First Mafia War
The Mafia war was sparked by a quarrel over a lost heroin shipment and the murder of Calcedonio Di Pisa – an ally of the Grecos – in December 1962. The Grecos suspected the brothers Angelo and Salvatore La Barbera of the attack.
The Ciaculli massacre changed the Mafia war into a war against the Mafia. It prompted the first concerted anti-mafia efforts by the state in post-war Italy. Within a period of ten weeks 1,200 mafiosi were arrested, many of whom would be kept out of circulation for five of six years. The Sicilian Mafia Commission was dissolved and of those mafiosi who had escaped arrest – among them Tommaso Buscetta – many went to the United States, Canada, Argentina, Brazil and Venezuela. Salvatore "Chichiteddu" Greco fled to Caracas in Venezuela.
The atrocity galvanized the Italian Parliament into implementing a law passed in December 1962 for the constitution of an Antimafia Commission which met for the first time on July 6, 1963. Its final report was submitted in 1976.
Read more about this topic: Ciaculli Massacre
Famous quotes containing the word war:
“God grant we may not have a European war thrust upon us, and for such a stupid reason too, no I don’t mean stupid, but to have to go to war on account of tiresome Servia beggars belief.”
—Mary (1867–1953)