Word: buscetta
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...existence of the Sicilian connection, and in the late 1970s rapidly expanded joint efforts to expose and eliminate it. The cooperation has become extensive. U.S. authorities have traveled to Italy to share information with their Italian counterparts; Assistant U.S. Attorney Charles Rose flew to Brazil last year after Buscetta's arrest. Only hours after those named in the Italian arrest warrants had been taken into custody in the U.S., top law-enforcement officials from both countries met at the Justice Department in Washington to make plans for combined police actions and prosecutions in the U.S. and Italy...
Aiding the joint effort is a new extradition treaty (see box). Italy has requested the extradition of at least 16 men rounded up last week in the U.S. Giuliani indicated that he expects Buscetta to be brought to the U.S. to provide general information on the Mafia. And possibly for his own safety. Some law-enforcement authorities speculate that Buscetta can be better protected in the U.S. than in Italy, where Mafia dons have long found it even easier than their American counterparts to run their affairs from prison cells. Some Mafiosi, however, feel that Buscetta's days...
...continuing influence but are convinced they can reduce it. Italian authorities insist that last week's roundup, which was organized secretly and carried out with military precision, will be followed by more arrests as they question those in custody and pursue the leads laid out by Buscetta in his statement. U.S. officials are equally encouraged. "This is truly a historic occasion," said U.S. Attorney General William French Smith, "because this is the first tune that there has been an arrangement of this kind developed between two countries that has been made up of policy-level officials who have...
...optimism is understandable. Buscetta's decision to break with the Mafia has given the police voluminous information and may encourage others to sing as well. It has also provided other would-be Mafia renegades with a model and given law enforcement a major psychological boost. Says Giuliani: "This is the type of work where you don't get many victories. It's enormously important as an example that someone at a very high level has broken his silence...
Dramatic as they may be, Buscetta's revelations have painted only a small part of the big picture of Mafia organization and activity. U.S. and Italian officials point out that Buscetta has revealed far more about the activities of the Corleone families than he has about his own Palermo organization. They suspect that despite his talk about honor, the Sicilian singer may lose his voice once he has finished implicating his rivals. They also note that the loose-tongued Buscetta is a rarity and that most Mafiosi still respect their organization, and value their lives, sufficiently to keep silent...