Free fall tower

The term mafia is used worldwide to refer to a special kind of organized crime, extending from its origin in the Italian Mezzogiorno to any organized crime group with similar characteristics, regardless of its origin or place of action.

The 'Ndrangheta, originating in the Calabria region of southern Italy, is today considered the most powerful and richest mafia in the world.

The Mafia was born in the region of Sicily,[1] Italy, where it called itself Cosa Nostra, although similar groups were common in Ireland, the United Kingdom and the United States. Originally a confederation dedicated to the protection and autonomous exercise of law (vigilante justice) and, later, to organized crime. Its members called themselves "mafiosi", meaning "men of honor". Members of the various mafia clans employ a series of inviolable "codes of honor", of which the best known is the omertà or law of silence.