Nov
10
Al Capone and John Gotti
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There have been several major arrests in organized crime during the 1900’s. Almost everybody has heard of the famous Al Capone. It was mostly believed that Al Capone had ordered the killings of seven rivals in the “St. Valentine’s day Massacre.” He was never arrested for this offense because the murder of these people was not a federal offense and it was not in the Federal Bureau’s jurisdiction. However Al Capone was eventually arrested when he did not appear as a witness in front a grand jury in a case about the breaking of prohibition laws. He claimed to of had been bedridden with with broncho-pneumonia. U.S. Attorneys investigated this claim and it turned out not to be true. He was also arrested in Philadelphia for concealed weapons. After being released, he was arrested yet again for failure to pay his income taxes. After a grand total of of twelve and a half years in prison, he found himself to sick to continue a life of crime and died in 1947.
I was reading about another Famous mobster was named John Gotti. He was also none as “The Dapper Don” or the “Teflon Don.” He started out as a mobster in New York who had been arrested for a plot to steal thousands of dollars worth of merchandise and again for murder. Upon his release he eventually became a “made man” for the Gambino family. Apparently he had arranged the deaths of his the successors to the Gambino family boss ahead of him and became the Don. With the help of one of John Gotti’s henchman, Sam Gravano, who cooperated with the authorities, Gotti was arrested. He was convicted of 13 counts including racketeering, jury tampering, and extortion. He died in prison in June 2002
Nov
5
The Fight Against Organized Crime
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All though shrouded in secrecy organized crime is a real problem in today’s society. However, there are forces against it. The world’s main instrument against organized crime is the United Nations Convention against Transitional Organized Crime. It contains three protocols. The first of which is The Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children, supplementing the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime. Next, there is the Protocol against the Smuggling of Migrants by Land, Air and Sea, supplementing the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime. Then, the last is the Protocol against the Illicit Manufacturing and Trafficking in Firearms, Their parts and components and Ammunition, supplementing the United Nations Convention against Transitional Organized Crime. States that are a part of the convention make an effort to: make it easier to surrender a criminal by one state or nation to another, cooperate with law enforcement of other states, improve training of authorities to deal with this type of crime, and to improve technology used to help fight it.
Something of great importance when fighting organized crime are the witnesses that allow for the authorities to catch the criminals. They create insight as to the inner workings of the organized crime group and also give authorities windows to making progress against them. However, the problem with this is that the witnesses endanger themselves by trying to go over to the good side. Fortunately, there are witness protection programs that give these people relief. In the witness protection program the witness and his or her family is usually moved out of the dangerous area, given new identities and documentation, job training, employment, housing, start up money, and medical care. It is good to know that there are steps being taken against organized crime.
Oct
29
Mafia Made Less Secret
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The mafia is infamous for its secretive nature. In this blog entry I will shed a little light on the inner workings of the mafia.
The mafia has their very own words that the common person would not be able to interpret. One of which is “Omerta” which is a code for silence. A made man is a person that has been officially inducted into a mafia family. A capo is a sort of like a lieutenant under the family boss. A family is a specific gang within the mafia, not everyone in a family has to be related but it is much easy to be inducted into a family if it is by blood. The term wiseguy is used to describe anybody that is involved with the mafia.
At the head of a family is the boss. The boss is in charge of major decisions, settling disputes, and keeping everyone in line. Much of the money made by the family finds its way into his pocket. Next in line under the boss is the underboss. The underboss’s power varies between families. The underboss is second in command in the family. Then the capos. Capos are similar to lieutenants in an army. They are in charge of their specific area. sometimes it is a specific type of crime that they are in charge of, or they could be in charge a certain area of their family’s “turf.” Next are soldiers. They are part of the family, but have little power. They carry out the more risky workings of the mafia. Last are the associates. They are not a part of the family but they they work with them to commit their crimes.
Oct
20
The Triads
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The Triads originated in China but are now based in Hong Kong. They have members in nearly every country in the world. Their Strongest presence is in Southeast Asia, China, and the United States It is estimated that there are fifty triad groups with over 80,000 combined members in Hong Kong. The crimes that they are known to commit are crontroling bus routes and secret markets, money laundering, drug trafficking gambling, extortion, prostitution, counterfeiting, and smuggling goods and people. All members of the Triads are considered criminals because membership alone was outlawed in Hong Kong. However, only about ten percent of members are a part of criminal activities other wise.
