Ciaculli

Ciaculli is an outlying village (or frazione) of Palermo, Sicily, Italy. It is located in the south-eastern area of Palermo Metropolitan City. It counts less than 9,500 residents. Ciaculli is close to the suburb of Croceverde.

It is one of the last countryside area still dedicated to agricultural activities in the municipality (or comune). The suburb is separated from the city centre by the A19 motorway, which form its northern border. The southern border is delimited by the slopes of Mount Griffith (Italian: Monte Grifone).

Organized crime

Ciaculli was an important place in the history of Cosa Nostra, the Sicilian mafia. Greco Mafia clan was originally from this place and, given its notoriety in the news, linked the village to the image of organized crime.

In 1963 the suburb was marked by frequent clashes during the First Mafia War. On June 30, 1963, seven police and military officers lost their lives due to a car bomb, which according to later reconstructions was intended for the mafia boss Salvatore Greco. The event, which triggered a strong reaction from the Italian government and led to the creation of the Antimafia Commission, is known as the Ciaculli massacre.

In the 1980s the Second Mafia War brought a new series of attacks and murders to Ciaculli. The Grecos split into two factions, one close to the new Corleonesi Mafia clan from Corleone, and the other close to the Palermo old clans. In 1982, mafia member and hitman Giuseppe Greco, after surviving an ambush, forced the residents of the suburb who did not offer guarantees for his safety to leave.^[1]

Between 2019 and 2024, a series of investigations by the police forces of Italy shown that the Grecos still play a significant role in the management of criminal activities conducted in Ciaculli, especially the money extortion (or pizzo) from local businesses and money laundering.^[2]^[3] In January 2019 a police raid foiled an attempt by new bosses, including Michele Greco's nephew, to restore the old mafia dome.^[4]^[5]

References

^ "Palermo, quando Giuseppe Greco fece svuotare la borgata di Ciaculli per la sua sicurezza" [Palermo, when Giuseppe Greco had the Ciaculli hamlet emptied for his own safety]. Il Fatto Quotidiano (in Italian). 2023-03-09. Retrieved 2025-02-16. [After the ambush, Pino Greco, to ensure maximum protection, decided to send away from Ciaculli all those families who did not offer guarantees for his safety. So, he issued an edict, forcing some inhabitants with death threats to leave the village in a relatively short time. In essence, a forced exodus. The news reached us in the Flying Squad in confidential form and that is how Commissioner Beppe Montana and I began the investigation. We did a door-to-door census and indeed some families had “disappeared” from Ciaculli, moving to the hinterland.]
^ "Mafia, a Ciaculli comandano gli eredi di Michele Greco" [Mafia, in Ciaculli the heirs of Michele Greco are in command]. ilSicilia.it (in Italian). 2021-07-20. Retrieved 2025-02-16.
^ Lo Verso, Riccardo (2022-05-17). "Palermo, mafia: a Ciaculli i boss rubano l'acqua e la rivendono". Live Sicilia (in Italian). Retrieved 2025-02-17.
^ "Nuovo blitz a Palermo, 7 fermi. In manette anche Calogero Lo Piccolo e il nipote del Papa Michele Greco" [New raid in Palermo, 7 arrests. Also arrested are Calogero Lo Piccolo and the Pope Michele Greco's nephew]. Antimafia Duemila (in Italian). 2019-01-22. Retrieved 2025-02-17. [(...) this morning at dawn a new operation was launched that led to the arrest of high-ranking members of the renewed Provincial Commission and to be stopped by the provision issued by the DDA of Palermo there are also two important names such as Calogero Lo Piccolo, Salvatore's son, Leandro Greco (with no criminal record), nephew of the "Pope" Michele Greco, historic boss of Ciaculli, and Giovanni Sirchia, affiliated with the mafia family of Passo di Rigano, stopped together with four other people, all accused of wanting to give new life to the Dome.]
^ "Greco-Lo Piccolo, parenti d'arte con voglia di mafia" [Greco-Lo Piccolo, sons of art with a desire for mafia]. Antimafia Duemila (in Italian). 2019-01-23. Retrieved 2025-02-17.

External links

Italian site on the Ciaculli Agricultural Park

38°04′36″N 13°24′17″E / 38.07667°N 13.40472°E / 38.07667; 13.40472

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[1] "Palermo, quando Giuseppe Greco fece svuotare la borgata di Ciaculli per la sua sicurezza" [Palermo, when Giuseppe Greco had the Ciaculli hamlet emptied for his own safety]. Il Fatto Quotidiano (in Italian). 2023-03-09. Retrieved 2025-02-16. [After the ambush, Pino Greco, to ensure maximum protection, decided to send away from Ciaculli all those families who did not offer guarantees for his safety. So, he issued an edict, forcing some inhabitants with death threats to leave the village in a relatively short time. In essence, a forced exodus. The news reached us in the Flying Squad in confidential form and that is how Commissioner Beppe Montana and I began the investigation. We did a door-to-door census and indeed some families had “disappeared” from Ciaculli, moving to the hinterland.]

[2] "Mafia, a Ciaculli comandano gli eredi di Michele Greco" [Mafia, in Ciaculli the heirs of Michele Greco are in command]. ilSicilia.it (in Italian). 2021-07-20. Retrieved 2025-02-16.

[3] Lo Verso, Riccardo (2022-05-17). "Palermo, mafia: a Ciaculli i boss rubano l'acqua e la rivendono". Live Sicilia (in Italian). Retrieved 2025-02-17.

[4] "Nuovo blitz a Palermo, 7 fermi. In manette anche Calogero Lo Piccolo e il nipote del Papa Michele Greco" [New raid in Palermo, 7 arrests. Also arrested are Calogero Lo Piccolo and the Pope Michele Greco's nephew]. Antimafia Duemila (in Italian). 2019-01-22. Retrieved 2025-02-17. [(...) this morning at dawn a new operation was launched that led to the arrest of high-ranking members of the renewed Provincial Commission and to be stopped by the provision issued by the DDA of Palermo there are also two important names such as Calogero Lo Piccolo, Salvatore's son, Leandro Greco (with no criminal record), nephew of the "Pope" Michele Greco, historic boss of Ciaculli, and Giovanni Sirchia, affiliated with the mafia family of Passo di Rigano, stopped together with four other people, all accused of wanting to give new life to the Dome.]

[5] "Greco-Lo Piccolo, parenti d'arte con voglia di mafia" [Greco-Lo Piccolo, sons of art with a desire for mafia]. Antimafia Duemila (in Italian). 2019-01-23. Retrieved 2025-02-17.

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