Opium
“In the first years of the century, huge numbers of immigrants arrived in America, mostly from Europe. Amongst these were Italians fleeing poverty in Italy and Sicily: and amongst those from Sicily were members of the Mafia, a loose association of criminal groups which were first formed in feudal times to protect the interests of absentee landlords. Bound by omertà, an oath of secrecy and a strict code of conduct, they were by the late nineteenth century a network of loosely organised, autonomou...s bandit gangs operating in the Sicilian countryside. When they moved to America, where they became colloquially known as the Mob, they organised along the lines of the home country, controlling towns or urban areas as they had the Sicilian countryside. It was not long before the word mafia became, as it is in Italy, a generic term for organised crime.
Through the years of prohibition, the Sicilian gangsters accumulated considerable wealth, running speakeasy dives and dealing in illicit alcohol, and learning how to run a national syndicate network.MoreLess
Through the years of prohibition, the Sicilian gangsters accumulated considerable wealth, running speakeasy dives and dealing in illicit alcohol, and learning how to run a national syndicate network.MoreLess
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