A mafia is some kind of “group” who make organized crime. There is a lot of different things that the mafia do of criminal things, but it could be drug trafficking, protecting rackets (The “victim” pays the mafia, and then the mafia protects the “victim”), vote buying (A politician pays the mafia and then the mafia will get the politician a lot of votes), arms trafficking, and loan sharking. One of the most normal things for the mafia is extortion. It’s the same as “protecting rackets” in some way. The Mafia will tell a shop owner that they have to pay a certain amount every month, to protect against thieves. The problem is that often are the mafias also the thieves.
The word mafia was first used in 1862, in connection with the play I mafiusi di la Vicaria. The theatre play was at first only in 2 acts, but was later expanded. Both acts took place in a prison section with eight prisoners. Among the detainees were six of them special. They had formed their own group with a leader who led the other five, using methods reminiscent of the modern mafia methods.
A mafia is like a big family. In each “mafia group” there is from 5 to 100 families, depending on the size of the whole mafia. Each family has their own “business area”.
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