Famous mafiosi of Italy. The most famous mafiosi in the world

Since the release of the first list of the world's richest people in 1982, Forbes magazine has included drug lords and gangsters - since organized crime is part of the global economy, these incomes need to be counted. For example, according to The Guardian, the Calabrian mafia 'Ndrangheta became richer in 2013 than Deutsche Bank and McDonald's combined - by €53 billion.

Below are the odious figures of the underworld who made millions and billions - Pablo Escobar, "Shorty", Al Capone, Tony Salerno and others.

John Gotti

New York boss of the Gambino clan John Gotti received two nicknames from the press. “Teflon Don” - for being invulnerable to justice for a long time. And also “Don the Dapper” - for expensive custom suits (Brioni for $2000 and hand-painted silk scarves for $400), careful hairstyle, black Mercedes 450 SL and lavish parties.

Growing up in the South Bronx, Gotti joined the Gambino clan in the 1950s, one of the powerful syndicates involved in gambling, extortion, loan sharking and drugs. The US government suspected that on his way to becoming head of the Gambinos, Gotti eliminated his predecessor Paul Castellano in 1985. An FBI agent who worked on the Gotti case said that "he was the first media don, never trying to hide the fact that he was a superboss." And his large lifestyle and external gloss always provided food for articles in the tabloids.

According to the New York Times, Gotti received between $10 and $12 million in annual income, and the Gambino clan earned more than $500 million a year in the 1980s. Justice did not reach Gotti until 1992, and 10 years later he died in prison.

Shinobu Tsukasa

74-year-old Shinobu Tsukasa leads a yakuza clan called the Yamaguchi-gumi. Fortune listed the Yamaguchi-gumi as one of the five most powerful mafia groups in the world, with annual profits of $6.6 billion. Yamaguchi was founded in the port city of Kobe more than 100 years ago and has 23,400 members. Most of the income comes from drug sales, as well as gambling and extortion.

Shinobu Tsukasa is the sixth leader of the clan in history. In the 1970s, he was sentenced to 13 years for murder with a samurai sword. In 2005 he was jailed for 6 years for possession firearms. In 2015, a split occurred in the Yamaguchi-gumi. According to Tokyo Reporter, most of the group remained with Tsukasa, and 3,000 members formed a new clan led by Kunio Inoue.

Michael Franzese

Fortune's 50 Most influential bosses mafia" Michael Franzese took 18th place. Franzese, nicknamed “Don Yuppie,” is the son of a bank robber who formed a cartel that was involved in the release of B-movies, the illegal sale of gasoline, scams involving the repair and sale of cars, and fraudulent loans.

Michael Franzese received between $1 and $2 million in income per week. In 1985, the US government charged him with fraud, stripped him of $4.8 million in assets and ordered him to repay $10 million for illegally selling gasoline through shell companies. After eight years in prison and a $15 million settlement, Frances moved to California and decided to capitalize on his criminal past. He has written two books - an autobiography, Blood Covenant, and a business advice book, I'll Make You An Offer You Can't Refuse, as well as sold the rights to a miniseries about his life to CBS. Now the former gangster lives in a house worth $2.7 million, drives a Porsche, and gives away Vanity interview Fair and gives lectures at universities.

Anthony Salerno

In 1986, Fortune magazine published a list of the "50 Most Powerful Mafia Bosses." Chief Editor explained the appearance of the material by the fact that “organized crime is a powerful economic factor.” Anthony "Fat Tony" Salerno also made the list. Led by a gangster, the Genovese clan (300 people) was involved in racketeering and drugs in New York. According to The New York Times, the clan's influence extended to Cleveland, Nevada and Miami, and its interests also included construction, loan sharking and casinos. Since the 1960s, the clan has earned $50 million a year. Between 1981 and 1985, Salerno imposed a two percent Mafia tax in New York on all contractors pouring concrete for buildings costing more than $2 million. Salerno's real wealth may have been $1 billion.

In 1988, the gangster was sentenced to 70 years for racketeering and concealing illegal income of $10 million a year (the declaration indicated only $40,000 a year). Four years later, at the age of 80, he died in prison.

