"The government of the United States of America did not hesitate to use some of the most vicious elements of the American and Sicilian Mafias to facilitate the landings in Sicily in 1943. It then proceeded to hand over many key administrative positions to well-known local Mafiosi who had close ties to American organized crime. As a result, after the war the Mafia played a key role in preventing the progress of the Italian Communist Party in Sicily. It also set up a lucrative drug trade to the United States and author Ezio Costanzo demonstrates how this connection remains still very much alive today. "--BOOK JACKET.