Crime boss

A crime boss has absolute or nearly absolute control over the other members of the organization and is often greatly feared or respected for their cunning, strategy, and/or ruthlessness and willingness to take lives to exert their influence and profits from the criminal endeavors in which the organization engages.

Organized crime enterprises originating in Sicily differ in structure from those in mainland Italy.

The size of the criminal organization is also important, as regional or national gangs have much more complex hierarchies.

[3] The boss in the Sicilian and Italian-American Mafia is the head of the crime family and the top decision maker.

Sometimes bosses of the so-called gangland are referred to as being Mr. Big, as for example when he could not be named for legal reasons.