Dawood Ibrahim Kaskar

The income of India's most wanted criminal is estimated by Business Insider at $6.7 billion. Forbes included Kaskar in the list of the most influential people world in 2009, 2010 and 2011 (50th, 63rd and 57th place, respectively). His crime syndicate, D-Company, is blamed for the 1993 and 2008 Mumbai terror attacks and has also been involved in drug and arms smuggling. The US government believes that Dawood Ibrahim Kaskar has ties to al-Qaeda and the Taliban. According to one version, Kaskar is hiding in Pakistan.

Al Capone

Capone is the most famous American gangster. A character named Al Capone appears in 77 Mafia films.

At the time of his death in 1947, his fortune was estimated at $1.3 billion. Capone operated in various criminal spheres - bootlegging, racketeering, murder. In 1929, the American government declared him "Enemy No. 1." Prosecutors repeatedly sentenced Capone to prison, but he was released several months later. As a result, in 1931, Capone was only sentenced for tax evasion - for 11 years. He was to spend most of his sentence in Alcatraz.

In 1939, Capone was released, but his health was poor - he suffered from syphilis and dementia.

In 2012, Forbes conducted an analysis of Capone's former properties. The Chicago four-bedroom house he bought with his first earnings was valued at $450,000, and the Miami Beach mansion where he died in 1947 was valued at $9.95 million.

Griselda Blanco

The Western press called Colombian Griselda Blanco the “Godmother of Cocaine.” Blanco was one of key figures in the Miami cocaine trade in the 1970s and 1980s. Even in the male drug business, she had a reputation as a ruthless operator. According to Business Insider, her fortune was approaching $2 billion, however, she was far from the income of Exobar.

A three-time widow whose spouses were rumored to have died at her hands, she named one of her sons Michael Corleone. Its distribution network made tens of millions of dollars and transported about 1,500 kilograms of cocaine a month, according to The Guardian. Before his arrest in 1985 in California, “Godmother” appeared on the list of the most dangerous drug traffickers along with Escobar and the Ochoa brothers. She was charged with 40 to 200 murders in Florida, but death penalty the woman escaped due to a technical error in court: the officer who testified against her was discredited because he had a telephone sex conversation with the secretary in the prosecutor’s office, the Guardian wrote. Blanco was imprisoned in federal prison and deported to Colombia in 2004, where she was shot and killed by a motorcycle killer eight years later.

Khun Sa

Khun Sa, the “Opium King,” was estimated by Business Insider to be worth $5 billion. Born Chang Shifu, the son of a Chinese man and a Shan woman, in the 1960s he changed his name to the pseudonym Khun Sa, which means “Prosperous Prince.” During these years, he led the Burmese army, which was engaged in the cultivation of opium in the Golden Triangle of Southeast Asia, which included 20,000 men. In the 1970s and 80s, the Sa army controlled the Thai-Burmese border and was responsible for 45% of the pure heroin entering the US, earning it the title of "the best in the business" by the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) (The Economist).

The US government placed a $2 million bounty on the head of the “Opium King.” By the 1990s, the DEA was able to destroy Sa’s trading chain, he moved to Yangon and retired. Currently, opium production in the Golden Triangle has fallen to 5% of the global figure (in 1975 it was 70%).

There are reports on whether the drug lord saved billions before his death in 2007. different versions- from “lived in luxury,” but “was content with a modest pension.”

Morris Dalitz

Moritz (Moe) Dalitz was one of such legendary gangsters as Al Capone and Bugzy Siegel. During the Prohibition era, he was involved in bootlegging, and later in the gambling business and real estate. In 1982, Dalitz appeared on the first Forbes list of the richest, along with artist Yoko Ono, actor Bob Hope and mafia accountant Meyer Lansky. Dalitz's fortune was estimated at $110 million, but how much he actually earned remains a question.

Dalitz received a significant share of his wealth from the first Las Vegas casinos. In 1949, he co-founded the Desert Inn and Stardust Hotel casinos. In the 1950s, he took part in the emergence of the Paradise Development Company, which built a university and convention center in Las Vegas. In the 1960s, he invested in the $100 million La Costa Resort complex near San Diego, after which he sued Penthouse magazine for $640 million, which wrote that the construction was financed by the mafia. Unlike many of his colleagues with a criminal past, Dalitz lived to old age and in recent years was involved in charity work.

