Topic: Salvatore Lo Piccolo

Salvatore Lo Piccolo (born in Palermo, July 20, 1942), also known as the Baron (il Barone), is a Sicilian mafioso and one of the most powerful bosses of Palermo, Sicily. Lo Piccolo rose through the ranks of the Palermo mafia throughout the 1980s and he became the capo-mandamento of the San Lorenzo district in the early 1990s, replacing Salvatore Biondino who was sent to prison. Lo Piccolo was a fugitive since 1983 and had been running his Mafia affairs in hiding. With the capture of Bernardo Provenzano on April 11, 2006 Lo Piccolo had been cementing his power and rise to the top of the Palermo Mafia until his own arrest on November 5, 2007.

Lo Piccolo is also known as "u vascu," Sicilian dialect for "il vecchio," which translates into English as "the old one" or "elder." In clandestine correspondence with former mafia boss Bernardo Provenzano, Salvatore Lo Piccolo used to identify himself by the number 30. Lo Piccolo's fortune came from the international cocaine trafficking, the extortion of businesses, and the theft of money allocated for public works projects. He invested much of his earnings in real estate. Lo Piccolo long supported Provenzano's policy of not directing violence toward the state and preferred arbitration as means to settle conflict between rival mafia factions.

Lo Piccolo was born in the neighbourhood Partanna Mondello in Palermo. He was the driver of the local Mafia boss Rosario Riccobono, who was killed in the Second Mafia War. Lo Piccolo changed sides and became an ally of the Corleonesi. Bosses like Pippo Calò and Nino Rotolo pleaded to save the life of Lo Piccolo. Nearly 25 years later Rotolo would regret his appeal when a conflict arose between the two. Rotolo was overheard on bugs installed by the police saying: "One who should have died. He was the ‘godson’ of Saro Riccobono and should have gone."