Criminal Justice
Dozens Arrested in Large Government Anti-Mafia Sweep
Posted Feb 7, 2008, 12:41 pm CST
By Debra Cassens Weiss
Authorities began arresting scores of alleged mobsters today who are among more than 60 people named in state and federal indictments.
U.S. Attorney Benton Campbell in Brooklyn, N.Y., announced the indictments in a news conference this morning, the New York Times reports. An informer who recorded hours of conversations helped build the case against the defendants.
Those named include the entire hierarchy of the Gambino crime family and other figures from the Genovese and Bonanno families, the newspaper says. Also named were construction and trucking executives and union officials. The indictments included charges of murder, racketeering and extortion.
Italian police also made 20 arrests in an effort to cut ties between New York and Italian crime families, Bloomberg reports.
“This investigation was extraordinary in that it penetrated the inner workings of the Gambino family and simultaneously reached back in time to hold several members of the Gambino family accountable for their prior crimes,” Campbell said.