In 1931, representatives of gangs from all over the United States came to New York, and they came here not to fight for territory, not to fight for fire, but to develop healthier.
At this meeting, the American Mafia took on its official name, Cosa Nostra (Chinese meaning: Our Cause)
The five families of the American Mafia were officially confirmed at this meeting.
At the Chicago conference afterwards. Established a Code of Conduct for the United States Mafia. It is forbidden to hurt journalists, whistleblowers, politicians, etc., to make money in a low profile, and to avoid public view as much as possible. (Chicago Conference)
Five families, more than 20 Italian Sicilian gangsters and Jewish gangsters from all over the country became a family, they are the American mafia - Xosa Nostra
In 1883, a major event occurred in Sicily: the Favara Brotherhood was broken, the first recorded mafia group organization. Of the 107 convicted members, 72 were coal miners.
In the 19th century, the Mediterranean Italian island of Sicily was privatized and gave birth to landowners large and small, who were engaged in farming or mining, and unfortunately, there were only 350 police officers on this island, especially the high-profit mining industry, and it would be difficult to survive without violent protection. At this time the Mafia was born as a protective organization.
Under the compulsion of the situation, entrepreneurs have to accept the protection of this kind of half-robber and half-bodyguard, and in the long run, this dangerous alliance is detrimental to the interests of society as a whole.
In the spring of 1869, the New Orleans Times published appalling news that the local Second District had been occupied by "notorious Sicilian murderers, counterfeiters, and thieves who had formed a general partnership or joint-stock company the previous month to harass and plunder the city."
In the second half of the 19th century, cholera struck southern Italy again, and Italian immigrants from Naples and Sicily began to pour into the United States, including many mafia. It is unclear whether they really pose a threat to the safety of the city, as the newspapers say. But what happened next was indeed getting crazier
On October 15, 1890, New Orleans Police Chief David Hennessy was killed, and hundreds of Sicilians were arrested while it was unclear whether it was Italian immigrants, and 19 were eventually prosecuted on suspicion of involvement. In the end, the 19 people were acquitted.
Rumor has it that witnesses in the case received threats from Italian gangsters, so the 19 were able to escape the law. So in 1891, the angry people of New Orleans captured 11 of them and put them to death
Equally angry Italians organized a more powerful Italian gangster organization, also in color.
Paul Kelly founded the Five Point Gang in New York City. The gang is powerful in the Little Italy neighborhood on New York City's Lower East Side. In this gang, the most famous crime leaders of the 20th century were born, such as Johnny Torrio, Al Capone, Lucky Luciano and Frankie Yale.
In addition, there are numerous active mafia organizations in East Harlem and Brooklyn. And in Chicago, the Italian community in the 19th Arrondissement is known as the "Bloody Nineteenth" because of the violence that often rife between mafia groups.
On January 16, 1919, the United States listened to the Puritans' claims and issued a stupid "Prohibition Order", and for a time, the simple production of alcohol became a profiteering industry.
Across the country, alcohol smuggling is rampant, and politicians and police are complicit. The mafia saw the huge profits and of course decided to get a piece of the pie. And it's not a small cup, but a very large cup larger than Starbucks.
As a result, the mafia family made a fortune and grew further.
Italian leader Mussolini came to assist in the clean-up of the Italian mafia, which led to the influx of many Italian people and mafia into the United States and joined the local gang organization. Since then, the mafia has wanted money and money, and it wants people.
The new mafia, the old mafia, the Irish, the Jews, fought for the turf, and the American gangsters entered the Warring States period.
After about 10 years of melee fighting between the gangs, Maranzano won the "war".
He called himself "the boss of the bosses", commonly known as: the godfather
The first godfather, Maranzano, became the first leader of the American Mafia "after the war" and formulated the organization's code of conduct, providing a way to resolve disputes between different mafia organizations. In addition, he established the mafia's "family" framework, dividing the Mafia organization in New York City into five families, the Buano family, the Colobo family, the Gambino family, the Janovese family, and the Luchez family, which is known as the "Big Five" in New York.
Unfortunately, Maranzano was killed by the "lucky" Charlie Luciano within 6 months of the godfather. Luciano was originally a subordinate of Masseria, but he turned to support Maranzano during the "war" and planned the murder of Masseria.
After that, the scene at the beginning of the video happens.
In 1931, Luciano convened a mafia congress in New York and formed a national committee to replace the old Sicilian mafia.
The 1933 and Chicago conferences and this New York conference in 1931 were of great significance to the Mafia.
The American Mafia officially broke away from the control of the Sicilian Mafia, declared independence, and was officially named.
More than 20 Italian Sicilian gangsters and Jewish gangsters from all over the country, including the five major families and Chicago institutions, joined the American mafia. Enriched the composition and personnel of the mafia.
The six advisory committee members established by the National Committee (Disciplinary Committee) jointly decide on the organization and decision-making work of the United States Mafia, but do not interfere in the internal affairs of various families and gangs.
The Mafia has also established a prosecutorial body, which accepts only the commission's instructions and is specifically responsible for eliminating those who do not comply with the orders of the National Committee and harm the interests of the United States mafia as a whole.
The ban on harming journalists, whistleblowers, politicians, etc., low-key money, and trying to avoid public sight at the meeting laid the foundation for the mafia's style of doing things.
After Prohibition ended, the mafia also began to change the way they made money.
The first thing they targeted was the gambling industry.
In 1931, the Nevada state government passed a bill to legalize gambling in order to survive the economic crisis, but although the living conditions in Las Vegas had greatly improved because of the Hoover Dam, it was still a remote town in Nevada, until the 1940s, there were only two hotels, less than 100 rooms, and nothing but sand. The potential for development is enormous.
