Gambino Mafia Research Paper

Everyone has heard of the notorious Al Capone. Gang leader from Chicago who is responsible for many murders. What some may not know is that he was also a part of a much larger organization known as The Mafia. Defined by Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary as a “secret criminal society” the Mafia controls all organized crime in a particular area. They knew how to get what they wanted without getting caught and were not afraid of anything or anyone. Although the Mafia is still around today their prime years were from the 1920’s to the 1970’s. `Beginning in the late 19th century organized crime rose in popularity among American people. The Mafia and its following depended on family ties, secrecy, and loyalty as they participated in lawless

During these years there have been a lot of allegations that Joaquin Guzman Loera, considered until now as "the world’s most powerful drug trafficker," coordinates with American authorities in order to send Drugs into the U.S. "The DEA agents met with members of the cartel in Mexico to obtain information about their rivals and simultaneously built a network of informants who sign drug cooperation agreements, subject to results, to enable them to obtain future benefits, including cancellation of charges in the U.S.," reports El Universal (Kelley 2013).

“For me personally, it’s been a nightmare, because I don’t see any way out now. The men who got inside my house put their guns to my neighbors’ heads—that’s including one six-year-old girl.” This is Mexican investigative journalists Anabel Hernandez’s response when asked about her safety and a recent home invasion directed toward her courtesy of the drug cartels.(Alexandrov) This is what it is like to lead a career as a journalist reporting on drug cartels in many latin American countries. The cartels influence on local and federal government in Mexico gives them the freedom to threaten and actively pursue journalists as targets with no retributions for their actions. This is leaving journalists like Hernandez defenseless and in danger, in the last ten years alone more than 80 journalists have been killed and nothing is being done about it.(Alexandrov)

Originally the Italian Mafia emerged “in response to centuries of Arab and Norman domination in Sicily and southern Italy”; the absence of “landlords” allowed members to control the land and “the livelihood of local peasants” (Powell). After emerging from Arab and Norman rule, the Mafia began to extract payments from the peasants to receive economical and political protection from foreign overlords (Powell). In the late 19th century, “the Sicilian Mafia first immigrated to New Orleans” but they were “suppressed there with limited success”(Waskey). After this initial foray in New Orleans, the Italian Mafia migrated to “New York and Chicago” which allowed them to flourish (Waskey). The mob first arrived in New york in 1860’s and slowly began to gain power and resources through extortion(Powell).

Organised crime began in the 1800s along the U.S-Mexico border. Drug trafficking was initially acknowledged in U.S Mexican relations in the 1920s and 1930s. The Mexican Cartel provides of drug trafficking that contributes towards their increasing existences year by year. (Lupsha.A.P, 1981) recommends that In 1942 La Nocha, intended to traffic marijuana and morphine, but, was indicated by the U.S moreover, heroin was initially seized by the U.S drug enforcement authorities in 1945. Regardless, drug trafficking continued to increase throughout the 1960s. The U.S Justice Department’s National Drugs Threat Assessment 2009 suggested that Mexican drug trafficking organisation were distinguished as the ‘greatest drug trafficking threat to the united

The drug cartel violence has gotten so bad, the U.S. are demanding for drug changes. Even though the drug cartel violence is mainly taking place in Mexico, the United States is still the largest place for the Mexican drug cartel. The drug debate has changed in the past 15 years to include the legalization of marijuana. The conversation about drugs has also evolved to include the toll of innocent victims in Mexico and the amount of money earmarked for fighting the drug war. Although the demand for drugs varies, it still has not changed that much. One of the indicators was how many drugs are seized at U.S. ports of entry. (CNN 2016)

Furthermore, drug cartels have expanded their power by the infiltration of authorities. Corruption exists in the Mexican police force, army, and border patrol agents. According to Grayson, the cartels have even infiltrated U.S. Border patrol officers. Narcos are willing to pay American officials substantial rewards to minimize the risk of losing the merchandise. This has expanded into the formal NAFTA economy; which is beneficial to the cartels as there are nearly 5 million semi-trucks that cross the U.S.-Mexico border each year. Also, crimes have become so brazen that the media is afraid to report cartel violence. Fear of assassinations of journalists and bombings of printing plants has prompted El Manana chain, which publishes editions in border cities, to eliminate coverage of narco-crimes. For example, the abduction and execution of editor Miguel Angel Villagomez Valle in

The Sicilian Mafia was originally comprised of several disorganized groups within the isolated and rugged terrain of western feudal Sicily during the nineteenth century (Buonanno, Durante, Prarolo, & Vanin, 2012). This part of the island was the primary source of the exports of citrus fruits and sulfur reserves which were becoming increasingly more popular at the time (Buonanno, et al., 2012). Due to the nature of this terrain it was inaccessible to local law enforcement

