill and bury him to save his grandchildren.
sicilian mafia trafficks drugs but it is considered bad if some member uses it
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Strax
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Re: New arrests in Torretta

Post by Strax »

scagghiuni wrote: Sun Jul 18, 2021 4:35 am sicilian mafia trafficks drugs but it is considered bad if some member uses it
Same with 'Ndrangheta , cocaine users are labeled as 'unreliable'. I remember few years ago when they banished high ranking 'Ndrangheta member to Milan because he was cocaine user , they did not kill him because his father is powerful figure in Calabria.

It could be just a test as B. mentioned few pages back
AAA-DK
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Re: New arrests in Torretta

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stevan tod
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Re: New arrests in Torretta

Post by stevan tod »

Very nice read. Thank you, Felice for this info.And thanks to others who contribute to this topic. Felice Is there any chance you have something on Bonanno Sicilian crew in photo material? I got bunch of unidentified photographs and workin on Bono wedding IDs and i make some progres. Those photos of Gambino crew from 80s are great. So i was wondering do you have any related to Bonannos? Salute.
B.
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Re: New arrests in Torretta

Post by B. »

CabriniGreen wrote: Sun Jul 18, 2021 2:09 am Like, there is literally no one else to talk to about this stuff, I really cherish this board....
100%. Yeah man, you and I are two of the only people who really like to dissect these relationships, so I appreciate the back and forth even if we have different takes on some of the details haha.

We agree all of these immigrants from Passo di Rigano and Torretta remain deeply invested in what goes on in their hometown borgatas and haven't separated their identity from that. Look at the Inzerillos, who were well-established in NYC/NJ, but Gambino captain Nino Inzerillo couldn't resist involving himself in the mafia war and then twenty years later a bunch of them returned to Sicily and took over Passo di Rigano again as soon as it became possible even though it meant intense LE scrutiny and guaranteed punishment. It's that important to them.

The Passo di Rigano / Torretta stuff is interesting in its own right, but there isn't much mystery about why they are connected to the Gambinos. I hope we learn more about some of the other families interacting with the Gambinos. We know there are connections to Santa Maria di Gesu, Ciaculli, Castrofilippo (AG), Porto Empedocle (AG / social ties at least), Sciacca, and I'm sure other Palermo neighborhoods.

Interesting too these guys keep meeting in Partanna Mondello. Obviously it's a scenic luxury area, but that area and surrounding neighborhoods have historic ties to the Gambino family. Rosario Riccobono was a liaison between John Gambino and Toto Riina.
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Re: New arrests in Torretta

Post by CabriniGreen »

Antimafiaduemila.com


Bontate, Inzerillo and American Cosa Nostra in the Palermo area
Jamil El Sadi July 16, 2021
New revelations emerge from the recent blitz Operation "Crystal Tower"



A few evenings ago the "Crystal Tower" operation - coordinated by the Palermo Public Prosecutor in the person of the Deputy Prosecutor Salvatore De Luca, by the substitutes Amelia Luise and Giovanni Antoci - in which the Carabinieri of the Investigative Unit arrested ten people for mafia association, possession of drugs, personal aiding and abetting and attempted extortion with the aggravating circumstance of the mafia method.



The investigation activity involved the top of the Torretta family - belonging to the Palermitan mafia district of Passo di Rigano which represents a "persistent and solid bond" between the American and Sicilian Cosa Nostra, as specified by the carabinieri - hitting Raffaele Di Maggio ( son of the historic boss Giuseppe 'Piddu i Raffaele' Di Maggio), flanked by Ignazio Antonino Mannino, also with a "managerial and organizational" function, and by Calogero Badalamenti, who would be entrusted with the Bellolampo area.



The investigation also affected Lorenzo Di Maggio, alias 'Lorenzino', accused by the repentant Antonino Pipitone of having been the collector of messages directed to Matteo Messina Denaro. Then there is the role of Calogero Caruso, known as 'Merendino', "senior affiliate - underline the carabinieri - and former figure of the top of the Torrettese mafia family, under whom his nephew Filippo Gambino was credited", a subject later arrested in the scope of the operation.

