Matteo Messina Denaro: How silence and compliance kept Mafia boss at large

Mafia culture worked as a combination of intertwined elements, Prof Bellacosa told the BBC: “From the Mafia’s widespread presence in the territory, to a scarce or non-existent co-operation with investigators by society, to an entrenched code of silence, especially in small towns and suburbs, where the state is often perceived as absent.”