The Godfather of the Capital: The Rise of Michele Senese, from the Hunt for the Cutoliani to the Pax Mafia

Rome – He is the Godfather of the "Great Criminal Ring" that built its hegemony on the "mafia peace." If there's a figure that fits the name of boss Michele Senese, it's the one created by Mario Puzo for the celebrated film series, The Godfather.

The "godson" of Carmine Alfieri and Pasquale Galasso, who grew up in the ranks of the Moccia clan of Afragola, Senese was sent to the capital by the leaders of the New Family in the 80s to hunt down Cutolo supporters. Among his targets was Vincenzo Casillo, Cutolo's right-hand man with ties to the secret services, who was later blown up with his car in Rome in 1984.

History has it that the Casillo murder is linked to the death of Roberto Calvi, the banker killed in London in 1982, but certainly – as numerous informants say – between the 70s and 80s Michele Senese was sent by Enzo Moccia, of the Alfieri clan, to the capital on the trail of the Cutoli fugitives.

A criminal task that the very young Senese, then just over twenty years old, must have completed. That criminal mission then transformed his life so much that it led him to settle in the capital and import the Camorra there.

The expert reports of 'black' criminologist Semerari and the escape from the Aversa criminal asylum

Reports tell that from the rival Cutolo clan, Senese learned techniques to avoid prison or obtain reduced sentences. Techniques such as feigning insanity, thanks to a schizophrenic profile compiled by the renowned "black" criminologist Aldo Semerari, allowed him to be admitted to the Aversa criminal asylum, from which he managed to escape by climbing over the surrounding wall. Just like Raffaele Cutolo.

It is this particular aspect of his life that gives him the nickname 'o pazzo'.

Drug trafficking, scams, and nightclub bribes: Michele Senese's criminal rise

After the war with the Cutoli family, Michele Senese managed to create a veritable Camorra stronghold in the capital—in just a few years—and made huge profits from illicit businesses, particularly drug trafficking and multi-million dollar scams (among the most high-profile being the luxury watch scam). He invested in a network of renowned restaurants and clubs and in the hydrocarbons business. Massive illicit capital, which was then transferred to Swiss banks, gave him unparalleled economic power, pushing him to expand well beyond Rome's borders.

Senese, an intelligent and open-minded boss, within a few years abandoned the criminal school of his origins, characterized by wars and murders, to establish in Rome what has been called the "Grande Ringo Criminale" model. A system based on peace, he managed, for years, to bring together and collaborate under his wing a diverse group of people: native Roman criminals, Lazio ultras, Albanian drug brokers, and historic 'Ndrangheta and Cosa Nostra clans.

In Rome, for over thirty years, nothing moved without his assent.

In the precautionary custody order that led to the arrest of seven people in recent days, including Senese himself (already in prison), for the murder of Fabrizio Piscitelli (Diabolik), investigators reconstruct the network of high-level criminal alliances woven by the Godfather.

The ties with the 'Ndrangheta, Camorra, and Cosa Nostra and the imposition of mafia peace

The findings of the "Nuova Alba" trial in the early 2000s – concerning the Fasciani mafia organization rooted in Lido di Ostia – reveal an alliance formed in the Lido di Ostia area between the Fasciani gang and the Senese criminal organization, aimed at permanently removing the Triassi clan, the other historic group, from the Roman coast.

Very recently, in 2023, evidence revealing the existence of the Senese criminal organization emerged with Operation " Assedio ," which revealed Senese's ties to the Roman branches of the powerful Mazzaferro-Morabito and Mancuso ' ndrine from the Reggio Calabria area, with branches in Germany, Belgium, and the United Kingdom. The ongoing connection with the Mazzarella-D'Amico Camorra clan, which operates in the Sangiovanni a Teduccio and Ponticelli neighborhoods, also emerged.

Michele Senese's criminal charisma transcends the borders of Rome and Naples.

To speak with him—on the days of his "audience"—there were lines of dozens of people, connected to criminal circles, willing to wait hours just to seek advice or resolve criminal matters. Michele Senese received everyone and decided who should be punished and who should be saved. A lapidary word from 'o pazz to pass from Heaven to Hell and back again.

From Godfather to Godfather: The 'Ndrangheta Boss's Meeting with the Senese Boss

He did so even when, detained in the Sant'Alessandro Community between 2011 and 2012, he was questioned by a certain Bruno Gallace, a leading member of the 'Ndrangheta with the title of Godfather , or the highest rank within the organization, regarding a conflict that had arisen between the 'Ndrangheta member's brother-in-law, Tiziano Romagnoli, and Giuseppe Molisso, known as Barba, a Neapolitan blood in his veins who grew up under Senese's wing and rose to the top of the organization by managing the Tor Bella Monaca neighborhood.

Gallace, having arrived at the clinic to discuss the "issue," asks to meet Senese and gets in line. But his criminal caliber prompts the madman to give him a fast track and speak with him immediately. The matter is resolved within minutes; Senese immediately summons Molisso's father-in-law—who is also being held in the same facility—and urges him to intercede to resolve the conflict with the Gallaces.

"The extraordinary significance of this episode," the order states, "is demonstrated not only by Michele Senese's decisiveness but, above all, by the request for intervention by a figure of Bruno Gallace's caliber, who unquestionably recognizes Senese's criminal role as a key figure." Among godfathers, criminal matters are resolved like this: without bloodshed. A word of honor is enough.

The 'family', prison and notes: this is how the gang ran behind bars

Senese's organization is a mafia-style family structure, in which strategic roles—while he is in prison—are assigned to relatives. His son Vincenzo and his wife Raffaella Gaglione maintain contact with the group when Michele 'o pazzo is in prison. And despite being in prison, nothing happens without his approval. Two cell phones keep him in touch with the clan, along with the notes he uses to issue orders.

The undisputed kingpin of Rome's southeast and northwest, Michele Senese has learned to diversify his business over the years. Starting out in drug trafficking, he then acquired well-known Roman nightlife venues, forcing them to pay bribes to the Seneses in exchange for "peace of mind."

The mafia peace that the Godfather imposed not only on the criminal groups under his command, but also on the ties with the 'Ndrangheta, Camorra, and Cosa Nostra clans that passed through his orbit, made him the "King" of Rome. From Godfather to Godfathers, hegemony is achieved in this way.