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The charge sheets read like a script from the heyday of Hollywood's love affair with the mob, replete with made men, consiglieres and vows of undying loyalty to the boss. In a move that made it seem time had stood still since The Godfather first astonished America in 1972, the FBI today renewed its decades-long battle against the US mafia.

In a devastating blow to the organised crime families of the north-eastern US, more than 800 FBI and police officers made the largest roundup of Cosa Nostra bosses and soldiers in US history. Some 127 mafia members and their accomplices were charged.

The arrests in New York, Newark in New Jersey and Rhode Island were both an indication of the mafia's enduring power in the US and of the determination of the FBI to regain the initiative in its struggle with the organisation.

Announcing the arrests, Eric Holder, the US attorney general, said they "send a clear message that we are committed – and determined – to eradicate these criminal enterprises once and for all and to bring their members to justice".

The sweep struck seven families: all five with headquarters in New York – the Bonanno, Colombo, Gambino, Genovese and Luchese – as well as the largely New Jersey-based DeCavalcante family and the New England branch centred on Providence in Rhode Island and Boston. Among those in custody are top figureheads, including the former boss of the New England branch, Luigi Manocchio, 83.

The scale of the assault on the mafia is underlined by the fate of the Colombo family, which has had its entire leadership other than those already in jail taken down: its street boss, acting underboss and consigliere, as well as four captains and eight of its soldiers.

dubmatters wrote:You don't really here much about the mafia these days, just shows the level of serious organised crime still prevalent.

alphacat wrote:Apparently those guys (Sicilian mob) have lost a lot of market share to other mobs like the Russians; anything they still have is more or less because it's been theirs for a long time (New Jersey, New York, Rhode Island, etc.)

Ah, but the Hollywood romantic mystique dies hard, don't it? Without the Sicilians, what would gangsta rappers reference - Westerns?