The fragrant collapse of the American mafia

2024 Author: Seth Attwood | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 15:55

We all know well that the sphere of interests of the mafia includes the drug and arms trade, prostitution and smuggling. However, the underworld is more multifaceted than we can imagine. It sounds strange, but the garbage business is also a major source of wealth for mafia families.

The United States, home to just 5 percent of the world's population, generates 30 percent of all waste. Until the end of the 19th century, the problem of its cleaning and disposal was not acute - the waste was simply thrown into rivers or piled up in heaps. But the active development of industry and population growth forced the city authorities to think about solving the problem - large and medium-sized cities in the United States began to sink in garbage and this became a real disaster.

Despite numerous conversations and promises, the municipal authorities were in no hurry to invest in the disposal of household waste, since this activity was initially considered unprofitable. Strange as it may seem, the first investments in this business were made by the Cosa nostra mafia families, who enriched themselves during the "dry law" in the production and smuggling of alcohol.

The greatest contribution to the solution of the garbage issue was made in the mid-1920s by the Gambino clan. For you to understand how firmly the family has occupied this niche, it is worth mentioning that back in the early 1990s, the former personal driver of Carlo Gambino, James Failla, remained the main man of the US garbage industry.

The groundwork was made in the distant 1920s - it was then that the first contracts for the removal and disposal of household waste were signed. Business success is directly linked to the friendship of trade unionists and mafiosi - at the beginning of the 20th century, leaders of workers' organizations often turned to families for help, mostly physical. The fighters of the underworld helped fight the strikebreakers and defend their point of view from a position of strength at rallies and strikes.

This led to the fact that already in the early 30s, all the leaders of the garbage collectors' unions in New Jersey were occupied by people in one way or another connected with the mafia. They easily entered the offices of factory directors and municipal officials and set an interesting price for garbage disposal. If the leader began to resist, then immediately began a strike of the scavengers with all the ensuing fragrant consequences.

But these were far from all the problems associated with waste. Sanitary inspectors bought by the mafia instantly appeared to obstinate directors and intractable officials and issued huge fines. After such "educational work" the manager himself went to bow to the bosses of the trade unions and agreed to the most predatory conditions.

Close cooperation with the waste disposal inspectorate allowed the unions and the mafia to feel like complete masters of the situation. If earlier landfills for waste were organized far outside the city, then with the entry into the business of the mafia, it became easier for scavengers to negotiate by means of bribes or threats to place landfills right on the outskirts. This significantly reduced transport costs, but the gangsters and their business partners did not give a damn about the impressions of the people living in the grand garbage dumps.

First appearing in New Jersey, such schemes began to work in most major American cities - New York, Chicago, Detroit. Of course, the police intervened in the trash mayhem and the hunt for members of the Gambino clan began. However, the mafia had the best lawyers, purchased witnesses and intimidation tactics on the side of the mafia, so the police action came to nothing.

John Gotti, who led the Gambino family in the second half of the 20th century, was repeatedly accused of racketeering and other serious crimes, but each time he emerged victorious from the courtroom. The Teflon Baron, and it was under this nickname that Gotti was known in the United States, confidently repulsed attacks by the tax police, who unsuccessfully tried to accuse him of concealing income and fraud. No one was able to prove that the annual income of the head of the richest mafia family in the United States is more than 30 thousand dollars a year, which John, who was listed as a simple plumber in a municipal office, consistently declared.

Success came to law enforcement only in the early 1990s, when prosecutors Rudolph Giuliani and Michael Chertoff managed to obtain the testimony of Sami "Beck" Gravano, one of John Gotti's henchmen. Thanks to the talkativeness of Gravano, they managed to put the head of the Gambino family in prison for life. John Gotti died of cancer in Springfield Prison, and the mafia's position in the garbage business was severely shaken.

The garbage business is a highly profitable business. In New York alone, the turnover of this industry in the late 90s was $ 1 billion a year. Companies associated with the mafia served about 250 thousand objects, ranging from the Empire State Building to small cafes on the outskirts of the metropolis.

After the defeat of the Gambino garbage empire, garbage collection prices began to be negotiated with the Consumer Markets Authority, but this was only a semblance of legality. In fact, the bosses of the mafia trade unions charged clients with prices 40-50 percent higher than agreed, and they were forced to agree.

