14. The Policy That Transformed Minor Gangs Into the Giant Mafia
The small scale and limited reach and horizons of Italian gangs changed dramatically in 1920, with the commencement of Prohibition, and the nationwide ban on the manufacture, transport, or sale of alcohol. It transformed Italian gangs into the Italian-American mafia. Unfortunately for Prohibition’s advocates, the mere act of declaring alcohol illegal did not reduce the high public demand for booze. What it did was skew societal attitudes, and create an environment of widespread public tolerance of crime in order to provide the masses with the alcohol they craved.
Essentially, Prohibition took the alcohol industry – a major American industry that had operated legally until then – and gifted it, along with its enormous and now untaxed revenue, to the criminal world. Legal and relatively well-regulated (and taxed) enterprises that had operated in the American alcohol industry were driven out of business. Their place was taken by organized crime, which reaped great profit from illegal alcohol. Such lucre enabled the criminals to increase their other illegal activities such as racketeering, prostitution, the growing field of illegal narcotics, gun running, etc. The profits also enabled organized crime, especially the mafia, to corrupt the American political and criminal justice system. By showering bribes upon politicians, officials, cops, and judges, the system was sullied to failed state levels.