Organized Crime is criminal activities that are planned and controlled by powerful groups and carried out on a large scale. Organized Crime groups have increased in dimension and activities in the past decade and have become global threats causing a serious obstacle in the international community. In the United States, such groups have continued to widen despite measures to curb them and they have established networks in the biggest cities. “Criminal groups have well developed international networks that help them to better exercise their activities in both legal and illegal markets by using extremely complicated strategies and varied modi operandi” (Jenkins & Gary 1987). Due

To demonstrate the complex web of persons, money, and illegal commerce, organized crime in China has collaborated with Mexican drug cartels in extortion, drug trafficking, human trafficking and money laundering (Ellis, 2012). This flow of illegal activity has filtered into the United States and Canada through their semi-porous borders (Ellis, 2012). It is estimated that between $18-$39 billion dollars is sent back to Mexico each year from illegal activities (Perkins, Placido, 2010). These funds are then laundered through various means, both within the United States and abroad.

The mafia is one of the most notorious and most misunderstood myths to most people in the western world, which have no real understanding of what the mafia truly is. This must, however, be considered excusable since the very existence of the mafia has been hard to prove, even for authorities. The example of Al Capone, a mobster from Chicago during the 1920-1930s, is textbook for showing how hard it really is to convict people belonging to the mafia. Al Capone was a ruthless mobster that was involved in mainly smuggling alcohol during the prohibition era, as well as involved in the violent gang rivalries of the time. For instance, the St. Valentines massacre of February 14th 1929 were accredited to the Capone mob, even though Al Capone himself

To all those unfortunate enough to be privy to the name of the Port Mafia, life could not be carried out with the same light-hearted negligence that the rest of the populous was fortunate enough to live in. The name alone was enough to make the blood of a weaker willed individual run cold, as it deeply rooted in the history of some of the most heinous occurrences in memory. As they were as feared as they were clandestine, it was only natural that the name of the Port Mafia had been twisted to that of grandiose tales. It was believed by the general public that the Port Mafia had been comprised of God-like individuals, with powers that could devastate all of humanity. An image had been solidified of the mafia and its members. They were humans

The Mafia originally started because of the huge radical change in Italy’s political agenda because of the Cold War. Sicilians banded together in groups to protect themselves and carry out their own justice because of their mistrust of the Italian government . The violence got to be so bad the term “mafioso’ was created, They never hesitated to use violence and murder in defense of their own interest. Only way for the order to be restored was a Italian compromise between the mafia and the government that set the pattern for the future.

First of all, there are different types of Italian mafias, depending upon which region that they are located in and the market that they are exploiting. “Italian organized crime is known all over the world, to the point that the term ‘Mafia’ is now understood across the globe as referring to the organized criminal underworld. Literature on the subject is abundant, ranging from history, sociology and criminology to fiction and plain entertainment. The distinctive character, looks, habits, idiosyncrasies and jargon of the Mafiosi have been described, analyzed, explained and imitated. Apparently, everybody is familiar with Italian organized crime”(Europol 4). The top three-mafia organizations operating in Italy are Cosa Nostra, La Camorra and the ‘Ndrangheta. Cosa Nostra is located on the island of Sicily as the Mafiosi’s main activity consists of their forced protection and they have strong ties to Sicily’s government. La Camorra is located in the region of Campania, but more specifically in the capital: Napoli. La Camorra’s main focus is controlling the food and coffee markets, black market, as well as some drug trafficking. “The Camorra clan, in turn, acquired from this relationship (1) considerable economic resources from the firms (2) the consequent systematic control of economic activity in the territorial area, the possibility of furnishing jobs and a marginal quota of the firm’s income, and hence widespread social consensus and even open legitimacy; (3) finally, through the politicians, they secured the necessary institutional cover, in particular with the police and with possible intervention in eventual judicial proceedings. This original relationship between the Camorra and illegal non-organized activities has not fundamentally changed over time, but has become stronger and deeper as a result of two factors. (1) The omertà of its victims who do not denounce extortion for fear of reprisal, but also not to bring

Illegal narcotic drugs represent a $60 billion market in the U.S., and this year alone the State and Federal governments will each spend roughly $20 billion in attempting to stifle this market. The amount of money involved in the drug trade, substantially inflated due to prohibition, makes both systemic corruption and violence inevitable. The illegal drug trade is a sophisticated international network, and while no nation’s involvement is limited to one economic function, one relationship is crystal clear: Mexico serves as a high-volume channel of drugs into the United States, and drug traffickers will go to great lengths to continue serving the American consumers as long as their demand exists. A 1997 article stated that