Inzerillo Mafia clan

The Inzerillo Mafia clan (Italian pronunciation: [indzeˈrillo]) is a Sicilian Mafia clan, formerly among the most powerful in Sicily, and is associated with American boss Carlo Gambino and his family.

Inzerillo Mafia clan
Founded1950s
Founded bySalvatore Inzerillo
Founding locationPalermo, Sicily
Years active1950s-present
TerritoryMetropolitan City of Palermo
EthnicitySicilian, Sicilian-American
Criminal activitiesDrug trafficking and money laundering
AlliesFive Families (US), Stefano Bontade and Greco Mafia clan
RivalsCorleonesi

In the modern era, the Inzerillo clan has been associated with the late John Gambino through heroin trafficking, and also has links to the former Gambino boss, Frank Cali.

History

Founded in 1950s, the clan is most known for its leader Salvatore "Totuccio" Inzerillo.

For at least half a century they were considered the "aristocracy of Palermo's mafia".[1] Related to the Spatola, Mannino, Castellano, Gambino, and Di Maggio families, they first landed in the US in 1956, settling in Cherry Hills.[1][2] Their protector in the US was the boss Carlo Gambino, Inzerillo's cousin.[1][2]

In Sicily the clan was historically allied with the capomafia Stefano Bontade and it was mainly devoted to the organization of a large-scale trafficking of morphine from the Far East.[1][2][3]

The Inzerillos were overwhelmed in the mafia war that exploded between 1981 and 1983 in the streets of Palermo.[1][2][4] Salvatore was killed by Kalashnikov fire on 10 May 1981 in Palermo.[1][4] After that, the Corleonesi under Salvatore Riina killed his brothers Santo (who died in Palermo) and Pietro (found dead in New Jersey in the trunk of a car with $5 in his mouth and two dollars on his genitals), an uncle and the eldest son Giuseppe.[1][2][5] The whole family fled to the United States except Filippa Spatola, Inzerillo's wife, and son Giovanni.[1] Subsequently, the Sicilian Mafia Commission, under pressure from the American Cosa Nostra, decided to grant a pardon to the rest of the Inzerillo family, on the condition that none of them, nor their descendants, would ever return to Sicily.[6] Gone for nearly 20 years, in early 2000 the Inzerilli were back in Palermo, and in the summer of 2007, murders in Palermo seemed to herald a new Mafia war.[1][2] The first of the family to reappear was Franco, who had been thrown out of the US.[1][2][6]

Giovanni Inzerillo, Salvatore's son, was later indicted and arrested on 7 February 2008, in Operation Old Bridge against the Gambinos in New York and their connections in Palermo, involved in drug trafficking.[7][8]

References
  1. Attilio Bolzoni. "I Gambino e gli Inzerillo Famiglie tra stragi e potere". La Repubblica. Retrieved 26 May 2013.
  2. S. S. "La fuga degli Inzerillo negli States". La Nuova Sardegna. Retrieved 26 May 2013.
  3. Salvatore Lupo. Storia della mafia: dalle origini ai giorni nostri. Donzelli Editore, 2004. ISBN 8879899031.
  4. Henner Hess. Mafia & Mafiosi: Origin, Power and Myth. NYU Press, 1998. ISBN 1863331433.
  5. Giovanni Bianconi. "Il New Jersey e quel cadavere nell' auto". Corriere della Sera. Retrieved 26 May 2013.
  6. Bruno De Stefano; Vincenzo Ceruso; Pietro Comito. I nuovi boss. Newton Compton Editori, 2013. ISBN 8854149055.
  7. Dozens Arrested in Italy and US in Major Mafia-busting Operation, La Repubblica, February 7, 2008
  8. Cosa Nostra-Lcn Connections: The Documents from Palermo Antimafia, La Repubblica, February 7, 2008
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