ORGANIZED CRIME TODAY
The New Cast of Characters
02/20/07
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The arrest of Mafia suspects in the 1980s symbolized the FBI's assault on organized crime. Today, organized crime has a new, more global face |
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How
much do you know about organized crime, really?
Maybe you’re familiar with the enduring
saga of the Italian Mafia in America, with
all its strange and dangerous players yesterday
and today—Al Capone ruling the Windy
City in the 1920s; “Lucky” Luciano
setting up the first U.S. crime syndicate
a decade later; Vincent “the Chin” Gigante,
aka the “Odd Father,” playing
the part of a lunatic to elude authorities
by walking the streets of New York in a bathrobe
and slippers.
But have you heard about the other geographically
based organized crime groups that are now
part and parcel of our nation’s criminal
landscape?
… Like the Asian syndicates—triads,
tongs, and street gangs—that have been
in the U.S. for a century and that now operate
in more than 50 major metropolitan areas;
… Like the Eurasian crime
groups that grew out of the Soviet prison
system, emigrated to the West in the 1970s,
proliferated after the fall of the U.S.S.R.,
and now cost our country millions of dollars
a year through sophisticated frauds and corruption;
… Like the African criminal
enterprises that have jumped on the globalization
bandwagon in recent decades, earning vast
profits through illegal drug trafficking
and online financial frauds while entrenching
themselves in nine major U.S. cities;
… And even like the Middle
Eastern organized criminals, quietly
active in the U.S. since the 1970s, engaged
in everything from auto theft and money
laundering to cigarette smuggling and identify
theft.
If you want to learn all about the new
face of organized crime, then take at our
revised and redesigned Organized
Crime website.
On the site you can:
- Read the long, storied history of the
Italian
Mafioso
and get details on the other major crime
groups; and
- Take our quiz on organized crime.
Along the way, you’ll learn how we’re
dismantling these syndicates using both our
longstanding investigative tools and our
newfound partnerships with our international
counterparts, including task forces and joint
initiatives on both sides of the ocean.
It’s all part of our work to protect
you, your families, and your businesses—to
keep the streets safer, the economy healthy,
and our democracy strong.
Resources: FBI
Organized Crime website
