【海外の反応】マフィアはなぜ消えた？ギャングとカルテルが生き残った理由がガチで納得できる件

The [Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Racketeer_Influenced_and_Corrupt_Organizations_Act) made it easy to prosecute the leaders of well-organized criminal enterprises. The more organized, the easier it is to go after their leadership for crimes committed by their subordinates. Mafia leadership was in US jurisdiction and quickly racked up the indictments; cartel leadership is outside the US.

I heard a radio interview with a former FBI agent some time ago where he said the traditional Italian Mafia in the US literally died out due to social change. When people were no longer growing up in Italian neighbourhoods and going to predominantly Italian schools, they weren't being constantly, exposed to the pressure to participate in gang activities.

The mafia went more into legal financial institutions. They basically owned the board of trade in Chicago and got their money into huge financial institutions. Street and biker gangs thrive off drug sales and don't have the power and resources to do what the mob did. Cartels are a whole other thing. They thrive in areas where local corruption and huge cocaine money allowed them to become massive militarized organizations

Being a corporation is more profitable

Few reasons.

1. RICO laws were brought in as a direct response to the rising power of organized crime. This allowed the police to charge all members if one of them committed a crime, and was instrumental in taking them down.

2. Social change in that the younger generations, like we see everywhere, didn’t want to earn their way up. Old timers ruled with iron fists, young guys didn’t want that, and the systems of control fell apart.

3. Proliferation of semi-organized crime like street gangs cut into neighborhoods, rackets, etc and were incompatible with existing organizations. Black gangs in LA didn’t give a shit about a bunch of old world Italians and their rules. Bikers are a different story since they tend to be more mercenary than street gangs.

“The Mafia” as we know it from media is dead but there are still active organized crime families out there. Union construction in many cities, garbage collection companies like GFL, night clubs and entertainment venues, etc can all be tied back to organized crime. They made as much effort to go “legit” as they could.

Another factor was also the fall of communism in the USSR. This unleashed Russian organized crime into the world at large, and they’re know for brutality, violence, and destruction. Where I live they’re mostly involved in clubs, trafficking women/guns/drugs, and organized theft. With reduced manpower the Italians couldn’t hold ground against a much more aggressive and violent challenger with more men and guns.