警方表示,现年65岁的皮科洛自去年开始掌管西西里岛黑手党,绰号“男爵”。他曾因谋杀罪被判终身监禁,自1993年起逃亡至今,其子同样被判终身监禁,自1998年起逃亡。

2006年,西西里前任黑手党领导人、人称“拖拉机”的贝尔纳多·普罗文扎诺被警方逮捕。为了争夺黑手党“教父”的位子,意大利黑手党内新旧势力曾掀起一场恶战。最终,皮科洛坐上了“教父”的头把交椅。

对于皮科洛的归案,巴勒莫警察局长玖塞佩·卡鲁素说:“我们跟踪这个黑手党老大已经很长一段时间了,这次成功逮捕他可说是一个巨大的成功。这4人都在意大利警方发布的30名通缉犯名单之中。”

意大利国家反组织犯罪检察官皮埃尔·格拉索则称这次逮捕行动是“粉碎整个黑手党战役中的重要一步”。他说,“皮科洛是普罗文扎诺唯一的继承人。他正在计划组织一次黑手党峰会。”(见这里)

MILAN: The Italian police arrested Salvatore Lo Piccolo, said to be one of the most powerful bosses in the Sicilian Mafia, near Palermo on Monday.

Lo Piccolo, his son Sandro and two associates were detained during a raid on an isolated villa outside of Palermo, the police said. The four men were on Italy's 30-most-wanted list and were holding a meeting when their hideout was surrounded by about three dozen police officers, said Palermo's police chief, Giuseppe Caruso. They gave themselves up after the police fired warning shots.

According to Caruso, Lo Piccolo, 65, took over the top post in Cosa Nostra after the arrest in April 2006 of the "boss of all bosses," Bernardo Provenzano.

"It's an extraordinarily important result," Interior Minister Giuliano Amato said in a statement. "No organization can survive for long if we keep striking at its top ranks. This is what it means to not give the Mafia a break."

No bloody war of succession followed the arrest of Provenzano 18 months ago, in an abandoned warehouse near his hometown of Corleone.

Convicted of murder and on the run since 1983, Lo Piccolo quickly filled Provenzano's shoes, effectively rising to the top of the criminal organization. "When you control Palermo, you control the Mafia," said Caruso.

Francesco Forgione, head of the parliamentary Anti-Mafia Commission, said in an interview with the Corriere della Sera Web site that Lo Piccolo's hold on Sicily had been enforced through violence and deeply rooted ties with local businesses. "This shows how the Mafia is strong because it is intertwined with the economic and financial community," he said.

The arrests Monday follow a series of raids and arrests over the past 18 months that have effectively crippled the Sicilian Mafia, Caruso said. "These four were the last on our list." Still on the run is another top mobster, Matteo Messina Denaro, 45, from the Trapani area, who some experts believe was vying with Lo Piccolo for control of Cosa Nostra.

The other two mobsters arrested in the villa were Andrea Adamo and Gaspare Pulizzi, the alleged heads of two other Palermo area families. The four men did not put up any resistance, Caruso said. Also arrested were the owner of the villa where the meeting took place and another man.

Caruso could not confirm news reports that Sandro Lo Piccolo, 32, screamed out "I love you, papa," as he was being led away in handcuffs.(See here)

黑手党起源

黑手党(Mafia)起源于今日意大利的西西里岛及法国的科西嘉岛，指当地秘密结社的犯罪组织。今时今日，这些犯罪组织不单只活跃于意大利本土，百多年来(主要在20世纪初)更随着意大利裔移民而散布于世界各地，特别是美国东岸。他们在美国的势力于经济大萧条时期兴起，到20世纪中期达至最强盛，直至1970年代至1980年代联邦调查局的一连串调查瓦解了他们的势力。他们的行动，包括了暗杀、非法买卖、妨碍司法公正。虽然他们的势力已大不如前，但他们仍然影响着美国的潮流文化。不少电影、电视剧，甚至广告都与他们的形象或生活有关。
时至今日，“黑手党”这个名词不单单指这些意大利裔的犯罪份子。受该组织的影响，在世界其他国家，也出现了类似的名为黑手党的社团组织，如：俄罗斯黑手党、日本的Yakuza、中国的三合会等。这些份子有时也被称之为当地的黑手党，但日常所指的黑手党，仍然指这一班美国的西西里裔犯罪份子。另一方面，同样是意大利人，但位于拿波里的犯罪组织并不叫黑手党，而是另外有一个叫“Camorra”的名称。

意大利西西里黑手党

意大利西西里岛黑手党经过10多年的“改革”，组织体系、成员机构、行动战略都发生了巨大改变，已经成为一个更隐蔽、更具野心和更难对付的犯罪组织。
１９９３年之前，意大利黑手党曾一度实行“挑战政权”、同国家正面对抗的战略，一大批代表国家意志的正直官员被黑手党残酷杀害，其中包括有被誉为“反黑手党的旗帜”和“活的黑手党资料库”的意大利著名大法官法尔科内，西西里大区主席马塔莱拉，前宪兵司令、西西里省督基耶萨将军等人。
黑手党猖狂肆虐，激起天怒人怨。意大利政府颁布了一系列紧急法令，成立全国反黑机构，调集军队开进西西里，对黑手党展开全线反击。到了１９９３年１月，凶残暴戾的黑手党元凶里纳被抓获，黑手党自古相沿的“奥梅塔”（一种攻守同盟的帮规）崩溃，其最高领导机构“库波拉”的绝大多数成员和数千名党徒落入法网，黑手党陷入它有史以来的最深重危机。
此时，曾长期躲在幕后襄助里纳的普洛文扎诺成为黑手党一号首领，并对西西里黑手党的组织体系、战略和策略进行了重大调整和“改革”。根据警方掌握的情况，目前黑手党沿循半个世纪之久的金字塔式结构已不复存在。其基层辖区进行了重新划分，由家族首领选举的区长职位和省级委员会被取消了，“库波拉”也被一个类似政府的领导机制所取代。新的组织结构分为三个层次：第一层次由普洛文扎诺和绝对效忠他的６名“顾问”组成，这些顾问是黑手党内的“专家”，分别主管毒品走私、工程承包、财务及武装力量；第二层次是巴勒莫、阿格里琴托、卡塔尼塞塔等西部三省的黑手党强势家族的重量级人物；第三层次是西西里的所有黑手党家族。
经过一场“大反思”，黑手党放弃了“挑战政权”的一切行动，转而实行“无声战略”。新的战略要点是：避免内讧和相互争斗；向国家机构迂回渗透；集中精力攫取财富和权力。
黑手党现在直接或间接地控制着很多企业，部分黑手党家族又重操２０多年前的旧业，进行大规模国际贩毒。(见这里）