Rafael Caro Quintero and Amado Carrillo Fuentes

Before the star of the drug lord "Shorty" rose in Mexico, two names thundered there - Rafael Caro Quintero (pictured) and Carrillo Fuentes. The head of the Guadalajara cartel, Rafael Quintero, owned a marijuana plantation called Rancho Bufalo. During a police raid in 1984, about 6,000 tons of marijuana were seized at the ranch, which, according to The Wall Street Journal, cost Quintero between $3.2 and $8 billion. The Guadalajara cartel earned $5 billion a year. There were rumors in the Mexican press that Quintero, following Escobar, offered to pay Mexico's foreign debt in exchange for his freedom. The drug lord was sentenced to 40 years in a Mexican prison in 1989, but was released 28 years later.

The second Mexican drug lord is Carrillo Fuentes, head of the Juarez cartel. The Washington Post estimated his fortune at $25 billion. It is believed that his wealth allowed him long years avoid justice. Fuentes received the nickname "Lord of the Skies" for his extensive fleet (22 aircraft) for transporting cocaine to the United States. Fuentes died in 1997 during plastic surgery by changes in appearance.

Pablo Escobar

Colombian drug lord Pablo Escobar became the first criminal to appear on the Forbes 100 International Billionaires list in 1987 with an income of $3 billion. He dropped out only after his death in 1993. The Medellin cartel, led by Escobar, had revenues of $7 billion from 1981 to 1986, with the drug lord taking 40% for himself. The cartel received its main wealth from smuggling cocaine into the United States (about 15 tons daily); in the late 1980s, it owned 80% of the entire cocaine market in the world. According to Business Insider, Escobar earned $420 million a week; according to other sources, his fortune totaled more than $30 billion.

Every year, the king of cocaine lost about $2.1 billion (10% of revenue) as the money was haphazardly stored in warehouses and abandoned farms, destroyed by mold and rodents. Every month he spent $2,500 on rubber bands to hold bills together. Escobar once burned $2 million to warm his daughter: the family was then hiding in the mountains, and there was nothing to light a fire with. In 1984, the cartel offered to pay Colombia's national debt in exchange for immunity. The Drug Enforcement Administration placed a reward of $11 million on Escobar's head. In 1991, the drug lord made a deal with the Colombian government to build his own La Catedral prison (with a football field and guards chosen by him), which the authorities could not approach closer than 5 km.

The life of the drug lord was so colorful that Netflix released the series “Narcos” dedicated to him in 2015.

Brothers Ochoa and Gonzalo Rodriguez Gacha

In 1987, along with Escobar, the co-founders of the Medellin cartel, Jorge Luis Ochoa-Vazquez (with an income of $2 billion) and his brothers Juan David and Fabio, who received 30% of the cartel's revenue, were included in the Forbes list of the richest. The Ochoa brothers remained on the Forbes list for another 6 years until they surrendered to the authorities.

The drug lord Gonzalo Rodriguez Gacha, who lived at the same time, worked both with the Medellin cartel and independently (for example, transporting cocaine from Bogota to the United States disguised as flower deliveries) was also a billionaire. In 1988, Forbes estimated his fortune at $1.3 billion. Gacha remained on the list for two years until he was shot dead by Colombian police.

Joaquin Guzman Loera

In 2009, Mexican drug lord Joaquin Guzman Loera, nicknamed “Shorty,” was included in the Forbes list of the richest people on the planet with a fortune of $1 billion. In 2012 and 2013, he ranked 63rd and 67th among the most influential people in the world. Strategic Forecasting Inc. and even estimated his wealth at $12 billion. The Sinaloa Cartel under the leadership of Loehr was responsible for 25% of illegal drug trafficking from Mexico to the United States and received revenue of $3 billion. The New York Times, citing data from the Drug Enforcement Administration, writes that the cartel sold more cocaine than Escobar at the peak of his career.

“Shorty” started his business in the early 1990s, transporting cocaine, including in cans of chili peppers (in 1993, Mexican authorities confiscated such a 7-ton cargo). He was declared "Mexico's most wanted man" with a $7 million reward for his capture: $5 million from the United States and another $2 million from Mexico. He was first arrested in 1993, but escaped from prison in 2001. The last time Mexican security forces captured Loera in Sinaloa was in January 2016. The drug lord was killed by vanity. He was going to make a biographical film about himself and was conducting a casting. In addition, actor Sean Penn flew to "Shorty" for an interview. It is believed that the authorities were able to track the movements of the criminal due to this.

