73 People Arrested in Mafia Crackdown
By LARRY NEUMEISTER
.c The Associated Press
NEW YORK (AP) - The work of a lone detective that led to a major bust of New York's biggest crime family is being hailed as one of the most successful undercover operations in law enforcement history.
The agent's work is being credited with the arrest of 73 people, including 34 alleged capos, members or associates of the Genovese mafia.
FBI Assistant Director Barry Mawn called the three-year investigation ``perhaps the most significant and successful undercover operation in law enforcement history.''
He noted the work of the undercover detective, who sat in on weekly mob meetings, winning trust by seemingly making money through illegal cigarette sales and other crimes.
Mawn said the detective, who had to eventually be moved out of state for his safety, ``was extremely proficient at his job, was very taken in by the bad guys here.''
``These charges are the result of another highly successful infiltration of the Genovese family by the Organized Crime Task Force, this time by an undercover police detective who I commend highly for having risked his safety on almost a daily basis,'' Mawn said.
He said the arrests proved the mob could not assume that because of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, ``the FBI and its law enforcement partners have been distracted and have suspended their investigation of organized crime activities.''
The detective, who was not identified in court papers or at a news conference, teamed with cooperating witnesses to help thwart some crimes, including a plot to steal $6 million in payroll money from The New York Times, authorities said.
The planned armed robbery of the payroll money was designed to be carried out with help from a man who had worked at a Times plant and a former police officer who retired from the department in 1976, authorities said.
Despite a two-decade-long crackdown on organized crime that had decimated other Mafia families, the Genovese family had flourished because it avoided attention-getting violence, U.S. Attorney Mary Jo White said.
The charges Wednesday were the second major setback this year for the Genovese family, the largest of the city's five crime families.
In April, federal authorities arrested 45 reputed gangsters, including 33 alleged Genovese members and associates, in raids in New York, Florida and Nevada.
The family stole millions of dollars through loansharking, extortion, embezzlement, labor racketeering, credit card fraud, attempted bank fraud and gambling, crimes that led to conspiracy and racketeering charges, the prosecutor said.
If convicted, some defendants would face as little as five years in prison while others would face hundreds of years; one could face up to 530 years.
AP-NY-12-06-01 0331EST |
