Mafiosi introduce known members to each other as belonging to cosa nostra ("our thing") or la stessa cosa ("the same thing"), meaning "he is the same thing as you – a mafioso." The Sicilian Mafia has used other names to describe itself throughout its …

La Cosa Nostra evolved from the Sicilian Mafia and is one of the foremost organized criminal threats to American society. Translated into English it means “this thing of ours.”

Feb 17, 2025 · Sicilian Mafia, hierarchically structured organization of criminals in Sicily, Italy. The Sicilian Mafia is made up of a coalition of criminal organizations—called “families” or “clans” in English and cosche (singular, cosca ) in Italian—which engage in extortion, smuggling, gambling, and the mediation of disagreements between other ...

Oct 14, 2021 · Here’s a brief overview of La Cosa Nostra (which literally translates as ‘our thing’) and their operations in the United States. Beginnings. The Mafia was a largely Sicilian phenomenon, a spawn of the feudal system and a country used to private armies enforcing the will of local nobility and bigwigs.

May 7, 2015 · According to Lupo, Cosa Nostra is the most bourgeoisies of mafias, as it has historically penetrated all levels of society, with associates holding medium and high political and business...

Aug 28, 2023 · The Sicilian Mafia, known as Cosa Nostra, is an organized criminal network that has shaped the history and development of Sicily. Giovanni Falcone’s fight against mafia crime sparked a strong anti-mafia movement in Italy.

Feb 11, 2025 · Italian police arrested almost 150 people Tuesday in a major operation against the Sicilian mafia in Palermo, areas of which remain in the grip of powerful Cosa Nostra clans.

May 26, 2024 · The Sicilian Mafia, known as La Cosa Nostra ("Our Thing"), has a long and complex history in the United States. Born out of the feudal system in 19th-century Sicily, the Mafia emerged as a powerful organized crime syndicate that would eventually extend its reach across the Atlantic.

Feb 8, 2023 · In the past decades, Cosa Nostra has discarded its violent side in favour of business, pursuing what Italy’s Anti-Mafia Commission of Inquiry calls a “strategy of submersion.” Invisibility and deceptiveness are essential for the clans to escape scrutiny from the authorities and coexist with the state.

Jun 25, 2020 · "Cosa Nostra vividly reconstructs the stories of the men and women who have lived and died in the mafia's shadow. It explains how the mafia began, how it responds to threats and challenges and how it maintains its grip on the society where it was born.