The standard historical view traces the origin of the camorristi to the prisons of Naples. Even recently, members of the gang known as Nuova camorra Organizzata, led by Raffaele Cutolo, were recruited among convicts. Vigilantes with "mafioso" inclinations can be found in Tanzania (see Abrahams 1987, which also mentions other examples around the world); the tendency coward private protection can be detected in the black townships of South Africa, where the law of the whites is regarded with deep suspicion, as the case of Winnie Mandela and her guerrillas shows ( Observer, February 19. 1989). Both Catholic and Protestant armed factions in Northern Ireland operate protection rackets (Listener, January 7, 1988). Jesus Alberto Molina, an eighteen-year-old murderer who fled and turned state's evidence in Colombia (Repubblica, August 31, 1989), condenses in his short life the trajectory of the Sicilian mafia over the period of a century. He belonged to an armed group employed to protect rich farmers in the Magdalena Medio region, where violence between drug dealers and leftwing guerrillas is particularly intense. Jesus soon found a more attractive outlet for his skills and was hired by drug dealers receiving training from Israeli mercenaries. Finally, he confessed to the murders of a firm manager and a trade unionist. In short, he began as a private guard employed by wealthy farmers-the equivalent of a Sicilian campiere-and went straight to work for the drug dealers.

XREF: Parallels Gambetta's private protection argument, suggesting mafia-type structures emerge wherever state protection is distrusted.

Diego Gambetta, The Sicilian Mafia The Busi…, loc. 847