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The top 5 organized crime video games

Inspired by The Godfather films, Mafia: The Old Country is the latest in the Mafia series by Hangar 13 and set in Sicily in the early 1900s. The game is scheduled for release later this year. 2K Games
February 3, 2025

In the 1980s, video arcades loaded with coin-operated gaming cabinets were a common shopping mall destination for people with quarters to burn. In 1986, alongside Pac Man, Donkey Kong and Galaga, appeared a new game: Empire City 1931. Like many games of the time, it had a simple concept: The player used a joystick to move a crosshair across the screen to find and take out gun-wielding mobsters in a version of New York City. These types of games did not garner much attention. It wasn’t until the early 2000s, when advances in technology allowed games to have a more ...

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New York Post front page story about John Gotti's conviction

Legendary New York tabloid’s heyday included focus on Mafia stories

Beginning in the 1970s, the New York Post’s coverage of the Mob typified tabloid journalism during organized crime’s heyday in…

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Pacino received more leading roles after his success as Michael Corleone in The Godfather. One of those roles, Tony Montana in Scarface, would rival The Godfather as his most famous performance. Universal Pictures / Photofest

‘Scarface’ achieves cult status with Al Pacino in starring role

When Scarface premiered in 1983, starring Al Pacino as a Cuban drug trafficker in South Florida, the movie was regarded…

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Harry Anslinger ran the Bureau of Narcotics from its inception in 1930 to 1962. His policies led to strict drug enforcement and harsh penalties. Once describing marijuana as having “its roots in hell,” he was a vocal advocate of criminalizing it, which succeeded in 1937. Library of Congress

Bureau of Narcotics Commissioner Harry Anslinger led America’s crusade against drugs

Harry Anslinger is best known as the first head of the Federal Bureau of Narcotics (FBN), the first in the…

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Before the filming of the now-iconic restaurant scene, Al Pacino and Francis Ford Coppola were on borrowed time with Paramount. The success of this scene convinced studio heads of Pacino’s capabilities.

Al Pacino’s new memoir ‘Sonny Boy’ charts his path to movie stardom

On the set of The Godfather, during the early days of filming, Al Pacino was worried about being fired. Francis…

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Tommaso Buscetta, center, was the first prominent Sicilian Mafia leader to become a government witness. His testimony contributed to the Pizza Connection trial in New York. Associated Press

Sicilian mafioso Tommaso Buscetta broke the sacred oath of omertà 40 years ago

In April 1988, mafioso-turned-informant Tommaso Buscetta testified before the U.S. Senate’s Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, which was investigating the state…

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International law enforcement agencies work together to fight cybercrime. This now-familiar notice appears whenever they successfully take down a cybercriminal group’s website. This notice is from the 2021 takedown of the ransomware group NetWalker, whose victims included the healthcare industry during the COVID-19 pandemic. Federal Bureau of Investigation

The world’s top 5 cybercrime schemes

Last year a ransomware gang took control of the networks of two major casino corporations in Las Vegas. Caesars Entertainment…

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Eric Dezenhall rates Harry Truman as a leader who “would not have been president without the Mob” for his involvement with the Kansas City political machine, which was heavily influenced by organized crime. In this photo taken in the late 1930s, Senator Truman, right, examines revolvers with then Vice-President John Nance Garner. Library of Congress

Author explores ties between mobsters and U.S. presidents

On a hot summer day in the early 1980s, Eric Dezenhall, then in his 20s and working in President Ronald…

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