One-Million Strong: The Changing Face Of Organized Crime
As powerful as the mob was historically (and it was pretty damn powerful), today it is only a fraction of what it once was. Operation Dirty Thirds, May 2018. ( Photo by Keith Durflinger for SCNG) The Italian-American Mafia 's ability to organize, infiltrate and control labor unions, run entire industries as monopolies, not to mention protect itself from law enforcement and politicians (think of major mob fixers like Chicago's Curly Humphreys and New York's Frank Costello ), will likely never be outmatched. The mob was such a force in major cities across the country -- New York, Boston, Philadelphia, Chicago, Cleveland, Kansas City, etc. -- it made corruption a fact of daily life to the extent that those in fields such as law enforcement and journalism had to keep a steady eye on it to simply do their jobs. Today, the scrutiny the mob faces is so piddling, a resurgence is almost guaranteed. In any event, in terms of sheer size, meaning numbers of "bodies...
