Big Mafia families retreat as the Russian mafia become FBI Priority
The Five top mafia families have had to adapt to lower profits and a lower profile to survive, the F.B.I.’ top mafia investigator claims, as he cautions against writing them off as a spent force.
The priority for the bureau is now the Russian mafia, after a number of high profile convictions and mafia wise guys who have become state witnesses against the old families.
The F.B.I.’s special agent in charge of the Criminal Division of the Federal Bureau of Investigation in New York told the Wall Street Journal that the mafia are not the force they were, but still a dangerous entity on the criminal landscape.
"I don't know that I'd say La Cosa Nostra wasn't what it was in its heyday, but I wouldn't say by any means it's gone away," he said.
He believes that the Cosa Nostra, made famous by the ‘Godfather’ films have endured quite a make-over and transformation but their hierarchy and structure that we know from the movies is still intact.
“Despite the waves of prosecutions, each of the five mafia "borgatas, the Genovese, Gambino, Luchese, Bonanno and Colombo,still exists and each still has its hierarchy," said John Buretta, a former federal prosecutor told the WSJ.
Despite the recent arrest of a 78 year old mafia boss for the infamous 1978 Lufthansa $6m heist the focus of the Bureau has moved to counter terrorism and Eastern European crime syndicates. Their one concern though is that the mafia families traditionally have a very good relationship with the Russian mafia and this may indeed lead their way back to top of the F.B.I.’s most wanted targets.
Previously there was a squad dedicated to each family but now the numbers have been reduced to a fraction of what it once was and with detective numbers falling to record lows in New York because of budgets, it is now only the sixth ranking priority for the NYPD, after civil rights, terrorism, espionage, cyber crime and public corruption.
The mafia have retreated and gone are the ‘in your face’ John Gotti moments where the 'Teflon Don' teased and provoked the NYPD to the precipice of humiliation. Now, they are in business suits and operating in the shadows, to take advantage of lower police budgets and a waning interest in the five big families.
Source: http://www.sundayworld.com/top-stories/crime-desk/donal-macintyre-s-crime-cafe/big-mafia-families-retreat-as-the-russian-mafia-become-fbi-priority
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