Among the names highlighted by the investigators there is also that of Calogero Christian Zito, monitored in numerous movements between Sicily and the USA and currently being sought.

The investigations also focused on the Puglisi brothers, two Torrettese building contractors "fully integrated into the dynamics" observed in the survey. Giovanni Angelo Mannino, Francesco and Natale Puglisi also ended up in handcuffs. Obligation of residence instead for Paolo Vassallo.


But what is striking of the entire operation is the terrifying inlet of the Mafia family in the territory. And also of how ancient, well-known and powerful names such as Bontate and Inzerillo echo among these subjects; rather than connections with the red primrose Matteo Messina Denaro; and, even more worrying, a consolidated bilateral relationship between the Cosa Nostra from overseas and Siciliana. All new structures that increasingly confirm the presence of a strong and well-rooted "Cosa Nostra 2.0".

The background of the commissary of the Municipality of Torretta. The influence of the American Calogero Zito


From the "Crystal Tower" operation, new details have emerged about the background of the commissariat of the Municipality of Torretta - which took place in August 2019 - and the dense network of interests from which it arose. These new details are linked to the name of Calogero Christian Zito, the only one of the recent blitz who has not yet been notified of the order of the investigating judge Filippo Serio.




According to the investigators, the mayor of Torretta, Salvatore Gambino, "had really been the recipient of the political and institutional choices to be adopted by Calogero Zito" and the indications concerned "alliances, the appointment of councilors and the president of executive positions".

In Torretta, Zito undertook to obtain votes and, after the elections, dictate the name of the new "deputy mayor, a councilor and the management of the technical office".
The name Puglisi has also been linked to the commissioner. The two entrepreneur brothers, Natale (born in '59) and Francesco Puglisi, would have lined up for the elections in June 2018 with Rosario Candela, the other mayoral candidate, "hoping for a personal gain in terms of entrusting public works".


This led to a clash between the "opposing factions considering the small number of inhabitants (just four thousand, ed.) And the extraordinary intertwining of kinships established for some time - the investigators said -. It happened that the attention of the suspects converged on the same family groups of voters. These problems were dealt with in the course of meetings and confidential meetings, also with the involvement of the mafia exponents of Torretta ”.



But it is thanks to an interception dated 17 July 2019, carried out during the "New Connection" operation, that the influence of the Zito emerges. It is a conversation between Salvatore Gambino (68 years old), alias “Totò u rinsed” and Domenico Caruso, in which light was shed on the relationships to which the two “already candidates in the Loyal list for Torretta - Candela mayor” would have alluded. The two speak of the arrest of the winning mayor Gambino and also of the pressure that the Zito (father and son) had made. "[...] That young gentleman came specifically from the United States to condition and we all know it, he was in the public domain, the meetings with Sara ... he came to my house, he came to the house of many others".


In all this, however, the boss Raffaele Di Maggio chose to remain "super partes" and peaceful between the two opposing teams.
After "New Connection" it was again "U rinsed" talking to Francesco Puglisi of the mayor: "This one of the mayor was born because we were controlling the Passo di Rigano speech ... now Savo may be that his ass is saved but he is finished too ... they burned it ".

Control of the territory and influence of public life


As the history of the mafia teaches, control of the territory is also achieved thanks to the diversion of public tenders, the disruption of auctions and tenders, the pollution of public life in favor of a few. And this aspect too emerged from the recent operation. Each construction site was assigned only to the companies of the district.


But in Capaci, for example, a dispute arose raised by the Puglisi brothers as the construction sites went into the hands of Francesco Palumeri: “A prominent element in the district of Tommaso Natale - San Lorenzo”.

The brothers entrepreneurs called into question Raffaele Di Maggio who "always assisted by Ignazio Antonino Mannino and Simone Zito, had ensured that his associates Natale Puglisi ('59) and Francesco Puglisi, despite the claims of Palumeri, could continue in compliance with the of Cosa Nostra in carrying out the works commissioned to him ".