In 1942, the president of the National Committee of the United States Mafia assigned Siegel to Visit Las Vegas, and he was very optimistic about the commercial potential here, and he borrowed $2 million when he went back, and later borrowed $6 million, which is equivalent to about 1 billion dollars now, and his creditors are all big men in the hand party, and it is still possible to be shot by the Supervision Committee if he owes money.
Fortunately, as soon as the hotel and casino were successfully built, he used his contacts in Hollywood to invite almost all the Hollywood stars at the time, gave Las Vegas a wave of luxurious advertising, and successfully began to make profits in 1947.
In addition to casino profits, the mafia's main source of income in Las Vegas comes from tax evasion and money laundering.
At that time, the proceeds of crime will be washed in las Vegas casinos, dirty money becomes clean money, this is an astronomical number, the IRS can not investigate at all, the FBI is also difficult to track, tax evasion needless to say, tax evasion, the mafia in Las Vegas on the income of millions, this is a huge criminal empire throughout the United States.
The second is the trade union
The Truckers' Union and the International Dockers' Union are the unions most infiltrated by the Mafia.
In addition, the top leaders of other trade unions are also appointed by the mafia. A famous controversial figure in American history, Jimmy Hoffa, the president of the American trade union, is also inextricably linked to the mafia
The Mafia family used its control over unions to engage in lucrative legal industries such as construction manufacturing, garbage disposal, freight transportation, and clothing.
In addition, union health and pension funds have entered the mafia's coffers
Extortion of relevant businesses by encouraging workers to strike and illegally manipulating bids.
The mafia's control was so deep that construction projects in New York could barely begin without the approval of the five families.
It can also be said that the trade unions have changed from protecting the rights and interests of workers to organizations that endanger the development of enterprises, which are operated by the mafia.
The third is drug smuggling
The mafia runs a number of restaurants in New York City that are not only venues for murder and important meetings, but also hubs for smuggling drugs and other illegal items. Between 1985 and 1987, the American Mafia imported about $1.65 billion worth of heroin through its pizzeria and hid it in a variety of food products for sale.
After tasting the sweetness of drugs, the American mafia was out of control. In search of a larger supply, they teamed up with Colombian gangsters, but also laid the foundation for extinction.
After that, the United States struck another heavy blow to sweep away the black, four of the five major mafia families were completely wiped out, and the only remaining Gambino family also existed in name only.
The mafia's political infiltration is even more pervasive.
In 1943, during World War II, the Mafia provided great help to the landing of General Patton of the United States and Marshal Montgomery of The United Kingdom in Sicily.
Subsequently, the US military also successfully controlled Sicily with the help of the mafia.
In order to control Italy, the US military has fostered a large number of mafia leaders. With the recommendation and support of the U.S. military, they served as mayors and mayors of many towns in the Palermo region, and some served as governors.
Even in the 1950s and the late 1970s, 50 to 75 percent of the members of the Sicily parliament, the Largest Party of Italy, the People's Democratic Party, were related to the Mafia, and 40 percent of the members of the Italian Parliament were related to the Mafia.
By the 1980s, the Mafia had blatantly assassinated political opponents, seriously threatening the Italian government.
After the Italian government introduced the anti-gang crime law, a large number of mafia leaders fell into the net, and the Italian mafia was hit hard, and they fled to the United States. But to this day, the Italian mafia is still active in all walks of life and has not been fundamentally solved
In the United States, the mafia not only bribed officials, but also dared to meddle in American politics. After luciano, the first godfather, was sent to prison by prosecutor Dewey, he threatened dewey when he heard that he was running for president,——if you can step on my back and become president, I am not a human being." Eventually, Dewey had to agree to parole Luciano.
The assassination of Kennedy and Nixon's "Watergate" have the shadow of the mafia in it.
It wasn't until 1951 that the Kifford Committee of the U.S. Senate decided that an "evil criminal organization" known as the Mafia operated within the United States.
In 1963, Joseph Valachi became the mafia's first tainted witness, providing authorities with detailed information about the mafia's inner workings. The move allowed the FBI to launch a powerful crackdown on the mafia's national criminal group. After Wallachy provided evidence to the authorities, the mafia could not continue to operate in the dark, and the FBI invested more energy and resources in the fight against the mafia, and built an organized anti-crime team in several cities.
In the early 1980s, the FBI cracked down mafia activities in Las Vegas, freeing local casinos from mafia control.
In 1970, the U.S. Congress passed the Anti-Criminal Organization Erosion of Lawful Organizations Act (RICO), which provides for discipline for joining a criminal organization. Through the RICO Law, the authorities can prosecute entire criminal gangs instead of a single nobody, making it difficult for mafia leaders to escape justice, and the situation in which the younger brother can be exonerated has changed dramatically.
By 1990, more than a thousand members of mafia families had been convicted.
In 1992, informant Sami Gambino, in exchange for exemption from prosecution, provided police with evidence of crimes committed by Mafia family leader John Gauty and adviser Frank Locasio in exchange for exemption from prosecution, while both criminals were sentenced to life in prison. The case reduced the loyalty of many mafia members to the organization, and the authorities gained great convenience in the fight against the mafia.
The FBI also provided information on the inclusion of mafia members in the federal witness protection program, many mafia members surrendered themselves, and with the help of these tainted witnesses, a large number of mafia criminals were arrested and jailed.
Mafia organizations have long lacked fresh blood, and their activities are limited to the northeastern region of the United States and Chicago.
The surviving mafia can still make profits of up to $50 billion to $90 billion a year.
Today, the five mafia families in New York City still exist. But they will no longer reach the state of the mid-20th century, when the wheels of history roll forward and the mafia was born and developed because of the unfair, unstable social soil, and now it will shrink because of the changes in the soil. The rise of every legendary dynasty eventually and inevitably experiences decay.