The world has long been fighting the state against criminal clans, but the mafia is still alive. Currently, there are many criminal groups, each of which has its own boss and mastermind. Crime bosses often feel unpunished and create real criminal empires, intimidating civilians and government officials. They live by their own laws, violation of which often leads to death. This article presents 10 famous mafiosi who really left a noticeable mark on the history of the mafia.

1. Al Capone

When the family moved to the United States in search of a better life, he was forced to work hard. He worked in a pharmacy and a bowling alley, and even in a candy store. However, Al Capone was attracted to the nocturnal lifestyle. At the age of 19, while working in a billiards club, he made a cheeky comment about the wife of criminal Frank Galluccio. After the resulting fight and stabbing, he was left with a scar on his left cheek. The daring Al Capone learned to skillfully handle knives and was invited to the Gang of Five Smoking Barrels. Known for his cruelty in dealing with competitors, he organized the St. Valentine's Day Massacre, when, on his orders, seven tough mafiosi from Bugs Moran's group were shot.
His cunning helped him get out and avoid punishment for the crimes he committed. The only thing he was put in prison for was tax evasion. After leaving prison, where he spent 5 years, his health was undermined. He contracted syphilis from one of the prostitutes and died at the age of 48.

2. Lucky Luciano

He later became the leader of Cosa Nostra and controlled all areas of activity in the criminal environment. Maranzano's gangsters tried to find out where he was hiding drugs and to do this they tricked him into taking him to the highway, where they tortured, cut and beat him. Luciano kept the secret. The bloody body without signs of life was thrown onto the side of the road and 8 hours later it was found by a police patrol. The hospital gave him 60 stitches and saved his life. After that they began to call him Lucky. (Lucky).

3. Pablo Escobar

At the age of 22, Escobar had already become a famous authority in poor neighborhoods. The poor supported him as he built them cheap housing. After becoming the head of a drug cartel, he earned billions. In 1989, his fortune was more than 15 billion. During his criminal activities, he was involved in the murders of more than a thousand police officers, journalists, several hundred judges and prosecutors, and various officials.

4. John Gotti

5. Carlo Gambino

9. Vincent Gigante

If you often buy videos and DVDs, you've probably seen a lot of movies about the mafia. The trilogy " Godfather", "Casino", and "Bugsy". Why are there so many films about these gangsters? Who are the most famous gangsters of all time?
To be included in this list, a gangster had to leave a noticeable mark on the history of the mafia. Most of the gangsters presented carried out their activities in America.

Number 10 - Vincent "The Chin" Gigante (1928 - 2005)
Vincent Gigante was born in New York in 1928. He was a man with complex character: Dropped out of school in ninth grade, after which he began boxing. Won 21 of 25 light heavyweight fights. From the age of 17 he was a member of a criminal gang, and at the age of 25 he was first arrested.
Gigante's first significant case as a member of the Genovese family was an attempted murder of Frank Costello, but he missed. Despite this, his rise in the Genovese family continued until he became first a godfather and, in the early 1980s, a consolire (Italian for advisor).
After mafia boss Tony Salerno was convicted, Gigante became the boss. What made Gigante so famous? After escaping jail time by pretending to be insane in the late 1960s, he continued to act crazy, such as walking the streets of New York City in a bathrobe. It was because of this fact that he received two more nicknames: "Weirdo" and "King of Pajamas." It was only after being convicted of racketeering in 2003 that he admitted that his mental health was fine.
Gigante died in prison on December 19, 2005 due to heart problems. Because of this and thanks to his lawyers, he was supposed to be released in 2010.
A film about him: Gigante's prototype was used for the television film Bonanno: A Godfather's Story (1999), episode Law & Order.

