Relocating a protected market triggers violent conflict over reallocation of stands

Evidence

Evidence collected by the antimafia commission (CPM: 4-xii; (CPMRMI), however, suggests that not all crimes connected with the market can be dismissed as merely fortuitous. In 1955 the market moved to the Acquasanta district beyond the railway bridge, not far from Ucciardone prison. The change of location unsettled the equilibrium which had previously guaranteed stability, provoking a scramble among established scaristi to obtain the best stands, generating tension over the allocation of additional ones, and sparking off a conflict between the two mafia families with jurisdiction over the old and new market areas. The process of adjustment was “left in the hands of the strongest,” while local authorities abstained from intervening (CPM-RMI: 68). Don Tanu Alatu, the boss of Acquasanta, was the first to go, followed by his brother and deputy, who was pursued as far as Como. One commissionario and four wholesale dealers were also among the victims. — Diego Gambetta, The Sicilian Mafia The Business of…, 543

Categorization

• XREF: Shows the property-rights dimension of private protection: when the physical site changes, the territorial rights joint mafia families held are unsettled, echoing Gambetta’s core account of territory as the mafia’s capital. — connects to: the MOC “The Violence That Builds: How Modern Order Is Forged, Not Broken, by Force”