Corsican & French mob

[motorfab]

Some stories about key figures of the Marseille underworld but who do not necessarily fit in the Vendetta hut

Antoine "Pompe" Sinibaldi
Sinbaldi was a Marseille gangster from Calenzana (Corsica). On November 12, 1947, while the city of Marseille was being shaken by Communist strikes, a court sentenced 3 strikers to prison for violence against police. Explosions of anger from protesters who sacked the courtroom and escaped 2 of the 3 defendants. A second judgment is rendered later with lighter sentences, but does not calm anyone and things degenerate. Protesters then shouted "at the Opera", the cabaret & borthel district that is under the control of the Guerini brothers and the mob.
The crowd arrives and begins to ravage several establishments, including the Paris-Montmartre belonging to Robert Blémant (P-Ch.4) & Dominique Paoleschi (Chapter1), then heads to Rue De La Tour where a reception committee is waiting for them ...
Several shots are fired and a worker collapses dead: Vincent Voulant. Two witnesses recognize the shooters. It would be Mémé Guerini & Sinibaldi.
Realizing that they may be having troubles, the two witnesses suddenly become amnesic. Sinibaldi prefers to take the road to South America and will be active in Auguste Ricord's heroin network.
The Guerini brothers will continue their business and make a pact with the CIA so that there are no more problems on the port of Marseille to promote the Marshall Plan and incidentally favor the heroin trafficking that will pass through later ...



Antoine La Rocca
La Rocca alias "La Scoumoune" (a word from the south of France to say bad luck) or "L'Excomunié" was a Marseille gangster of Neapolitan origin. Boss of the gang in the Saint-Jean district, he is in competition with the gang in the Saint-Mauront district for control of the prostitution business. During this dispute, he executed 3 opponents in 1923 and sentenced to death for these crimes in absentia. He went on the run to Genoa, Naples or Alexandria (high place of trafficking in women, the popular activity of the European underworld at that time). Suspected of having killed another pimp there, he fled to Argentina to do the same job. He was expelled there a few later and found himself in Barcelona where he was arrested in 1933 with Mario Parravicini a Corsican (or Italian, it depends on the sources) and he is sent back to France where he is sentenced to 15 years in prison and 10 years of ban on stay in Marseille.
Released in 1946, he was assassinated in 1947 in Paris, surely for having tried to resume his activity as a racketeer, while he was a bouncer for a nightclub in Pigalle. According to some historians, his murder could be also related to the vendetta of Ange Salicetti (Chapter 2) although I personally have some doubts. His life inspired a novel by José Giovanni (an ex-mobster) which has been adapted twice for the cinema: "Man Called Rocca" and its remake "Scoumoune" both with J-P Belmondo



The Aranci brothers
The Aranci brothers (on the photo from left to right: Marius, Georges & Joseph), of Italian origin, were among the biggest and oldest drug traffickers in Marseille. They were arrested in 1960 (article).
But already in 1935 the eldest, Marius (on the left with the hat in the square), had made the headlines of the newspapers: "In a villa near Marseille, a search revealed 2,500 kg of opium stored in a cellar. 3" carriers " of the drug were busted: (Marius) Aranci, Ruggieri and Calixte (top). It is the record for the quantity of drugs seized in France."

[Villain]

Thanks again Motorfab, good stuff. The Corsican Mob often had trouble with the Communist party?

[aleksandrored]

Another amazing article, thanks man, this weekend I watched the Sicilian clan, French organized crime is very interesting.

Some time ago I saw this documentary, it's very interesting, I just don't know if it is in English or French:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PoAnPGgszw8&t=304s

the documentary shows a French thug Redoine Faid, this guy watched Heat and went to imitate the guys.

[motorfab]

Thanks again Motorfab, good stuff. The Corsican Mob often had trouble with the Communist party?