Number 9 - Albert Anastasia (1903 - 1957)
Albert Anastasia was born in Italy in 1903 and moved to America as a child. He was sentenced to 18 months for the murder of a longshoreman on the Brooklyn docks (Sing Sing Prison). Was released early due to mysterious death witness. Albert Anastasia (aka "Lord Executioner" and "Mad Hatter") gained fame thanks to numerous murders, after which Joe Masseria's gang hired him. Anastasia was very loyal to Charlie "Lucky" Luciano, so he had no problem betraying Masseria - he was one of the four men sent to kill him in 1931.
In 1944, he became the leader of a group of murderers, which even had its own name Murder, Inc. Although Albert Anastasia was never prosecuted for the murders, his group was linked to 400 to 700 murders. In the 50s, he became the leader of the Luciano family, but soon, in 1957, he was killed at the behest of Carlo Gambino.
Films about him: The hero of Albert Anastasia was the main actor movie Murder, Inc. (1960), starring Peter Falk and Howard Smith (Anastasia), as well as in the films The Valachi Papers (1972) and Lepke (1975).

Number 8 - Joseph Bonanno (1905 - 2002)
Joe Bananno was born in 1905 and grew up in Sicily and was orphaned at the age of 15. During the fascist regime of Mussolini, when he turned 19, he left Italy and arrived in the United States through Cuba. He soon received the nickname "Joey Bananas" and ended up in the Maranzano family. Before Luciano killed him, Maranzano formed a "Commission" that ruled the Mafia families in his homeland of Italy.
Bonanno amassed capital by running cheese factories, a clothing business, and a funeral business. However, his plans to eliminate the leaders of other families were not destined to come true, since he was kidnapped and forced to retire 19 days later. He was never convicted of any serious offense.
Films about him: There were two films about him: Love, Honor & Obey: The Last Mafia Marriage (1993) starring Ben Gazarra and Bonanno: A Godfather's Story ( "Bonanno: The Godfather", 1999) with Martin Landau.

Number 7 - Dutchman Schultz (1902 - 1935)
Arthur Flegenheimer, later known as Dutch Schultz, was born in 1092 in the Bronx. To impress his boss and mentor Marcel Poffo, he organized crap games in his youth. At the age of 17, he spent some time in prison for theft. He soon realized that the only way Making money is bootlegging (selling alcohol during Prohibition).
Wanting to become a member of the emerging syndicate, he made enemies in Luciano and Capone. After he was about to be convicted of another crime in 1933, he left for New Jersey. In 1935, after returning, he was killed by members of Albert Anastasia's group.
Films about him: Dustin Hoffman played a prominent role as Dutch Schultz in Billy Bathgate (1991), but was even better played by Tim Roth in Hoodlum (1997). In addition, we should recall the films Gangster Wars (1981), The Cotton Club (1984) and The Natural (1984).

Number 6 - John Gotti (1940 - 2002)
Among the famous gangsters of New York, John Gotti is especially noteworthy. He was born in 1940 in Brooklyn and was always considered a smart guy. At the age of 16 he joined street gang, called "The Fulton Rockaway Boys." He quickly became their leader, in the 60s the gang was engaged in car thefts and petty theft, in the early 70s he became the godfather of the Bergin group - part of the Gambino family. Gotti was very ambitious and soon began to engage in drugs, which were prohibited by family rules.
As a result, Paul Castellano (mafia boss) decided to expel Gotti from the organization. In 1985, Gotti and his henchmen killed Castellano, and Gotti took over the Gambino family. They tried to convict him many times law enforcement agencies New York, but the charges always failed. Due to the fact that he always looked presentable and was loved by the media, he received the nicknames "Elegant Don" and "Teflon Don". He was finally convicted of murder in 1992 and died of cancer in 2002.
Films about him: his character was played by Antonio John Denilson in the television film Getting Gotti ("Getting Gotti", 1994) and Armand Assante in the film Gotti ("Gotti", 1996). Of note are the films Witness to the Mob (1998) with Tom Sizemoor and The Big Heist (2001).

Number 5 - Meyer Lansky (1902 - 1983)
Mayer Sachovlyansky was born in 1902 in Russia. At the age of 9 he moved to New York. When they were boys, he met Charles Luciano. Luciano wanted Lansky to give him protection money, but he refused. There was a fight, after which they became bosom friends. After some time, Lansky met Bugsy Seagal. The trio became very friendly. Lansky and Seagal formed the group Bug and Meyer, which later became Murder, Inc.
Initially, Lansky was involved in money and gambling in Florida, New Orleans and Cuba. He was Seagal's investor in the Las Vegas casinos, and even bought an offshore bank in Switzerland in order to launder money. He was a co-founder of the National Crime Syndicate and the Council. However, business is never personal, and he was soon forced to kill Bugsy Seagal because... he stopped giving money to the Syndicate. Although he was involved in gambling rackets around the world, Lansky never spent a day in prison.
Films about him: not only Richard Dreyfuss played well in the HBO Lansky film of the same name (1999), but also Nyman Roth in The Godfather Part II (The Godfather Part II, 1974), Mark Rydell in the film Havana (Havana, 1990), Patrick Dempsey in Mobsters (1991) and Ben Kingsley in Bugsy (1991).

