@jace, busts against the Five Families have definitely slowed down. There is no disputing that whatsoever. The numbers don’t lie. I’ll see if I can find some figures when I get home, but I promise you that there is not the comprehensive attack against ALL five families that there once was. It seems the two squads focus on one entity at a time because that is all they can afford to do.
Whoever is in charge of the Colombos following the 2011 bust has had a reign unfettered by arrests for the longest time since the Colombo War in 1991. Liborio Bellomo, if he is still in charge, has had the longest reign unfettered by arrests since Chin. Frank Cali or whoever is running the Gambinos has had the longest unarrested reign since what - before Gotti? Bonannos and Luccheses have been hit relatively consistently but even Steve Crea had a decent reign as street boss/underboss for what it’s worth. We’re seeing less and less panels and interim leadership and more stable, longtime bosses, which really reflects the situation in New York.
I don't know if Bellamo is a boss, but I believe if he was they would have gotten him by now. The budget for th eMafia in New York is high, and that includes FBI, and the NYC police department organized crime squad. Add the 2 federal districts that prosecutors have to investigate. It's a lot.
It's a lot, but it's a fraction of what it was.
The real big downsizing began in March 2011, and continued on from there. Now there are a total of 25 agents dedicated to fighting the Five Families in New York. Whatever their budget is, they simply don't have the manpower to get the job done.
Since the FBI began rapidly reducing the budget for the Mafia just after Mafia Takedown Day, there have been five Colombo family member indictments. Two of these were caused by guys flipping from Mafia Takedown Day. The other three were laughably low-level - acting capo Luca DiMatteo shaking down a tattoo parlor owner for a few hundred bucks a fortnight, a newly-made soldier selling drugs, and two soldiers involved in loansharking.
That's a seven year period I'm looking. Let's compare that to the previous seven years - 2004- March 2011. During that time, four acting bosses were arrested/indicted: Alphonse Persico, Thomas Gioeli, Ralph DeLeo, and Andrew Russo. There were a total of fourteen different busts during that time. The caliber of the charges were much bigger too. You had multiple murders lodged against Thomas Gioeli, Alphonse Persico. underboss Jackie DeRoss. Most were the products of serious, longtime investigation that went (at least) as high as snaring a caporegime, and took down entire rackets and enterprises, like the bust of Joseph Baudanza and his crew, or Theodore Persico and his waste-haulage shakedown guys, or Big Anthony Russo's crew in Mafia Takedown Day. You also had four capos flip during that time, plus one soldier.
The Genoveses have still been on the feds' radar, mostly because of their continued dominance in New York. The "East Coast LCN Enterprise" bust, as well as other various capo-level busts in New York and New Jersey have grabbed headlines. But still... ZERO acting bosses or administration members, apart from a long-imprisoned former acting boss. Compare this to the 2004-2011 period. Three active acting bosses and three imprisoned acting bosses, until the family had to move to a rotating panel to avoid the heat. Not to mention there were simply MORE arrests made during the 2004-2011 period.
The Bonannos are a family that, albeit they're definitely trying, can't seem to find their footing. From the March 2011-Today period, they've had four acting bosses arrested. That's a lot. They've also had two consiglieres arrested. A grand total of fourteen made-member busts. But they are still doing a helluva lot better than the previous seven years. That saw another four acting bosses arrested, but with far more severe charges. Murder charges that put Tony Urso, Michael Mancuso and Vincent Basciano go away for decades. The bust in January 2004 put away the acting boss, acting underboss, three capos, three former capos, two former acting capos, and thirteen soldiers go away in one clean sweep - busts like that have not happened since. Likewise, a bust in 2007 put away the acting underboss, acting consigliere, two capos, two acting capos, and three soldiers. Seventeen total made-member busts, often with a lot more defendants.
The Gambinos, from March 2011-Today, have not had any administration members arrested. In the previous seven years (2004-Mar. 2011), they had two acting bosses arrested, two former acting bosses, a consigliere (twice), and three acting underbosses. The Feb. 2008 roundup saw the entire street administration arrested along with six capos or acting capos, and seventeen soldiers.
