The Gambino Crime Family

Paper Summary:

This paper explains that, at the time of John Gotti's arrest in 1992, the Gambino family was the richest and most powerful organized crime family in the United States, operating in diverse criminal activities that included cargo hijacking, labor racketeering, extortion, drug trafficking, loan-sharking, bookmaking, pornography distribution, counterfeiting and murder. The author points out that, until his death in 1976, Carlo Gambino was the head of the family, consisting of twenty-three crews of up to four hundred members in each; he was succeeded by Paul Castellano, who remained as head, or "don", until he was assassinated by John Gotti's men and Gotti became the new head of the Gambino crime family. The paper relates that most of the men, who later formed the network of crime families known as the Mafia, came from Palermo, in Sicily, an area, which was an area of unrestrained corruption in the government and the city torn by family feuds that reached across generations.

Table of Contents
Introduction
The Beginnings
Structure, Organization and Code of Conduct
Gambino's Rise
Capo di Tutti Capi
After Don Carlo

From the Paper:

"By the mid-1960s, Gambino was devoting more attention to the illicit moneymaking opportunities offered by the John F. Kennedy International Airport, which had begun to replace the waterfront as the entryway for foreign imports into the United States. By 1966, $30 billion dollars in goods was passing through JFK airport. He first took control of the unions that handled the unloading of cargo from the planes. Through kickbacks to shop stewards and foremen, the MThe paper relates that most of the men, who later formed the network of crime families known as the Mafia, came from Palermo, in Sicily, an area, which was an area of unrestrained corruption in the government and the city torn by family feuds that reached across generations. was allowed free rein in lifting cargo. Securities entered the country in pouches on the flights, and fencing stolen securities soon became a rich source of profit. Gambino's heroin smuggling operation has been estimated by Federal investigators to be second only to gambling as Gambino's most profitable business."

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