Beginnings
The first criminal act of the Banda della Magliana was the kidnapping of duke Massimiliano Grazioli Lante della Rovere on November 7, 1977, against a ransom. The duke was murdered but the ransom obtained anyhow. Instead of spending everything, the group decided to keep the savings to invest in crime in Rome and take over the capital.
Unlike the Camorra or Cosa Nostra, the Banda della Magliana was not structured around a hierarchical pyramid. It was instead composed of various decentralized cells, each working on its own. Making equal shares and living off dividends obtained from the criminal association, they quickly took over Rome, surprising the underworld by their violent methods. If members were imprisoned, money continued to be sent to them through their families - while successful members, going around in Ferraris and Rolex, had to keep up their criminal activities, thus remaining "crime laborers" (operai del crimine).
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