Basilischi

This article is about the criminal organization. For the 1963 film, see The Lizards.

The Basilischi (Italian: [baziˈliski]) was an organized crime group based in Basilicata, a region of southern Italy, officially formed in 1994 by Giovanni Luigi Cosentino in Potenza.^[1] According to the national anti-Mafia prosecutor's office, the areas with Basilischi strongholds were those of Policoro, Montalbano Jonico, Pisticci, Scanzano Jonico, and the Val d'Agri and Vulture regions.^[2][3][4]

On 22 April 1999, 84 orders for pre-trial custody were issued by the Potenza Prosecutor's Office. That started what became known as the maxi-trial, which jailed the main figures of the Basilischi and demonstrated their existence and strength in Basilicata.^[5] The maxi-trial concluded in 2007, with a 700-page summation by the judges and the sentencing of 26 people for Mafia-type association to a total of 242 years in prison. In a ruling dated 30 October 2012, the Court of Appeal of Potenza confirmed the existence of the Basilischi.^[6] The conviction of many high-profile members of the clan caused the group to become fractured and fall further under the influence of the more powerful Calabrian-based 'Ndrangheta.^[5]