Number 4 - Frank Costello (1891 - 1973)
Francesco Castiglia was born in 1891 in Italy and moved to the United States at the age of 4. At the age of 13, he joined a criminal gang and changed his name to Frank Costello. After serving time in prison, he became best friends with Charlie Luciano. They engaged in bootlegging and gambling together. Costello's strength was that he was a liaison between the Mafia and politicians, especially Democratic Party member Tammany Hall in New York, which allowed him to avoid persecution.
After the arrest of Luciano Costello became a man in law. His feud with Vito Genovese led to Genovese attempting to kill Costello in the mid-50s. Frank Costello retired peacefully and died quietly in 1973.
Films about him: the best role was played by James Andronica in television project 1981's The Gangster Chronicles, as well as Costas Mandylor's Mobsters (1991), Carmine Caridi in Bugsy (1991), and Jack Nicholson in The Departed (2006).

Number 3 - Carlo Gambino (1902 - 1976)
Carlo Gambino grew up in a family that was part of the Italian mafia clan for several centuries. He began killing on demand at the age of 19. As Mussolini was gaining power at this time, Gambino immigrated to America, where his cousin Paul Costellano lived.
After Luciano was extradited in the 40s, Albert Anastasia took his place. However, Gambino believed that this was his time and in 1957 he ordered the death of Anastasia. He appointed himself Boss of the family and held it with an iron fist until his death from natural causes in 1976.
Films about him: Al Ruccio played him excellently in the film Boss of Bosses ("Boss of Bosses", 2001). The image of Gambino could also be seen in such films as Between Love & Honor (1995), Gotti (1996) and Bonanno: A Godfather's Story (Bonanno: The Godfather, 1999).

Number 2 - Charlie "Lucky" Luciano (1897 - 1962)
Salvatore Luciania was born in Sicily in 1897, and nine years later his family moved to New York. After a while, he joined the Five Points gang. For five years, his gang made money mainly from prostitution; Luciano controlled rackets throughout Manhattan. After an unsuccessful attempt on his life in 1929, Luciano decided to create the National Crime Syndicate.
There was no rivalry, and by 1935, "Lucky" Luciano became known as the "Boss of Bosses" - not only in New York, but throughout the country. In 1936 he was sentenced to 30 to 50 years, but was released in 1946 for good behavior on the condition that he leave the country for Italy. He had such a strong influence that during World War II the US Navy turned to him for help in landing in Italy. He died in 1962 as a result of a heart attack.
Films about him: Christian Slater played him in Gangsters (1991), Bill Graham in Bugsy (1991) and Anthony LaPaglia in the TV movie Lansky (1999).

Number 1 - Al Capone (1899 - 1947)
If there was ever a gangster who deserved to know Number One, it was Al Capone. Alphonse Capone was born in 1899 in Brooklyn to a family of Italian immigrants. After a while, he joined the Five Points gang and became a bouncer. It was during this time that he earned the nickname "Scarface". In 1919, he moved to Chicago and working for Johnny Torrio, he quickly began to rise in the criminal hierarchy.
It was the time of Prohibition, and Capone was involved in prostitution, gambling and bootlegging. In 1925, when he was 26 years old, Capone became head of the Torrio family and started a family war. Known for his intelligence, as well as his bombast and love of attention, Capone was also famous for his cruelty. It is worth remembering the massacre during the concert, dedicated to the Day St. Valentine's Day in 1929, in which many gang leaders were killed. In 1931, a federal agent tax service Eliot Nass arrested him for tax evasion.
Films about him: Many films have been made about Capone, the most famous of which are The St. Valentine's Day Massacre (1967) starring Jason Robards, Capone (1975) with Ben Gazarra and The Untouchables (1987) with Robert De Niro.

