The fall of Salvatore Maranzano, and the rise of the new Mafia
The autocratic reign of self-proclaimed boss of all bosses Salvatore Maranzano came to a bloody end 92 years ago this month. A progressive faction of underworld gangsters were setting the stage for a violent preemptive strike against the last of two warring criminal overlords. The young turks had already successfully deposed Giuseppe Masseria in April. It was an inside job carried out by members of his inner circle. Maranzano also had to be dealt with, but the plot took time and careful planning. Maranzano suspected his new minions might contemplate a coup against him, and thus laid down secret plans of his ...
Learn More
Ten years ago this month, Whitey Bulger was found guilty on 31 counts, including 11 murders
Whitey Bulger is depicted at the defense table during his 2013 trial in this courtroom sketch by Jane Flavell Collins. The Mob Museum Collection
Learn More
Joseph Valachi’s autobiography reveals Mafia’s inner workings
New York mobster Joseph Valachi sits at the witness table, bottom right, facing members of a U.S. Senate investigation subcommittee in Washington, D.C., on October 8, 1963. In the background are four charts of New York crime families with names and pictures of mobsters identified by Valachi. AP Photo
Learn More
DEA marks 50th anniversary of fighting drug traffickers at home and abroad
On June 17, 1971, President Richard Nixon explained a special message sent to Congress asking for an extra $155 million for a new program to combat drug abuse. He labeled drug abuse “a national emergency” and said the money would be used to “tighten the noose around the necks of drug peddlers and thereby loosen the noose around the necks of drug users.” Nixon’s efforts eventually led to creation of the Drug Enforcement Administration in 1973. At left is Egil Krogh, deputy director of the Domestic Council. At right is Dr. Jerome Jaffe, recruited by Nixon to lead a new drug strategy. AP Photo/Harvey Georges
Learn More
Tentacles of organized crime once had firm grip on Japanese politics
The yakuza, Japan’s premier organized crime group, is becoming more visible in modern pop culture. From HBO’s Tokyo Vice to…
Learn More
Mob movie classic ‘The Friends Of Eddie Coyle’ turns 50
The Boston-based movie The Friends of Eddie Coyle was released 50 years ago, in June 1973, introducing viewers to a…
Learn More
The Kansas City Massacre prompted legal reforms that bolstered federal law enforcement
On June 17, 1933, an ambush at Kansas City’s Union Station railroad depot left five men dead and two wounded….
Learn More
The airport shootout and El Chapo’s big arrest
Joaquin Guzman Loera, aka “El Chapo,” is presented to the news media at Altiplano prison in Villa de Almoloya de Juarez on June 10, 1993. Courtesy of Cipollini Collection
Learn More