Organized Crime Lives On; FBI Rounds Up Mafia Associates in Largest Coordinated Takedown
| FBI New York January 20, 2011 |
In an early morning operation, FBI agents joined forces with fellow law enforcement partners to carry out an extensive sweep of organized crime arrests in New York City and surrounding East Coast towns. Suffolk County detectives assigned to the Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office; U.S. Secret Service; U.S. Department of Labor; U.S. Attorneys for the Eastern and Southern Districts of New York, the District of New Jersey, and the District of Rhode Island; NYPD; Italian National Police; Manhattan District Attorney’s Office; U.S. Marshals Service in the Eastern and Southern Districts of New York; Drug Enforcement Administration; the Waterfront Commission of New York Harbor; Monmouth County, N.J., Prosecutor’s Office; New York State Police; New Jersey State Police; New Jersey Department of Corrections; Rhode Island State Police; and Providence Police Department branched out for the largest, nationally coordinated, multi-agency operation that resulted in the arrests of more than 100 individuals wanted for federal organized crime-related charges.
The FBI’s mobile command post at Fort Hamilton Army Base early this morning
Photo Credit: FBI New York
Close to 800 FBI agents and professional staff employees, in addition to approximately 130 law enforcement personnel, were poised and ready hours before dawn, when they received team leader briefings and special instructions to carry out a successful operation. FBI teams in the command post and on scene waited for the all-clear from Special Agent in Charge (SAC) of the Criminal Division Diego Rodriguez; by 6:00 a.m., the arrests were in full swing.
SAC Rodriguez (left) and ADIC Janice K. Fedarcyk (right) in the midst of the morning’s arrests
Photo Credit: FBI New York
“In a world where organized crime is immortalized in television and pop culture, the law enforcement community must remain vigilant in seeking out those who continue to perpetrate this very real threat,” said SAC Rodriguez.
Two FBI mobile command posts, Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) units, Evidence Response Team (ERT) members, imaging specialists, and tactical operations teams all supported the mission to round up members of La Cosa Nostra facing charges including drug trafficking, arson, loan sharking, illegal gambling, witness tampering, labor racketeering, murder, and extortion. Those arrested were processed at Fort Hamilton Army Base in Brooklyn, N.Y., courtesy of the U.S. Army.
FBI personnel upload fingerprints at the processing center
Photo Credit: FBI New York
Assistant Special Agent in Charge Dave Shafer during a briefing early this morning
Photo Credit: FBI New York
The official planning stage began months ago when federal officials drafted the first blueprint in preparation for today’s arrests, but initial investigations have been in motion for years. This afternoon, Attorney General Eric H. Holder, Jr. traveled to New York, where he joined officials for a press conference held in the Eastern District.
Today’s arrests “demonstrate the true face of New York’s most notorious ‘families’; proof that organized crime as we know it still exists,” said Supervisory Special Agent George Khouzami.
FBI agents during this morning’s arrests
Photo Credit: FBI New York
Associates of organized crime families are infamous for their engagement in violent and white-collar crimes. New York’s five families—the Bonanno, Colombo, Gambino, Genovese, and Luchese crime organizations—are no strangers to the infiltration of local worker unions and the labor industry, where manipulation is used as a tool to earn money, power, and control.
ADIC Janice K. Fedarcyk speaking at today’s press conference
Photo Credit: FBI New York
“While today’s FBI continues to adapt to new and emerging threats, we will not falter in our efforts to sift through the more traditional areas of organized crime.
This type of criminal activity still lurks in the shadows; continuing to undermine the moral fabric of our society and greatly impacting our nations’ economic resources,” said Assistant Director in Charge Janice K. Fedarcyk.