Unlike the hierarchical structure of the Italian criminal gangs like the
Sicilian mafia and the
Camorra, which have a certain internal order and infiltrate the political apparatus, the Sardinian bandits, indicated as
Anonima Sarda by Italian journalists, operated as a group mainly for specific kidnappings, with no interest in and capability for exercising influence over political parties or the Italian state, nor did they associate with Italian criminal organizations. Therefore, it is not correct to talk of a Sardinian
criminal syndicate, since the Sardinian bandits responsible for the kidnappings lacked any kind of command structure, did not influence the political sphere, and several groups of bandits would operate with little to no relationship with each other. The bandits, the most infamous of them being
Graziano Mesina (also known as
Gratzianeddu in
Sardinian), Matteo Boe and
Attilio Cubeddu (still one of the
most wanted fugitives in Italy) to name a few, operated mainly in Sardinia but also in the nearby island of
Corsica and, from the second post-war period onwards, decided to target the Italian peninsula, especially in regions where Sardinian immigrants already operated as shepherds. Sardinian bandits have now stopped the activity of kidnapping for ransom. Several writers have indicated an unwritten set of norms called "
Barbagian Code" which was common to the rural and pastoral inner lands of
Sardinia, these being the areas where most kidnappers originated, as well as those of hiding for most captivities. The first documented kidnapping carried out in the contemporary era dates back to 1875 (the noblemen Antonio Meloni Gaia was kidnapped in Mamoiada in May 1875 in his vineyard, but managed to free himself and escape captivity later the same day), while the unwritten code is assumed to have always existed in parallel to the written codes of the several foreign powers that ruled the island. ==See also==