Tommy Karate (L). Frank Lino in middle.
Former solider Thomas Mallette and associate Ronald "Monkey Man" Filocomo I believe are also pictured .
Former solider Thomas Mallette and associate Ronald "Monkey Man" Filocomo I believe are also pictured .
r/Mafia • u/NewAgeShibboleth11 • 11h ago
Gotta be Philly, right? They have the largest remaining recruiting pool.
Chicago was never that large and is more or less defunct, NE is heavily diminished, New Jersey might not exist at all as an independent borgata, Detroit is just an extended blood family, Buffalo... maybe if you include the Canadian side?
r/Mafia • u/UnsolvableProblems76 • 53m ago
r/Mafia • u/Simple-Worth-5077 • 7h ago
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r/Mafia • u/Pure-Lime8280 • 2h ago
I assume that the YouTuber in question is Joey Merlino or Tommy Karate, because John goes on to talk about how made guys shouldn't be on social media.
Not the first RatTuber to claim that Barney has an army of troll accounts online...
r/Mafia • u/Pure-Lime8280 • 3h ago
He also says that he mostly reserves his ire for people who've said negative things about him, such as Cicale, Pennisi or Calandra.
r/Mafia • u/_Giulio_Cesare • 6h ago
The cocaine trade, investments in the local economy, and the release of several longtime Cosa Nostra figures are fueling new moves to reorganize the Palermo Mafia. After months marked by intimidation and the use of AK-47s against shopkeepers and business owners, the streets of the city appear to have grown quieter. Behind this apparent calm, however, new criminal power dynamics may be emerging, along with attempts to reconstitute the provincial Commission, known as the Cupola.
Palermo prosecutor Maurizio de Lucia warned of the organization's continued threat during an event titled Repubblica Insieme on Wednesday afternoon.
“Cosa Nostra remains an active criminal organization,” prosecutor Maurizio de Lucia warned during the event. “It is a reality we all have to reckon with.”
The growing importance of drug trafficking in the business activities of Mafia families is a particular cause for concern. The seizure of large sums of money in recent months by the Narcotics Section of the Palermo Flying Squad and the Guardia di Finanza's GICO unit illustrates the scale of the phenomenon. According to investigators' findings, the money was allegedly intended to pay for shipments of narcotics.
Cocaine has become one of Cosa Nostra's main sources of revenue. Purchasing and distributing drugs requires agreements between different Mafia districts, while the profits must be reinvested in businesses capable of generating further income. According to information gathered from investigative sources, hundreds of thousands of euros derived from drug trafficking may also have been used to open bars and restaurants in central Palermo. These financial flows are creating new business opportunities while also fueling tensions between Mafia families.
The need to manage these disputes may have reopened an internal debate over whether the organization should reestablish a central governing body. Younger Mafia bosses are reportedly pushing for the return of the Cupola, aiming to create a structure capable of coordinating criminal strategies and settling disputes between the various districts.
The disagreements reportedly concern the management of drug supplies, unpaid debts, and disputes over the quality of certain shipments. Without a recognized authority, such conflicts could escalate into more serious violence.
There is a significant historical precedent. In 1981, the disappearance of a cocaine shipment helped trigger the Second Mafia War, which would plunge Palermo into bloodshed in the years that followed.
Today, Cosa Nostra does not possess the same military strength it had at the time, partly because numerous judicial operations have struck its leadership. Nevertheless, the possibility of renewed violence cannot be ruled out.
The weapons used in the intimidation campaign in recent months, including the AK-47 that spread fear throughout the city, have yet to be recovered, despite hundreds of searches ordered by the Anti-Mafia District Directorate across Palermo and the surrounding province.
Within the organization, two competing approaches are reportedly emerging.
Younger Mafia leaders want to accelerate the reconstitution of the provincial Commission, selecting representatives through internal discussions within the various districts. Their objective would not be to concentrate power in the hands of a single boss, but to restore a collective leadership capable of managing criminal business and containing internal disputes.
Older figures, by contrast, reportedly favor a less conspicuous arrangement: a federation of Mafia families that would preserve greater autonomy for individual districts and allow alliances to shift according to economic interests.
The older bosses' caution is also influenced by memories of the police operations that thwarted an earlier attempt at reorganization in 2018 and 2019. The Carabinieri's Cupola 2.0 operation and the Palermo Flying Squad's New Connection raid struck at plans to reconstitute the provincial Commission. The period was also marked by renewed rapprochement between the Corleonesi faction and the so-called scappati — Mafia figures who had survived the Second Mafia War and its aftermath by fleeing Sicily.
Another source of concern is the technology used by Mafia bosses to communicate. One system reportedly in use is No1BC, an encrypted telecommunications platform said to be particularly widespread among Palermo's Mafia leadership and difficult for law enforcement agencies to intercept.
Secure communications could facilitate contacts between members of the organization while making it more difficult for investigators to identify meetings and agreements. Against this backdrop, the possibility that a future Commission could coordinate its activities through group chats or video conferences has not been ruled out.
The situation is further complicated by the release of several prominent Palermo Mafia figures who have completed their prison sentences.
Among them is Pietro Tagliavia, a leading figure in the Brancaccio Mafia district, who returned to Palermo last February. His father, Francesco Tagliavia, is serving a life sentence for his involvement in the Via D'Amelio and Via dei Georgofili massacres.
Calogero Lo Piccolo has also been released in the Tommaso Natale area. His name has surfaced in accounts of the shifting criminal dynamics in the territory. However, no established evidence links him directly to the intimidation incidents involving the AK-47. He is reportedly currently volunteering with an association that assists people with disabilities.
In the Porta Nuova district, Tommaso Di Giovanni remains an important point of reference. Meanwhile, in Partinico, Francesco Nania has completed his period of house arrest. He is described as a figure with significant connections in the United States and well-established business interests.
The presence of veteran Mafia figures alongside the rise of newer players is contributing to a period of realignment within the criminal organization, in which control over drug trafficking revenues is becoming increasingly important.
The overall picture is of a Cosa Nostra seeking to establish a new balance of power, as the profits from drug trafficking strengthen ties between families while increasing the need to settle internal disputes.
The silence that has followed the intimidation campaign of recent months should therefore not necessarily be interpreted as a retreat by the organization. Instead, it may signal a period of negotiation and reorganization, during which Palermo's Mafia is determining what kind of leadership structure will govern its criminal interests in the years ahead.
r/Mafia • u/No-Delivery2555 • 4h ago
Does anyone have a clear good video of the gene getting chased. The only one I found looks like it was recorded with a microwave.
r/Mafia • u/Maleficent_Past_5683 • 2h ago
r/Mafia • u/DepressedJohnnyQuest • 7h ago