Did the Terrorism of 9/11 Result in a Free Ride for Organized Crime in America?

There is a feeling that permeates the law enforcement community that organized crime gangs are getting a free ride in post-9/11 America. While most of the focus of federal law enforcement is on counterterrorism, counterintelligence and cyber crime, federal police agencies must still contend with more traditional anticrime operations including emerging organized crime gangs.

Criminal enterprises represent a near and long-term threat to our nation. The criminal activities of these enterprises are increasing in scope and magnitude as they network with each other to expand operations worldwide. The geopolitical and technological changes of the last decade have allowed these enterprises to flourish globally, and their impact on the United States is expected to increase over the next five years.

Organized crime groups from Russia and other former members of the Soviet Union are engaged in racketeering activity, and are deeply involved in large scale white collar crime. They are skilled in the use of monetary systems to funnel and conceal the proceeds of their criminal activity, employing state-of-the-art encryption to safeguard their communication networks against traditional forms of detection. Asian criminal enterprises are composed of US-born citizens and immigrants. They are multi-crime organizations that, like other ethnically-based criminal enterprises, often victimize their own ethnic immigrant communities.

These communities are typically hesitant to report victimization to authorities. As the immigration of Russian, former Soviet Union, and Asian populations into the United States increases in the next five years, so too will related ethnic organized crime. La Cosa Nostra and Italian organized crime enterprises still pose a significant threat and will continue to influence the political and economic structure of the United States through engagement in racketeering-related activity.

Alien smuggling and human trafficking will continue to pose significant threats to the national security, as transnational criminal enterprises expand their activities in this area for economic profit. In addition, the ability to facilitate the entry of illegal aliens into the United States could potentially be used to increase the membership of these criminal enterprises.

An emerging crime problem is Balkan criminal enterprises, specifically Albanian transnational organizations or clans. They are rapidly expanding their criminal activities to include loan sharking, weapons trafficking, alien smuggling, stock market manipulation, human trafficking, and drug trafficking. Additionally, these clans are forming partnerships with La Cosa Nostra crime families, as well as challenging traditional organized crime enterprises for territory.

Major theft rings account for billions of dollars in losses suffered by our nation's businesses, with corresponding price increases passed on to the US consumer. Loss prevention and asset protection are top priorities for corporate America as increasingly sophisticated and highly organized criminal enterprises engage in cargo theft, high tech theft, vehicle theft, jewelry and gem theft, organized retail theft, art and cultural antiquity theft, and other major theft activity.

Drug trafficking remains a significant problem. The impact of illegal drug abuse is estimated to be over $160 billion in US economic losses each year, including costs associated with health care, violent crime, and lost productivity. Colombian criminal enterprises are the largest source of cocaine in the world, and are also major heroin suppliers to the US market. Mexican criminal enterprises manufacture and supply much of the methamphetamine available in the United States, and transport the majority of cocaine and heroin into our nation.

The ability of Mexican enterprises to corrupt public officials in Mexico and the United States has enhanced their capability to transport and distribute these illicit drugs. Caribbean-based criminal enterprises specialize in the transportation and smuggling of drugs into Puerto Rico and the US mainland. Over the next five years, South American and Mexican drug trafficking organizations will continue to maintain their dominance, and Caribbean-based groups will provide alternate importation routes.

A rise in homicides from 1999 through 2002, and continued incidence of other violent crimes have been attributed to the resurgence of violent street gangs in major metropolitan areas, such as Chicago, Los Angeles, and New York, which average approximately 600 homicides per year. Over the next five years, the Federal Bureau of Investigation must continue to focus the resources of Safe Streets Task Forces to combat those violent street gangs having major impact in our communities.

Thanks to Jim Kouri

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Feds Charge Gambino Gangsters with Extorting Condo Tenants

Gambino gangsters controlled a condo board in Queens and extorted tens of thousands of dollars in bogus and inflated fees from owners when they tried to move, the feds say.

Testifying at the trial of reputed hit man Charles Carneglia, former residents of the Greentree Condominiums in Ozone Park said they were slammed with steep last-minute charges for "failure to comply with condo bylaws."

Federal prosecutors allege Carneglia conspired with several mob associates on the board - including local Realtor Joseph Panzarella Sr. and former president Robert Porto - to gouge the residents.

The Greentree development features attached and unattached townhouses which range in price from about $250,000 to more than $400,000.

Right before he was due to close on the sale of his two-bedroom duplex in 2001, UPS driver Joseph Mauro said he was blind-sided with a $47,517.47 bill from the board for fees and fines he supposedly owed.

The fines included $6,000 for "animal excrement thrown from the balcony daily" from 1996 to 2001, nearly $9,000 in water and sewer assessment fees and $1,792 for "collection of" water and sewer assessment fees.

"Were you ever told that your tenants were throwing animal excrement off the balcony?" asked Assistant U.S. Attorney Evan Morris.

Mauro said there were never any prior complaints about his tenants' dog. He said the "violations" began in 1996, the year he was voted off the board after having replaced a maintenance company the government contends was operated by a reputed Gambino associate.

Brian Crowley, a carpenter foreman married to an NYPD officer, testified that not long after he bought Mauro's condo for $240,000, he ran into problems with Porto.

"I went to ask him questions about elections and tax-revenue papers that are supposed to be given to us as owners... He had mentioned that I should stop asking so many questions because I was involving more people in my questions," Crowley explained.

Even Gambino associate Kevin McMahon - a member of Carneglia's crew and once considered boss John Gotti's good luck charm - claims he, too, was scammed by Greentree officials.

The feds on Thursday played a taped 2000 conversation intercepted from McMahon's cell phone in which he bitterly complained about Panzarella hitting him with a $2,000 water bill when he was selling his apartment.

"He's gonna die, that pr--," McMahon said. "He's dying and I can't wait. I'm gonna go to the funeral and laugh. Go stick the water bill under his f-- neck."

McMahon, a turncoat witness, testified that he bought his Greentree condo from Gotti's son, John A. (Junior) Gotti.

Only Carneglia has been charged in the shakedown scheme, which the feds say operated from at least 1999 to 2004.

Panzarella Sr. is deceased; his son Joseph Panzarella Jr., also described as a Gambino associate, declined to comment, said his lawyer, Jessie James Burke.

Thanks to John Marzulli

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Video Clip Reveals the Real Story of the St. Valentine's Day Massacre

The American Mob began at the turn of the 20th Century as immigrants from Europe began pouring into cities along the East Coast, particularly New York City. Poor and isolated, these immigrant Jews, Irish and Italians banded together to develop their own version of the American Dream. A unique form of business called organized crime.

Through newspapers and film, the leaders of organized crime became household names, often lionized in the mold of true American heroes, the rugged frontier individualists of the past. These names included Al Capone, Lucky Luciano and Meyer Lansky.

This series, Hollywood vs. The Mob - Fact vs. Fiction, will reveal the truth behind the myth of the American Mob and its godfathers.

The following video clip will reveal The Real Story of the St. Valentine's Day Massacre.

The St. Valentine's Day Massacre (2/14/1929) was Al Capone's attempt to dispose of organized crime rival 'Bugs' Moran. Five of Bugsy men were killed, but the one man Capone wanted dead wasn't there.

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