Worthy of Mention - Benjamin "Bugsy" Segal (1906 - 1947)
Benjamin Segal was born in 1906 in Brooklyn and soon met Meyer Lansky. He received the nickname "Bugsy" due to his unpredictable nature. However, by killing people for Charlie Luciano, he made many enemies, and in the late 30s he was forced to flee to Los Angeles, where he met many stars.
Shortly after the passage of gambling laws in Nevada, he "borrowed" millions of dollars from the Syndicate and founded one of the first casino hotels in Las Vegas, the Flamingo. However, the business was not profitable, and soon after it was discovered in 1947 that he was simply stealing money from his friends, he was killed.
Films about him: the best actors who played Capone were Warren Beatty (Bugsy (1991) and Armand Assante The Marrying Man (1991).

Of course, these people were not saints, but we cannot help but admire the influence they had in their time. Now you know who was who in the criminal world. Stay out of trouble, smart guys ;).

The article was prepared specifically for

If you ask the first person you meet which country is the birthplace of the mafia, even the least knowledgeable person will give the correct answer without much thought: Italy. This country can actually be called a “flower garden” of the mafia, which has become one of the favorite topics in history and cinema textbooks.

This is not to say that the mafiosi did anything positive or outstanding, but many still admire the unsurpassed talent of the most famous criminals, most of whom, of course, have Italian roots.

Al Capone, of course, this name is well known not only in the sunniest country located on the Apennine Peninsula, but throughout the world. The notorious gangster's name is probably the most recognizable. And it’s not surprising: several films were made about Capone, the most popular of which was the 1987 film “The Untouchables” with Robert De Niro in the title role.

The story of the notorious Mafia figure, who was born in Brooklyn in 1889 after his family migrated to the United States, begins in 1919, when he entered the service of Johnny Torii. In 1925, he headed the Torii family and since then his “criminal” career has grown rapidly. Soon Capone was no longer afraid of anyone or anything: his people were engaged in gambling, selling drugs and prostitution. He earned a reputation as an honest, intelligent, but endlessly cruel man.

One need only remember the famous St. Valentine's Day massacre, when a group led by a gangster killed many mafia leaders.

When the police were lucky enough to apprehend the great criminal, they simply could not charge him with anything other than tax evasion. However, in the end, Al Capone still ended up behind bars: he was in the famous Alcatraz prison, from where he was released seven years later with fatal disease and soon died.

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Bernardo Provenzano

Bernardo Provenzano, a native of a small village located on, was simply destined to become one of the members of the group of the same name. Already in his youth he fell into the Corleone clan, and after a couple of years he had already killed several people and carried out a lot of illegal transactions. For 10 years, the name Provenzano hung in police stations on the “Wanted” stand, but the local carabinieri did not even try to find this dangerous criminal. Meanwhile he continued to move along career ladder and gain authority. It was rumored that Provenzano for some time controlled all the illegal business in Palermo, from drug sales to prostitution. He was known for his intransigence and stubbornness, for which he received the nickname Bulldozer.

Many years later, the police managed to detain the criminal: they saw a thin old man in ordinary jeans and a T-shirt. Provenzano will spend the rest of his days in prison.

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Albert Anastasia

Like many of his colleagues, Albert Anastasia was born in sunny Italy (the city of Tropea), but soon after his birth he migrated with his parents to America. The first time he went to prison was in his youth, when he killed a longshoreman in Brooklyn. He was sentenced to several years, but after some time the main witness in the Anastasia case died in mysterious circumstances, and the criminal himself was released.

Albert Anastasia gained fame as one of America's most ruthless killers.

He was a member of the Masseria gang, but over time he went over to the side of his boss’s competitors, and a couple of years later he was even present at the murder of his former boss. After this, Anastasia became the head of the gang of highly professional killers “Murder Inc.”, the Gambino clan. Police say the group has been involved in at least 400 deaths. The killer himself was killed on the order of one of the American mafiosi.

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Mafia - the meaning of this word is known to everyone, and its members and leaders have always been feared and respected at the same time. All representatives of the criminal world of any time, of any country were legends of some kind.

Surely every person on our planet knows this legendary name - Al Capone. Despite the fact that this name was especially famous in the 30s of the last century, to this day it hovers in the underworld, because Al Capone is the most famous mafioso in the world in history. This man managed to gain credibility not only among other criminals, but also found a special approach to government officials. Al Capone's main businesses are drug distribution, casinos and racketeering. By the way, it was he who introduced the concept of racketeering.

