Highlights
-“Operation Old Bridge” deals a significant blow to Gambino family crime syndicate
-American Mafia controls multiple firms in US food and construction industry
-Rekindling of international linkages and establishment of new management will determine Mafia resiliency in the long-term
According to a report by the Italian anti-Mafia commission, the Sicilian Mafia, also known as Cosa Nostra, is reestablishing links with its American offshoot on the United States east coast. Much of the new evidence in the report was uncovered after US and Italian authorities coordinated one of the largest anti-Mafia raids in the Sicilian capital of Palermo and New York in early February 2008. Most notably, authorities uncovered several connections between the Sicilian Mafia and the New York-based Gambino family crime syndicate.
The investigation underscores the uphill battle against the American Mafia, as it remains deeply entrenched in several US industries. For example, the investigation exposed the Gambino organized crime family’s extortion stranglehold on many facets of the construction and trucking industry in the country. According to evidence, the group reaped benefits from several private and public construction projects including excavating projects throughout New York City, housing construction projects on Staten Island and in New Jersey, as well as a proposed Nascar racetrack.
The raids will likely have a significant disruptive effect on the American Mafia in the near-term. However, the ensuing impact on operational capabilities in the US will remain unclear in the long-term as management will likely undergo a series of promotional reshuffling, allowing a younger generation to emerge. The discovery of new international linkages, coupled with multiple new extortion practices in varying industries, underlines the group’s resilient ability to adapt and endure in the long-term.
“Operation Old Bridge”
On February 8, 2008, in New York City, federal agents and investigators rounded up 62 suspects as part of a federal indictment that included charges of conspiracy to distribute cocaine and marijuana, racketeering, murder, extortion, gambling, and embezzlement of union dues and pension benefits that spanned three decades. In Palermo, Sicily, authorities detained 20 sub-boss suspects while issuing arrest warrants for another three who were already serving prison sentences. The American side of the operation targeted several high-ranking members of the Gambino family that were not already in prison including alleged acting boss John D’Amico, underboss Domenico Cefalu and the family’s advisor Joseph Corozzo. Additionally, Francesco Paolo Augusto Cali, the US “ambassador” to the Sicilian Mafia was also detained. The raids also targeted several construction and union workers, as well as low ranking members of the Bonanno and Genovese families.
Two operations in August and November 2007 allowed authorities to compile new evidence and establish connections across the Atlantic. During the operations, authorities arrested local bosses, businessmen, extortionists and the suspected leader of the Sicilian Mafia, Salvatore Lo Piccolo. Investigators had compiled evidence against Lo Piccolo that revealed new efforts to reestablish ties with US-Italian clans in the drug trafficking industry, including the Gambino and Inzerillo crime families. Much of the US-Italian relations were once temporarily severed after Sicily’s internal Mafia war in the 1980s.
Diversifying Industries
The anti-Mafia commission claims that the American Mafia controls several firms in the US food distribution and construction industries. Additionally, in the trucking industry, a company top executive, Joseph Vollaro, provided several hours of surveillance records to authorities that detailed the Gambino family’s extortion practices. Vollaro had previously served a prison sentence with Corozzo, the Gambino family “consigliere”, and allegedly paid more than US$200,000 to Gambino family figures.
Authorities also claim the Mafia, while maintaining traditional practices of extortion and racketeering, is capitalizing on the recent Internet gambling boom. Among the suspects detained in “Operation Old Bridge,” 26 were charged with running an illegal gambling ring. The suspects are believed to have taken up to US$10 million in illegal sport betting by using four unidentified websites based in Costa Rica.
Outlook
The anti-Mafia operations over the past year represent a significant blow to the current management structure of the Sicilian and American Mafia organizations. However, global Mafia links represent a multi-trillion dollar operation that will continue to force itself into American and Italian cultures. For the Gambino family, operations will slow down in the near-term. Authorities will now face a new challenge of maintaining “forward intelligence” as a structured chain of command will likely begin to emerge, making it difficult to detect new lines of operations.
