Non-Subscriber Extract
Family fortunes - The American mafia is down but not out
01 October 2008
The Italian-American Cosa Nostra criminal organisation, comprising of a number of largely autonomous 'family' groupings in various locations across the United States, dominated organised crime for much of the 20th century. However, sustained law enforcement operations and a decline in the group’s international links have reduced its power. Nonetheless, the Cosa Nostra remains one of the most significant criminal organisations in the US and is expanding its influence via alliance with or the 'taxation' of smaller criminal groups.
In February 2008, 62 members and associates from three New York City Cosa Nostra families were charged in one of the single largest indictments in US history. The indictment contained 84 separate charges, including conspiracy, racketeering and murder, spanning more than three decades.
Despite this, the organisation persists. The prospects for the Cosa Nostra in the US will hinge on whether it is able to continue making linkages with non-Cosa Nostra groups, shift into fraud crime and other non-traditional organised crime activities that are better insulated from detection, and its willingness to settle for a piece of the criminal activity of other groups.
Image: An unidentified associate of the Gambino crime family is escorted by FBI agents to a police vehicle in Manhattan in 2008 in New York.