Mariano Marsala was on a trip to Australia when a series of unlicensed extortion attempts occurred in Vicari. When a building contractor received a demand for protection money and refused, his construction site and machinery were damaged. The victim tried to negotiate a smaller payment until Don Mariano—his regular protector—came back. On his return, Don Mariano managed to get him a substantial discount but could not entirely put an end to the demands, for his rivals were gaining strength. Around the same time another firm was being pressured to recruit a member of this rival faction as a guard, a traditional form of veiled extortion observed by Franchetti over a century ago. The customary first refusal was countered by the customary bomb on the premises, which this time failed to explode. Undeterred by their incompetence, the newcomers kept up the pressure until ultimately the existing guard was fired and the mafioso hired in his stead. Don Mariano is reported by his son to have chastised the perpetrators, but by that time there was little else he could do. By means of intimidation tactics, protection contracts in the area were already changing hands

Diego Gambetta, The Sicilian Mafia The Busi…, loc. 501