Salvatore Inzerillo - Exile and Return of The Inzerillo Clan

Exile and Return of The Inzerillo Clan

The Inzerillo family had been on the verge of total extermination by the Corleonesi. With the intervention of relatives in New York, including associates of the Gambino crime family, a deal was worked out that allowed the surviving Inzerillos to take refuge in the U.S., with the agreement that none of them, or their offspring, could ever return to Sicily. Many went to the New York area and joined forces with the Gambino family. They were dubbed "gli scappati" (the escapees). Rosario Naimo, an important go-between between the Sicilian and American Mafia, had been appointed to guarantee the agreement. However, after the arrest of Totò Riina and other hardline Corleonesi like Leoluca Bagarella, the Inzerillos started to come back to Sicily. Francesco Inzerillo was allowed to return in 1997 after he was expelled from the U.S.

Rosario Inzerillo, a brother of Salvatore, returned to Palermo in December 2004 with the approval of Salvatore Lo Piccolo, one of the leading Mafia bosses. Salvatore Inzerillo’s only surviving son Giovanni Inzerillo (born in New York in 1972), an American citizen – returned as well to re-open the family house in Via Castellana 346 after 25 years. The connection between Lo Piccolo and the Inzerillo family surfaced in a wiretap recording of Antonio Rotolo before his arrest in June 2006. In the recording apparently made to his soldiers he said, "The dead Inzerillo will always haunt you." He went on to say: "Have you understood yet or not that he, Lo Piccolo, is already using the Inzerillo's?"

Rosario Inzerillo's return sparked a dispute in Cosa Nostra’s ranks. Rotolo, fearing the revenge of the Inzerillo clan, is against the return and was overheard in a bugged conversation with Francesco Bonuro that he feared a vendetta. "If they start shooting, I'll be the first to get it and then it’ll be your turn." Rotolo said that Franco Inzerillo had tried to kill him. The pair did not trust Lo Piccolo and sought authorisation from Cosa Nostra boss Bernardo Provenzano to eliminate him.

One theory is that the Palermo families want to see the return of the Inzerillos because of their useful, on-the-ground American connections. "The Mafia has already made an agreement with the Italian-Americans in view of shared opportunities," said Piero Grasso, Italy’s national antimafia prosecutor. "In this new strategy, the American connections, the Inzerillos, are indispensable."

Other leading antimafia officials assert that the Sicilian mafia established new ties with the New York City-based Gambino crime family and that such ties would enable both to profit from increased international drug trafficking and would provide Palermo's mafia factions an opportunity to launder their earnings in real estate within the United States. Their contact is Frank Cali, a reputed acting caporegime of the Gambino family.

The first one to talk about the return of the Inzerillos was the pentito Maurizio Di Gati, in December 2004. According to Di Gati, the Inzerillos were planning to re-open drug trafficking channels to Palermo in cooperation with the Gambinos and the Siderno clan of the 'Ndrangheta, based in Toronto, Canada. Lo Piccolo granted permission. Salvatore's second born and only surviving son Giovanni Inzerillo was indicted on February 7, 2008, in operation Old Bridge against the Gambinos in New York and their connections in Palermo, involved in drug trafficking.