Also in the vicinity of Capaci, precisely in Isola delle Femmine, another construction site of the Puglisi brothers needed the authorization of the local mafia family.

This is evidenced by an interception between Simone Zito and Lorenzo Di Maggio (former collector of the Lo Piccolo). "Those of Palermo, that is the leaders of the district of San Lorenzo - Tommaso Natale, - explain the investigators - despite having formally become aware of the activities planned by the Puglisi brothers, had not yet received any official communication and therefore could not confirm to the referent of Capaci Isola delle Femmine, or Erasmo Lo Bello called Orazio, that the Puglisi were authorized. But in the end, even in this case there was the green light thanks to Raffaele Di Maggio.

Bontate and Inzerillo. Old names, new faces



From the recent survey it emerged that some members of old-fashioned mafia families are still relevant today; "Those of the past". These are the Inzerillo and Bontate, or the sons of the most powerful bosses in Palermo killed in the early 1980s by Totò Riina and the Corleonesi during their ascent to the top of the mafia dome of the time.



From the shots taken during the "Crystal Tower" operation Giovanni Inzerillo (son of the boss Salvatore), for example, it is clear how he carried out a series of meetings with the boss of Torretta Lorenzo Di Maggio, the man who managed the pizzini of the mafia Palermo direct to the super-fledgling Matteo Messina Denaro.

The latter, Di Maggio, cousin of the late father of Giovanni Inzerillo. The subject of the meetings is still unknown. But the investigations underline how Giovanni Inzerillo is "closely linked" to Tommaso Pecorella, cousin of Stefano and frequent frequenter of the mafia boss of Torretta Raffaele Di Maggio. Pecorella who in turn met Francesco Paolo Bontate, son of the boss Stefano Bontate.

But the reasons for these meetings are not yet known. The offspring of Inzerillo and Bontate are not investigated in the latest investigation. But the attention of the anti-mafia is at the highest level, to avoid dangerous returns to the past.



In short, ancient names, but new faces. A nomenclature that is part of an important team in the history of the Sicilian Cosa Nostra and beyond. Forty years later there is still talk of Bontate and Inzerillo. Obviously they are deterrent names of a power that unfortunately, alas, has not yet passed.
B.
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Re: New arrests in Torretta

Post by B. »

Was wondering about Giovanni Inzerillo. Amazing Stefano Bontate's son shows up indirectly in the investigation also.

Shows you how deep it goes. Their fathers and relatives massacred, forced into hiding most of their lives, and the Italian government treats them like Mussolini did, yet they got involved in the Sicilian mafia as soon as they could.

--

Does anyone know where in Palermo the Cefalus came from? Or the Contes earlier?
felice
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Re: New arrests in Torretta

Post by felice »

AAA-DK wrote: Sun Jul 18, 2021 9:20 am download/file.php?id=6467&mode=view
I am VERY curious about the guy who draw this chart. To insert some names he must be someone really in the know. Josepg Gambino is obviously living in NY, not in Sicily. Anyway list is much bigger
felice
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Re: New arrests in Torretta

Post by felice »

B. wrote: Mon Jul 19, 2021 3:16 am Was wondering about Giovanni Inzerillo. Amazing Stefano Bontate's son shows up indirectly in the investigation also.

Shows you how deep it goes. Their fathers and relatives massacred, forced into hiding most of their lives, and the Italian government treats them like Mussolini did, yet they got involved in the Sicilian mafia as soon as they could.

--

Does anyone know where in Palermo the Cefalus came from? Or the Contes earlier?
I think they were both palermitani. Cefalù's uncle had connection with members of Palermo families.
felice
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Re: New arrests in Torretta

Post by felice »

Giovanni Inzerillo has been under severe investigation since 2006, so his first cousin Giuseppe and many family members. They couldn't find anything on them. Italian and american authorities were 100% sure they were dealing in drugs
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