The Triads are not like the Italian Mafia. The Triads are easier to join and move up in the ranks. The Italian Mafia is much harder to climb the ranks because of the strong family ties that are usually required. Joining the Triads could also become a great asset to a crimminal. Triads can supply a new member with the neccesary tools to accomplish their illegal goal. It also raises the criminal’s status. People react differently from being robbed by some common person rather than being robbed by a triad member who has a very big crime group there to back him up.
The triads have a big brother to little brother relationship amongst the members that is not so different from the Yakuza’s father to son relationship. The big brother offers work, protection, and advice for the younger brother and the younger brother gives loyalty, support and money the the big brother.
Oct
13
Recently, I read a blog by Team Abbondanza about a man named Roberto Saviano who found himself in the center of the Italian Mafia’s attention as a result of saying too much about them to the world. Roberto Saviano wrote a very influential book called the Gomorra. It basically explained the Camorra’s control on the city of Naples. The book drops names of mafia members, explains the mafia’s structure, and describes it’s grip on the city. The Book gained much popularity and with that, much negative attention towards Roberto Saviano.
Roberto’s life changed drastically as a result of the publishing of his book. He was given a body guard to do whatever he could to keep Roberto safe for the constant mafia threat all around them. People are afraid to have any business at all with Roberto due to fear of the mafia. He is even turned away from buying food in some stores!
On September 23 Roberto Saviano showed his bravery even further by addressing a crowd in Naples. He told them that the crime bosses are worth nothing, and can only thrive in the fear of the people. He even named some of the bosses in broad daylight!
Roberto Saviano has to live under the constant fear of attempts at his life due to his stand against the Camorra. He has taken up boxing to relieve stress and temporarily free himself from the fear. He says that the only time he feels truly like himself again is when he is in the ring. He also feels that he is no longer tense or irritable.
Oct
6
The Fuk Ching
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The Fuk Ching is seen as the most powerful Chinese organized crime group in the U.S. The Fuk Ching is active in New York City and operates mostly in Chinatown. It was started in the 1980s by a group of young men in there late teens and early 20’s. Hearing that an organized crime group was started by a group of such young people really surprised me. I could hardly believe that such a big group committed to crime, violence, and manipulation could really have been started by people about the same age as me. It was a big eye opener. Today the members that they seek are Fujianese teenagers. One of the things that separates Chinese organized crime groups from others is there affiliation with tongs. The American Heritage dictionary defines tongs as; An association or a secret society of Chinese in the United States, believed to be involved in organized crime.
The crimes that the Fuk Ching are known to commit are Smuggling, street violence, and human trafficking. One thing that separates the Fuk Ching from other organized crime groups is its close associations with tongs. Tongs are certain adult organizations that support the group in many ways. Such ways include giving the gang a place to hangout, legitimizing them with the public, and giving them money for guns and other things. An organization that is suspected of being a tong for the Fuk Ching is the Fukien American Association. The Fukien American Association however, denies all allegations of cooperation with the Fuk Ching.
Sep
29
The Yakuza
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The Yakuza is a Japanese criminal group. The Yakuzas roots can be traced back to an era in Japanese history known as the Tokugawa era. The Takugawa era was when a man named Ieyasu Tokugawa unified Japan after a cival war. This time of peace ended up leaving around 500,000 samari’s unemployed. To survive some managed to adapt to merchant lives, while others resorted to stealing from townsfolk. Legend has it that the Machi-yokku were townsfolk that stood up against the samurai. As the years went on the Machi-yokku went from folk heroes to what is today known as the organized crime group Yakuza. While another, simpler story tells that the yakuza’s origin as bully foreigners trying to impose their way of thinking upon the local people.
Membership in the Yakuza is very interesting. It is similar to the Italian Mafia in that it is a family. However, the Yakuza adopts its children rather that have them be through blood. The relationship between boss and member is very similar to father in son. The Yakuza believe that the father gives the son protection, wisdom, and help, while the son is gives complete loyalty and service to the father.