To my knowledge, this is the main confrontation that there was. I guess after that it was mainly to break strikes on the docks led by the CGT (Communist) union. Besides, I mention the CIA, that sounds like a myth, but most of the books I have read on the subject (by journalists or serious historians) indicate that the agency has put its nose in the business of the port and to favor the Guerinis and other Bosses. It was also under the impetus of the CIA and one of their men, Irwing Brown, that a Socialist union, FO, was created to parasitize the Communists and the CGT.
To come back to your initial question, the mobsters adhering to the SAC, largely helped to break strikers during the demonstrations of May 68, a social movement which led to the resignation of General Da Gaulle from the presidency of France and which led to the V Republic (I'm simplifying a bit but that's roughly it).

Another amazing article, thanks man, this weekend I watched the Sicilian clan, French organized crime is very interesting.

Some time ago I saw this documentary, it's very interesting, I just don't know if it is in English or French:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PoAnPGgszw8&t=304s

the documentary shows a French thug Redoine Faid, this guy watched Heat and went to imitate the guys.

If I understood everything, it is journalists who follow the BAC (Anti Crime Brigade) in Marseille? They really do a crazy job, the suburbs over there are jungle. But I guess it's the same everywhere ...

Yes Redoine Faïd is a famous robber especially known for his 2 prison escapes. After serving time in prison he was released and wrote a book with a journalist in 2010 where he said he had changed his life. A few months later he committed an armed robbery and killed a policewoman ... He escaped for the first time in 2013 with explosives and a hostage-taking and another time last year with a helicopter (no comment ) ... He got caught 3 months later while he was disguised in a burqa

[motorfab]

Speaking of the intelligence service, the SDECE, the French equivalent of the CIA also promoted drug trafficking during the Indochina war (source wiki, but confirmed by former agents now retired) :

"During the Indochina war, the GCMA (Groupement de Commandos Mixtes Airés) trained tribes from the highlands of Laos (Meos and Thaïs) to counter-guerrilla warfare. In return, the GCMA transports their opium production to their customers in Saigon. The French services thus strengthen their alliance with these anticommunist fighters and deprive the Communists of the benefits of this trafficking. In 1948, a report from the 2nd Bureau estimated that 80% of opium production was controlled by the Vietminh. By the way, the French services are self-financing.

The traffic is estimated at several tens of tonnes. Colonel Trinquier, commander of the GCMA, testified a few years later: “the opium money financed the Laos maquis. A DC-3 transported the drugs ... The money placed was used to resupply the guerrillas with food and weapons. Of course, we keep quiet about these practices. We did not talk about it to the Hanoi authorities, even less to those in Paris ”.

It is the American administration informed by the OSS which revealed this case and accused the French army of drug trafficking, arousing the indignation of the GCMA. The thesis of the sale to French traffickers is notably supported by Alfred McCoy. However, it is not retained by Jean-Marc Le Page in his book Les services secrets en Indochine. Most of the opium was resold in Saigon to the Binh Xuyen sect for local consumption. The remainder was used as a means of payment for the GCMA in Indochina."

[aleksandrored]

If I understood everything, it is journalists who follow the BAC (Anti Crime Brigade) in Marseille? They really do a crazy job, the suburbs over there are jungle. But I guess it's the same everywhere ...

Yes Redoine Faïd is a famous robber especially known for his 2 prison escapes. After serving time in prison he was released and wrote a book with a journalist in 2010 where he said he had changed his life. A few months later he committed an armed robbery and killed a policewoman ... He escaped for the first time in 2013 with explosives and a hostage-taking and another time last year with a helicopter (no comment ) ... He got caught 3 months later while he was disguised in a burqa

This Redoine Faïd is very GTA in real life, I remember that in the documentary he says he changed his life too, and in the end he says he was being investigated if I'm not mistaken (the documentary is a little old, he doesn't seem to have committed crimes yet when the documentary was made).

The car thief is such a "fox", but I don't remember seeing anything about him on the internet.

[motorfab]

Chapter 5: The Cowboys, The Sicilians & The Corsicans

If the underworld of Marseille transformed the city into a battlefield in the 70s, their Parisian colleagues will also do the same and everything will start with 5 Algerian brothers: The Zemour brothers.