Those who were not satisfied with this state of affairs, the mafia brutally dealt with. In 1989, gangsters of the Luchese family shot two carriers who refused to operate at inflated prices. The trash market itself was closed to outsiders and only those who received the approval of mafia families could work in this area.

In January 1993, the Houston-based Browning-Ferris Industries (BFI) garbage collection company attempted to enter the New York City market. After signing the very first contract, the director of the company found on his lawn a severed dog's head in the mouth of which a note with the text "Welcome to New York" was embedded.

But this time Luchese got in touch with the wrong ones - one of the co-owners of BFI, William Rukelshaus, in the past served as attorney general, and also worked for a long time in high positions in the FBI. Another would have fled back to Houston in his place and forgot the way to New York, but not he. Ruckelshaus connected his many connections and began to squeeze Cosa nostra out of the garbage market of the metropolis and tried to take over the business for himself.

Mayor David Dinkins was too timid to become an ally in the fight against mafia families, but Manhattan District Attorney Robert Morgenthau, who once made a career in the war with the Gambino clan, happily supported his former colleague.

A secret operation was developed with the introduction of a man Morgenthau into a garbage criminal group. An agent named Paul Vassil took a job as manager of the business center at 55 Water Street. The building was owned by the Alabama Retirement Systems foundation, whose owner could not refuse the district attorney. The newly-appointed manager attended a course of lectures in his specialty and headed a department of 43 people.

In a short time, the agent became an authority in real estate circles and his expert opinion on real estate issues was often published in specialized publications. Angelo and Vincent Ponte, who oversaw the garbage collection on Water Street, invited Vassil to lunch as the deadline for signing new annual maintenance contracts for the building he managed was approaching.

Vassil refused the prices offered by the mafia and announced the beginning of a tender in which the Houston-based BFI participated. Whereas Alabama Retirement Systems paid $ 100,000 a month to a garbage gang to collect waste, BFI charged $ 120,000 a year.

The Italians met with the agent again and asked for a quote from the Houston company. He went to meet them and told the gangsters all the information they were interested in. Angelo and Vincent Ponte immediately offered Paul Vassil a $ 10,000 bribe to keep the contract. Of course, the conversation was carefully recorded on a dictaphone and Morgenthau had irrefutable evidence of the criminal activities of the Italians.

Judging by the fact that neither Angelo nor Vincent ended up behind bars, they began to cooperate with the FBI and turned over all the criminal schemes to which they were involved. Interestingly, the agent who worked under the name Paul Vassil became so involved in the real estate business that immediately after the completion of the operation he quit the police and started a real estate business.

Mafia clans stopped putting pressure on former clients, but started a hidden war against BFI. Early in the morning, mafia vehicles arrived at the BFI facilities and collected trash. They waited nearby and as soon as the empty Houston company garbage truck drove away, the garbage returned to its place. Immediately after that, a sanitary inspector arrived and wrote out a serious fine for the owner of the overcrowded waste site.

Also, cars belonging to mafia groups pushed BFI garbage trucks off the road. It got to the point that the special equipment drove around the city, accompanied by police cars. But not everyone admitted that Ruckelshaus and Morgenthau were right - many in the city believed that a large corporation was simply squeezing the family business from several Italian families who had been collecting garbage for more than one generation.

It got to the point that Morgenthau was accused of participating in the garbage business and lobbying for the interests of BFI. The same fate befell the new mayor of New York, Rudolph Giuliani, who, unlike his predecessor, was actively involved in the fight against Italian families.

Order and legality in the garbage disposal business have appeared. Under pressure from Giuliani, the city council passed a bill according to which each contractor, before being admitted to the tender, was tested for involvement with mafia clans.

This method of combating criminal schemes turned out to be very effective, and after six months, dozens of companies operating in the service market not only were left without contracts, but also lost their licenses. It seems everyone should be happy - evil has been defeated and an idyll has reigned in the garbage disposal business. No matter how it is - the prices for the service continue to rise, since the market has remained almost without competition and is controlled by corporations.

Some old clients of garbage disposal companies sadly state that they can no longer determine exactly what is better - when the Gambino family rob you or when cunning thugs from Browning-Ferris Industries send bills.