Some crimes that the Yakuza is responsible for are, Human trafficing, gambling, prostitution, and undermining licit businesses. Ever since World War II the Yakuza’s younger members has also increased its violence and gun use. Not only does the increase in violence and gun use worry the authorites that have to try to controll it but it also worrys the older generation of Yakuza members!
Sep
29
The Russian Mafia
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The Russian Mafia is very similar to the Italian Mafia in its crimes committed but not structure. Both preform many of the same illegal activities like: racketeering, fraud, tax evasion, gambling, drug trafficking, arson, robbery, and murder. The Italian Mafia’s structure revolves around a particular family, and their illegal activities are focused to make money, work continuously, and maintain the groups strength and vitality. The Russian Mafia on the other hand focuses on the specific crime they wish to commit and the structure is created around that. To put it simply, The Italian Mafia creates a working structure as to allow them to preform illegal acts and make a profit, and the Russian Mafia picks an illegal activity and creates a structure to meat the crimes specific objectives.
The Russian mafia gained much of its power during the 1990s by taking advantage of the fall of the Soviet Union and taking control of many companies, firms, and tourist attractions. Bribing of leaders also became much easier for the mafia to accomplish with the introduction of temporaries. During the time of the Soviet Union leaders were not as easily bribed because they were in a secure financial position usually for their lives. Leaders with only a short time in office are more likely to accept bribes in order to secure their financial futures.
The Red Mafia has only been around for ten years, yet it has already become one of the most prominent Russian organized crime families in the world. It has connections with many other Russian crime groups and also with the Italian Camorra.
Sep
22
The Italian Mafia
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There are many different types of organized crime groups all over the world. The La Cosa Nostra (also known as the Italian, or Italian American Mafia) was the most conspicuous from the 1920’s until the 1990’s. La Cosa Nostra translates to “Our Thing”. The group controlled numerous businesses, and services that dealt with with textiles, food, and entertainment.
According to the Federal Bureau of Investigation, The Italian Mafia made its appearance in the 1800s. The groups that are active in the United States today are: the Sicilian Mafia; the Calabrian Mafia; and the Sacra Corona (United Sacred Crown). The Federal Bureau of Investigation estimates that among the four groups there are 25,000 members total and 250,000 affiliates around the world. Affiliates are not quite members but still have connections with the mafia. Besides having so many people amongst the groups itself, the Italian Mafia has also been know to collaborate with other international organized crime groups in crimes like drug trafficking.
Surprisingly enough, the mafia started out by being a good thing. Sicilian peasants had banded together to protect their land from invading enemies into what they called the mafia. It wasn’t until the 1920s that it changed from a group into a crime organization. In the 1950s the Sicilian Mafia took advantage of a massive building boom by taking control of building contracts and ultimately making millions of dollars. The La Cosa Nostra found its home in the United States thanks to a man named Charles Luciano who was a member of the Sicilian Mafia. He made the La Cosa Nostra functions similarly to the Sicilian Mafia.
Sep
15
Organized Crime Basic Overview
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Organized crime can be defined in many ways. The FBI sees it as any group having some manner of a formalized structure and whose primary objective is to obtain money through illegal activies. Such groups maintain their position through the use of actual or threatened violence, corrupt public officials, graft, or extrortion, and generally have a significant impact on the people in their locales, region, or the country as a whole.
Some major transnational organized crime groups are: the Russian Mafia, the La Cosa Nostra (the Italian or Italian-American mafia), the Yakuza, the Fuk Ching, the Triads, the Hejin, the Jao Pho, and the Red wa. The groups are involved in a large array of crimes such as: extortion, loansharking, bribery, fraud, tax evasion, drug trafficking, human trafficking, arson, robbery, murder, bombings, torture, smuggling, and prostitution. Organized crime has even been linked to some acts of terrorism.
Organized crime is a major threat to not only the common people, but also to the economy. It is estimated that organized crime rakes in about one trillion dollars a year. Organized crime has been a plague on our society for years and continues to exist today. Crime syndicates were able to become a reality due to the fact that the justice system usually addresses the crime rather than the syndicate itself. It manages to stay alive through bribery of authority and using threats and fear to keep itself for the most part unchallenged. The innocent should not be forced to live amongst criminals that have a cheated the legal system. These criminals value money over human life.