The Z's (that's their nickname) are 5 Pied Noir brothers (a Jewish community), Roland, Theodore, Wiliam, Gilbert and Edgar, natives of Setif in Algeria.
The first to emigrate to France is Roland (along thith Theodore) in 1945 where he worked as a pimp. He will not profit from his activity for long because he will be assassinated in 1947 Rue Blondel (a high place of prostitution) by a competitor. He will be avenged a few years later by his other brothers who emigrate them starting 1955 to flee the Algerian war of independence where it is not good to be a Jew ...


Roland Zemour

They start with small scams, then having big ambitions, decide to settle in Montmartre, the headquarters of the Parisian underworld where Jewish organized crime is under the control of Clans Atlan & Perret. In 1965 the head of the Atlan clan, Sion, was assassinated and the relative peace between the 3 clans was shattered. The Zemour taking the opportunity to take control of the rackets of the Atians. On the orders of Gilbert Perrets, another Atlan, René, is shot dead. The Zemours, not appreciating the Perrets, whom they consider as half-Jews, clean up and eliminate several of their men. The rest of the Perrets after being arrested, leave the Underworld for good, and the Zs are now the new bosses of Faubourg Montmartre and will be nicknamed "Les Cowboys du Faubourg" (except Theodore who has distanced himself from the activities of his brothers).

From 1967 to 1968 the Z's also gave their support to Marcel Francisci during a war between him and Jean-Baptiste Andreani for the control of casinos (this will be important later).

In 1972, an associate of Z's, Roger Bacry, suggested to the brothers engage in heroin trafficking. Unfortunately for them, the DEA is watching and 120kg of powders are seized. The intermediary, André Condemine (an ex of the gang of Auguste Ricord in South America) is assassinated and he is found 1 year later in a suitcase on the edge of the Seine ...


André Condemine

Bacry who unsuccessfully claims financial compensation leaves the Z's allies himself with a gang from the southern suburbs of Paris called "The Sicilians Clan" (no one really knows why they were named like that) led by Jean-Claude Vella & Marcel Gauthier. The Sicilians, a little manipulated by Bacry, decide to extort the brothels of Z's and on March 12, 1973 one of the owners, Raphael Dadoun, is assassinated. The Z's call on a gang from Lyon, but Bacry spreads the rumor that it was the Zemours who shot Dadoun. Strategy works and a Z's man is eliminated. So as not to leave any traces, the Lyonnais are then shot down by the Sicilians ...


Marcel Gauthier & Jean-Claude Vella

After a series of murders, the two clans are invited by the Panzani brothers (a Corsican clan) to make a truce in February 1974 and the blood stops flowing for a time. Meanwhile Bacry addicted to psychotropic substances commits suicide in June. In November, other murders occurred and the Z's decided at the same time to go into the business of "Cercle de Jeux" (an activity almost exclusive to the Corsicans) ... It was in this context that on January 2, 1975 six men enter the "Laëticia" bar and kill 2 men and wound 6 others including Jo Panzani. Having no proof, the Corsicans are not yet launching retaliation ...


The police are investigating at the Laëticia bar

They won't need it because a month later another killing takes place in another bar, "Le Theleme". The police were informed that the Z's and the Sicilians were to meet in this bar and the men of Commissioner Broussard (the man who tracked down Mesrine) want to intervene. The cops spot Edgar, Wiliam and other men and decide to arrest everyone. Unfortunately, the Sicilians have not yet arrived, and Jo Elbaz, a Zemour man, thinks it's a trap and opens fire on the police. Elbaz & Wiliam Zemour are killed, Edgar seriously injured and 7 other people are injured. Edgar, who survived, was imprisoned for a year and Gilbert took refuge in Miami. It is the beginning of the end of the Zemour. The victory of the Sicilians was however short because suspected of being an informant, Vella was assassinated in September 1975 and Gauthier was assassinated a year later in September 1976. In the meantime, the Theleme informant, Pierrino Rotondo was killed.


