I am shocked. SHOCKED. To think that organized crime activity has been taking place right here in Brooklyn, right under our collective noses.
BBC NEWS – US federal agents have charged 127 suspected mobsters in multiple investigations into New York’s organised crime families.
The arrests were made on Thursday morning throughout New York City, New Jersey, Rhode Island and other areas in the north-east US, FBI officials said.
The pre-dawn sweep involved over 800 federal agents and charged alleged mobsters including 34 made members of the city’s five crime families, according to the New York Times. Most of the detainees were taken to the army base at Fort Hamilton.
NEW YORK TIMES – A dozen of the indictments, naming more than 80 defendants, were handed up in Brooklyn. Among those charged, according to the indictment, were the Colombo street boss Andrew Russo, the acting underboss Benjamin Castellazzo and the consigliere Richard Fusco; and two high-ranking members of the Gambino family hierarchy: the consigliere Joseph Corozzo and the ruling panel member Bartolomeo Vernace.
They were named in a racketeering indictment that also charged four reputed captains and eight soldiers. The alleged crimes spanned two decades and include the 1993 murder of underboss Joseph Scopo; the family’s control of Local 6A of the Cement and Concrete Workers Union; and defrauding the city in connection with an annual feast, La Festa di Santa Rosalia, along 18th Avenue in Bensonhurst.
Hey, I understand the whole construction industry thing, but screwing around with The 18th Avenue Feast? That’s just fucked up. Shocked. SHOCKED, I tell you. (The deets are on page 35 of the Russo indictment.)
The good news: “By taking out the leadership of the Colombos and charging large numbers of reputed crime figures from the other families, the F.B.I. and federal prosecutors hoped the case would have a significant impact,” continues the NY Times.
Awesome! Because when the Sicilian mafia is gone, it will mark the end of organized crime in South Brooklyn.
