Organized crime in America is found in all avenues of the economy. It is a thriving multi-billion dollar "industry" that has survived in its present form since the 1920s. Today, as it continues to grow, reaching into both illegal and legal business transactions, law enforcement is forced to concede that political corruption is a main reason for its success. The purpose of this paper will be to discuss how organized crime and political corruption interrelate, how it works in particular segments of the economy, and what the government is doing to stem the tide.
The "Mafia" has dominated organized crime in America for over 60 years. Ruled by immigrant Sicilian Italians and grounded in the tradition of family and loyalty, the Mafia is a loose association of criminal groups called families. In actual, a large number of the members are related by blood, marriage or through the godfather/godson relationship. Its gross income is somewhere in the vicinity of $150 billion annually, almost all of which is clear untaxed profit (Harris, 1984, p. 9).
The business/criminal activities of the Mafia range from drugs to gambling, which are its largest sources of illegal profits, to loan-sharking, labor racketeering, pornography and prostitution (Harris, 1984, p. 9). Much of their success has entailed corrupting police departments, prosecutors' offices, local, state and federal officials, as well as the ability to influence Congress and perhaps even the Presidency.
The FBI estimates it includes about 2,000 members with many thousands of other criminals hired to work with and/or for them. Time magazine in 1977 called it the "best organized criminal group in the United States and the only one with a national structure" (Harris, 1984, p. 10). Each family is centered in a major city in which it controls or influences all major criminal activity. New York City is the most important Mafia base, so much so that it can accommodate five famil...