- Antonio Cottone
Antonio Cottone (Villabate, 1904/1905 -
August 22 ,1956 ) was a member of theMafia in his hometownVillabate in theprovince of Palermo . He was known as "U Patre Nostru" (Our Heavenly Father) due to his generosity. [Lewis, The Honoured Society, p. 232.] The Cottone clan was a historical Mafia family. They were mentioned in 1937 as the Mafia bosses of Villabate byMelchiorre Allegra , a mafioso physician who became an informant when he was arrested. [Twentyfive pages of Allegra’s testimony were published in 1962 in the newspaperL’Ora byMauro di Mauro . See: it icon [http://www.lastampalavoro.it/redazione/cmsSezioni/cultura/200704articoli/20424girata.asp La coppola storta del dottor Allegra] , La Stampa, April 13, 2007]Influential Mafia boss
Antonio "Nino" Cottone had worked for the Profaci brothers in
New York City and was deported back toSicily . He became the boss of Villabate where the Profaci family originated. Cottone was not only influential in his own town but inPalermo as well.Servadio, "Mafioso", p. 178] After the Allied invasion of Sicily during World War II (Operation Husky ), Cottone was made mayor ofVillabate by theAllied Military Government of Occupied Territories (AMGOT) who looked for anti-fascist notables to replace fascist authorities. [Dickie, "Cosa Nostra", p. 242.]A onetime butcher who prospered mightily during the U.S. occupation of Sicily, Nino Cottone was respected for his wealth and for his excellent connections in the Christian Democrat party (DC –
Democrazia Cristiana ). The foundation of Nino's respectability was the fact that he was a boss of the "Mafia of the Gardens" — the section of Cosa Nostra that "protects"Palermo 's fruit market men and citrus growers. [http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,824336,00.html Sicilian Blood] , Time, September 3, 1956] Cottone also ran the meat supply to Palermo's wholesale market and got his meat from cattle thiefLuciano Leggio fromCorleone .Cottone mediated the peace in the violent
vendetta within theGreco Mafia family between the factions ofCiaculli andCroceverde Giardini. The daughter of Nino Cottone, Maria Cottone, marriedSalvatore Greco "The Senator".Servadio, "Mafioso", p. 178] [Lupo, "Storia della mafia", p. 169] [Caruso, "Da cosa nasce cosa", p. 86/89] [Dickie, "Cosa Nostra", p. 256.]Wholesale market war
In January 1955, the
Palermo fruit and vegetable wholesale market moved from the Zisa area to Acquasanta, disturbing the delicate power balances withinCosa Nostra . The Acquasanta Mafia clan tried to muscle in on the protection racket that traditionally belonged the "Mafia of the Gardens" — such as the Greco’s and Cottone — because it now fell under their territory. [Lupo, "Storia della mafia", p. 198] Some villages just outside Palermo, likeBagheria andVillabate , flared up with the same kind of violence for the control of irrigation, transport, and wholesale markets. A violent dispute erupted leaving bodies on both sides. Acquasanta bossesGaetano Galatolo andNicola D’Alessandro were killed, as well as a Greco from the Ciaculli clan.On
August 22 ,1956 , "Nino" Cottone was killed as well. Returning home late, he gently backed his little Fiat station wagon into the drive of his summer villa. He had just locked the car when he was bowled along the driveway by two streams of machine-gun bullets. [http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,824336,00.html Sicilian Blood] , Time, September 3, 1956; Servadio, "Mafioso", p. 178]Heroin trafficking
In 1956,
Joe Profaci , inBrooklyn (New York City ), was recorded talking about the export of Sicilian oranges with Nino Cottone, in Sicily. Cottone lost his life that year in the battle for Palermo wholesale market, but Profaci's oranges kept on coming. The Brooklyn number rung by Cottone was the same number rung byLucky Luciano fromNaples andFrank Coppola fromAnzio . All were recorded by the Palermo Questura talking ecstatically about high-grade Sicilian oranges. In 1959, US Customs intercepted one of those orange crates. Hollow wax oranges, 90 to a crate, were filled with heroin until they weighed as much as real oranges. Each crate carried 110 pounds of pure heroin. [ [http://www.drugwar.com/assassination.shtm Covert Money, Power & Policy: Assassination] ]References
*it icon Caruso, Alfio (2000). "Da cosa nasce cosa. Storia della mafia dal 1943 a oggi", Milan: Longanesi ISBN 88-304-1620-7
*Dickie, John (2004). "Cosa Nostra. A history of the Sicilian Mafia", London: Coronet, ISBN 0-340-82435-2
*Lewis, Norman (1964/2003). " [http://ebooks.palm.com/product/detail/15512?book=The_Honoured_Society:_The_Sicilian_Mafia_Observed|The Honoured Society: The Sicilian Mafia Observed] ", London: Eland, ISBN 0-907871-48-8
*it icon Lupo, Salvatore (1993). "Storia della mafia dalle origine ai giorni nostri", Rome: Donzelli editore ISBN 88-7989-020-4
*Servadio, Gaia (1976). "Mafioso. A history of the Mafia from its origins to the present day", London: Secker & Warburg ISBN 436-44700-2
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