Editing Mafia (section)

===[[First Mafia War]]===
The First Mafia War was the first high-profile conflict between Mafia clans in post-war Italy (the Sicilian Mafia has a long history of violent rivalries).

In 1962, the mafia boss [[Cesare Manzella]] organized a drug shipment to America with the help of two Sicilian clans, the Grecos and the La Barberas. Manzella entrusted another boss, [[Calcedonio Di Pisa]], to handle the heroin. When the shipment arrived in America, however, the American buyers claimed some heroin was missing, and paid Di Pisa a commensurately lower sum. Di Pisa accused the Americans of defrauding him, while the La Barberas accused Di Pisa of embezzling the missing heroin. The Sicilian Mafia Commission sided with Di Pisa, to the open anger of the La Barberas. The La Barberas murdered Di Pisa and Manzella, triggering a war.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-62">[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sicilian_Mafia#cite_note-62 [62]]</sup>

Many non-mafiosi were killed in the crossfire. In April 1963, several bystanders were wounded during a shootout in [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palermo Palermo].<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-DickieCosaNostra312_63-0">[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sicilian_Mafia#cite_note-DickieCosaNostra312-63 [63]]</sup> In May, [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Angelo_La_Barbera Angelo La Barbera] survived a murder attempt in [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Milan Milan]. In June, six military officers and a policeman in [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ciaculli Ciaculli] were killed while trying to dispose of a car bomb. These incidents provoked national outrage and a crackdown in which nearly 2,000 arrests were made. Mafia activity fell as clans disbanded and mafiosi went into hiding. The Sicilian Mafia Commission was dissolved; it would not reform until 1969.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-DickieCosaNostra318_64-0">[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sicilian_Mafia#cite_note-DickieCosaNostra318-64 [64]]</sup> 117 suspects were put on trial in 1968, but most were acquitted or received light sentences.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-DickieCosaNostra325_65-0">[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sicilian_Mafia#cite_note-DickieCosaNostra325-65 [65]]</sup> The inactivity plus money lost to legal fees and so forth reduced most mafiosi to poverty