The bar of Theleme and Wiliam Zemour

Edgar Zemour, retired in Miami and who still has a view on the business of gambling, launches the rumor that Marcel Francisci nicknamed "The Emperor of Gambling" or "Mister Heroin" by the DEA, owes him 8 million Francs and threats him. Francisci ignores Zemour, and is assassinated on January 14, 1982. This time the Corsicans realize that the Zemour are encroaching on their business and the response will be scathing. Paul Mondoloni a close man of Francisci charges a mobster from Marseille (allegedly Gilbert Hoareau, a man of Zampa) to kill Edgar. It is done on April 8, 1983: while he was in his house in Miami, Edgar was shot dead by a sniper.


Marcel Francisci, Paul Mondoloni, Edgar Zemour in 1951 & Gilbert Hoareau

Gilbert, half retired from business and quarreled with Edgar since the Theleme affair, also invested in the gambling business without much success. On July 27, 1983, while walking his 4 poodles Rue de Segur he was shot three times in the head. His murder remains unsolved.


Gilbert Zemour

The last Zemour survivor, Theodore, has long been out of business, and he still seems alive.

Theodore Zemour in 1948

With the end of Z's it's the end of the old-fashioned underworld.

[Villain]

Thanks again MFab, great work!!!!

Is the movie Les Clans Des Siciliens based on these fellas?

[motorfab]

Thanks again MFab, great work!!!!

Is the movie Les Clans Des Siciliens based on these fellas?

Yes it is one of the theories, personally it even seems obvious to me. Another theory is that there is a large community of Italian in the southern suburbs of Paris. I think it's a mix of all of that.

No relation, I didn't put it in the article, but an interesting thing to point out is that ultimately all these guys, regardless of the specialty or the origins, are related or know each other: not only the Z's have helped a Corsican clan during the gambling war between Francisci and Andréani (btw I've been looking for a photo of him for years) but in addition Wiliam was briefly in a relationship with Marie-Christine Guerini, Barthélémy's daughter. From my point of view, all these relationships or connections make me think of a real Mafia, although obviously there is no formal structure or initiation rite. I take the example of Wil Zemour, but it also works with robbers like Pierre Loutrel who knew Carbone-Spirito or others ...

[motorfab]

Thanks again MFab, great work!!!!

Is the movie Les Clans Des Siciliens based on these fellas?

Damn I understood your question in the opposite way. No, the film is not inspired by the Vella & Gauthier gang, the film is dated before the southern suburbs gang (1968).

On the other hand, Delon's escape at the start of the film exactly takes up the escape of an underworld legend, René Girier, who sawed the floor of a prisoner's truck

Sorry about the misunderstanding.

[Villain]

Thanks again MFab, great work!!!!

Is the movie Les Clans Des Siciliens based on these fellas?

Damn I understood your question in the opposite way. No, the film is not inspired by the Vella & Gauthier gang, the film is dated before the southern suburbs gang (1968).

On the other hand, Delon's escape at the start of the film exactly takes up the escape of an underworld legend, René Girier, who sawed the floor of a prisoner's truck

Sorry about the misunderstanding.

No problem and thanks again

[aleksandrored]

Thanks man, another amazing article.

When I saw the name I also immediately thought of the Sicilian film, it is one of the best mafia films I have ever seen, but I found it interesting that they were inspired by the escape at the beginning of the film.

[motorfab]

Thanks man, another amazing article.

When I saw the name I also immediately thought of the Sicilian film, it is one of the best mafia films I have ever seen, but I found it interesting that they were inspired by the escape at the beginning of the film.

It is the film which was inspired by an escape, that of Girier, not the opposite (I specify in case we misunderstood) and Girier had no link either with the gang of Vella- Gauthier is much earlier. Anyway, thanks again guys, I appreciate your enthusiasm.

While I'm at it here are the latest news relating to the coriscan mob

Ajaccio: Several people arrested in connection with the investigation into the attempted assassination of Guy Orsoni
https://www.20minutes.fr/justice/287227 ... guy-orsoni

[motorfab]

Guy Orsoni assassination attempt: the judicial police disspossed https://www.ouest-france.fr/corse/corse ... ie-7004463

[motorfab]

Assassination of Antoine Sollacaro, episode n ° 1: Ajaccio under the thumb of organized crime https://france3-regions.francetvinfo.fr ... 1602548330