Organized Crime Essay

Submitted By bigrayrasa
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Pages: 7
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#1
According to “Organized Crime” by Howard Abadinsky, the Castellammarese War was the bloodiest and most famous mob war in the history of American organized crime. The war is also responsible for New York being divided among five crime families. It was a power struggle for control of the Italian-American mafia between two factions. The two major factions in New York were Giuseppe (“Joe the Boss”) Masseria operating out of Little Italy of East Harlem, and the by Salvatore Maranzano whose business office was in midtown Manhattan. Prohibition was the cause that enabled the Mafia. The struggle for domination of Italian-organized crime in New York became known as the Castelammarese War because Maranzano and many of his supporters came from the small Sicilian coastal town of Castellammare del Golfo. The Masseria group had Sicilian and non-Sicilian members, including Lucky Luciano and Gaetano Luchese.

The war turned against Masseria as Maranzano forces were reinforced by a continuing supply of Sicilian exiles. Luciano and five of Masseria’s men went over to the other side. After this Masseria and Luciano met for lunch and this was Masseria’a final meal. Masseria was shot and killed in the restaurant. The Castellammarese War was over. After this, four men who believed to be sent by Lansky and Siegal killed Salvatore Maranzano in his own private office. This was believed to be retaliation for Luciano’s murder.
#3
There are many reasons why West Africa and Jamaica are attractive for the development of organized crime. Nigerian criminal entrepreneurs are the most significant of African groups and operate in more than eighty countries! They are among the most aggressive and expansionist international criminal groups. They are mainly engaged in drug trafficking and financial feuds. Africa is known for drug trafficking heroin from Southeast and Southwest Asia into Europe and the United States and cocaine from South America and into Europe and South Africa. Nigerians have given access to about 90 percent of the worlds heroin production (Abadinsky, 1981)! The major factor that makes West Africa attractive for the development of organized crime is its location. The country has an Atlantic coastline and a major port in its commercial center, called the city of Lagos (Abujain).
Jamaica is less than 550 miles from Miami and roughly the same distance to Colombia, making it an ideal transshipment point for drugs from South American to the United States (Abadinsky, 1981). With 638 miles of coastline and a good number of unmonitored airstrips, Jamaica is a major transit point for cocaine entering the United States. It is also the largest producer and exporter of marijuana in the Caribbean. Jamaican posses differ from other trafficking groups in that their members are importers, wholesalers, and distributers. This results in a higher profit margin by being close to the source. Jamaican criminals bring with them several advantages including the ability to speak English, a reputation for being fearless, and extensive experience with violence. Both West Africa and Jamaica are in great locations for drug trafficking which is the number one reason why organized crime is “attractive” and profitable.
#4
Most organized crime members are paid in cash and have a problem with buying luxury things like cars, boats, jewelry, and homes that cannot easily be accomplished using cash, particularly if income taxes have not been paid. Rich successful criminals have found ways to “launder” their illegally secured “dirty” money so that it can be used safely. Money laundering is to knowingly engage in a financial transaction with the proceeds of some unlawful activity with the intent of promoting or carrying on that unlawful activity or to conceal or disguise the nature, location, source, ownership, or control of these proceeds (Abadinsky, 1981). According to the Treasury Department, money laundering is “the process by which criminal organizations seeks
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