The paper addresses transformations in the dialectic between mafia and anti-mafia corruption movements in Sicily over the last fifty years. The author discusses the transformations occurring at particular historical moments leading up to a crisis where an unprecedented anti-mafia law was passed, and where nearly 400 mafia members were imprisoned. The author discusses the challenges faced by the anti-mafia criminal justice system where it is currently limited to one transformative accomplishment: the repression of drug trafficking and the calming of associated violence.