American Cosa Nostra
| Founding location | Origins in Sicily; founded in U.S. in New Orleans and New York City |
|---|---|
| Years active | Late 19th century–present |
| Territory | United States; active in most parts of the country during its peak, currently active mainly in the Northeast, Midwestern cities such as Chicago; Las Vegas and Florida; extensions in Canada |
| Ethnicity | Full members (made men) are of Italian descent, other criminals of any ethnicity are employed as "associates." |
| Membership (est.) | Around 1,200 Made Men and thousands of Associates |
| Criminal activities | Racketeering, smuggling, fraud, counterfeiting, robbery, bribery, assault, money laundering, illegal gambling, loan sharking, weapons trafficking, drug trafficking, extortion, fencing, murder, prostitution, pornography, theft, arson |
| Allies | Sicilian Mafia, Camorra, 'Ndrangheta, various independent Italian-American street gangs and crime groups (such as South Brooklyn Boys) |
| Rivals | Historically rivals of the Irish Mob |
The American Mafia, also referred to as the Italian Mafia (commonly shortened to the Mafia or Mob) or the Italian-American Mafia, is a highly organized Italian-American criminal society. The organization is often referred to by members as Cosa Nostra (Italian pronunciation: [kɔsa nɔstra], our thing) or La Cosa Nostra (LCN).
The Mafia in the United States emerged in impoverished Italian immigrant neighborhoods in New York's East Harlem (or Italian Harlem), Lower East Side, and Brooklyn. It also emerged in other areas of the East Coast of the United States and several other major metropolitan areas (such as New Orleans) during the late 19th century and early 20th century, following waves of Italian immigration especially from Sicily and other regions of Southern Italy. It has its roots in the Sicilian Mafia but is a separate organization in the United States. Neapolitan, Calabrian, and other Italian criminal groups in the U.S., as well as independent Italian-American criminals, eventually merged with Sicilian Mafiosi to create the modern pan-Italian Mafia in North America. Today, the American Mafia cooperates in various criminal activities with Italian organized crime groups, such as the Sicilian Mafia, Camorra in Naples, and 'Ndrangheta in Calabria. The most important unit of the American Mafia is that of a "family," as the various criminal organizations that make up the Mafia are known. Despite the name of "family" to describe the various units, they are not familial groupings.
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