Sicily's Mafia is rebuilding its networks in the US

Sicily's Mafia is rebuilding its networks in the US, according to an Italian parliamentary report. The report says Cosa Nostra has been sending people to the US to form alliances with families with which it had lost contact in the 1980s. It says that while the mob maintains a foothold in the lucrative drugs trade, it is now moving into new areas.

Although Cosa Nostra has its roots in Italian organised crime, it has long been a separate organisation in the US. But this month in an operation codenamed Old Bridge, a reference to these long-standing links between Sicily and New York, the FBI revealed details of the new relationships being formed across the Atlantic. They rounded up more than 80 gangsters in New York including the acting bosses of the Gambino crime family - known to have direct links with Sicily.