The New York Mafia has to deal with another blow. The Colombo family bosses have been arrested.
the essentials in brief
- The boss of an Italian mafia family in New York has been arrested.
- Number two and an advisor were also arrested.
The alleged boss of one of the oldest Italian Mafia families in New York has been arrested with several other members. According to the indictment filed with a federal court, they are accused of extortion and money laundering, among other things. Ten members of the Colombo family are accused.
The head of the family is believed to be the 87-year-old Andrew “Mush” Russo. Among the defendants are also his number two, the 83-year-old Benjamin Castellazzo and his advisor Ralph DiMatteo. They allegedly tried to infiltrate a union and take control of it.
New York Mafia in crisis
The Colombo family is one of five large Italian-American mafia organizations in the northeastern United States. The rest are the Genovese, Lucchese, Gambino and Bonanno families. Russo has already been convicted of seven crimes and was last released from prison in 2013.
In the past few years, the New York Mafia has been weakened by several beatings. These include arrests, but also fights within families and competition from other criminal organizations. However, they are still considered active.
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