However, his career, if, of course, it can be called that, did not start so smoothly. When Al Capone's Italian family came to the states for better life, he had to work almost 24 hours a day. And then he took on any income. Soon after a fight in a billiard club, he was invited to join the not-so-well-known criminal group of those times, the Gang of Five Smoking Barrels. He became especially famous after brutal reprisals with the leaders of Bugs Moran's gang in the bathhouse on Valentine's Day.

Despite his cunning, dexterity and close connections with the government, Al Capone was still in prison. Why do you think? For non-payment of taxes. This legendary man died of syphilis, which he caught from one of his many prostitute girlfriends.

Several films have been made about this man, many stories and books have been written, because he bears the prestigious title of the most cruel and famous drug lord in the world throughout the history of mankind. Pablo crossed the line of the law as a child, when he began stealing tombstones directly from graves for resale. In addition, he sold drugs, cigarettes and counterfeited lottery tickets already in his teens. He was only 22 when he was recognized crime boss in poor areas. However, his main merit is the supply of cocaine throughout the world in huge quantities. It was on this simple matter that Pablo made his capital in 15 billion. According to unofficial data, he is involved in the murder of thousands of police officers and journalists, hundreds of judges and prosecutors, as well as various government officials.

Joseph Colombo today is not only one of the most famous representatives of the mafia in the world, but also the most intelligent and prudent criminal globe. The thing is that, to cover up his criminal activities, he created the Italian-American League, which was engaged in protecting the interests of Italian citizens in the states. The activities of this league were clean, and, moreover, brought enormous benefits, with the exception of the detail that it was a cover for one of the largest, most popular and ruthless criminal groups of that time. Colombo stopped leading the group after an assassination attempt by a certain Jerome Jenson, who shot him 3 times and hit him in the head. Despite his serious condition, the criminal survived; he remained in a vegetative state due to brain damage.

Luciano is one of the most powerful and brutal gangsters of the 20th century. After the Italian mafia began to transform in the 1920s, Charles gained recognition and became the authority of one of the most famous groups of that time. He received the nickname “Lucky” after his direct competitors were taken out of town and beaten half to death, but they didn’t finish what they started and Luciano survived. In the states, his main activity was selling drugs. But this was not enough for him and Luciano moved to Sicily. There he created the largest mafia group that covered the entire Mediterranean. According to unofficial data, about 20 thousand people.

Arthur Flenheimer was known as Kollansky Schultz. This tireless man has been achieving his authority since the age of 17, when in his youth he organized crepe games. He then began selling alcohol during Prohibition. His main enemies were Luciano and Capone. He was supposed to be arrested, however, he managed to escape to New Jersey, only after returning he was killed.

This man occupied a special place in the criminal world. He was even nicknamed “Teflon Don” for his numerous examples of evading investigation. John, with his own hands, rose from the very bottom of the criminal world to the confidantes of the Gambino family. Soon his nickname was transformed into “Elegant Don” for the corresponding style. Like any other self-respecting mafioso of that time, he was involved in murders, drugs, racketeering and car theft. He was killed by his right hand and best friend Salvatore Gravano, who began working with the FBI and told about all the details of Gotti's crimes, which led to his imprisonment for life.

A Jew by birth and an experienced criminal, Lansky became one of the most famous representatives of the mafia of the last century.
His fate was decided when, as a child, he met Charles Luchino, also a well-known American gangster. Maher was elected the authority of the criminal world of America and held this prestigious title for several decades. Initially, he was only involved in the distribution of alcoholic beverages during Prohibition. However, he soon expanded his activities and created the Crime Syndicate, which was involved in underground bars and bookmaking. At the same time he for a long time developed the gambling business. Unable to bear the close surveillance of the police, he fled to Israel.

The American authorities have repeatedly demanded extradition, however, they have been refused. Meir left on a visa issued for only 2 years, so after its expiration, he decides to change his place of residence. But because of his rich criminal past, none of the countries issued him a permit. He had no choice but to return to the United States, where he was already eagerly awaited. But due to happy circumstances, all charges were dropped. Meir spent his last years in Miami, where he was treated for cancer, but without success. It was this disease that destroyed him.