The second call came from Jubal. While the NYPD was keeping tabs on the movements of Reya and his men, the Most Wanted Squad was also busy, collaborating with IRS investigators to investigate the gang accounts under his name.
The FBI used a similar tactic against Al Capone.
Through continuous review and refinement, in the 1970s, Congress passed the RICO Act, also known as the Racketeer Influenced Coordination and Influenced Coordination Act, specifically targeting the Mafia. This
effectively eliminated the common practice of gang members simply using a few underlings to cover for crimes while the bosses got away with it.
With the subsequent passage of supplementary legislation in the 1980s, such as the Witness Security Reform Act and the Anti-Money Laundering Act, the FBI finally had a powerful tool in its arsenal against the Mafia.
Strengthening the protection of tainted witnesses and following the clues to dismantle secret accounts linked to the Mafia were essential tactics for federal and local police agencies to combat organized crime.
The IRS discovered $12 million in suspicious funds, held in secret accounts at several investment banks. However, before they could freeze the accounts, the funds vanished.
Jubal and the Most Wanted team have been tracing the funds for days, discovering that the $1,200 had flowed into hundreds of different accounts.
Initially, they assumed they had accidentally alerted the suspect, prompting Leah to start transferring funds, but they soon discovered this was not the case.
After uncovering the identities of several of the accounts, both the FBI and IRS investigators were overjoyed; they had truly struck gold.
"It's clear Leah is up to something big soon. The money is being used to bribe 'HR.' We checked it against the list provided by Detective Fusco, and it all matches up," Jubal said excitedly.
"Of course, these people aren't all NYPD. There's also the NYSD (New York State Police), the District Attorney's Office, the courts, prisons, and detention centers. Theoretically, we've pretty much mapped out HR's network."
Jubal paused, a hint of regret in his voice. "Unfortunately, not all of them. HR's more senior leaders aren't among them, like the city council member and the Metropolitan Police Commissioner whom Detective Fusco met earlier."
"Eliminating these people will effectively eliminate HR. While there's a risk of resurgence, at least for a while, even those considering becoming a corrupt cop will have to consider the risks."
Jack understood the concept of eradicating all evil, but the reality is that nothing in this world is permanent.
They eliminated the Blue Templars, and then HR emerged. Now that HR has been eliminated, who knows what will emerge next time.
Consider that on the West Coast of California, within the LAPD, which is no less large than the NYPD, there are dozens of police gangs, large and small.
Frank Reagan was already a very responsible director, at least not colluding with the corrupt and diligently cleaning up the ranks. If it were Jack's previous life, the FBI might have been shocked to discover that the ultimate boss was him after their final investigation.
Therefore, compared to the investigation into "HR," Jack was more concerned with what exactly Reagan was up to.
At least $12 million was being used to bribe various parties, which clearly meant it was a significant undertaking. Jack happened to have some recollection of this episode from the original series.
Reagan seemed to have orchestrated some kind of gang revolution, uniting the five major LCN families in New York. Although the process was somewhat fraught with complications due to the "Point of Interest," it seemed he had nearly achieved his goal, at least controlling the entire New York underworld.
LCN is the collective name for the American Mafia. Control of the LCN today isn't a single godfather figure, but rather a five-member council known as the "National Committee."
Many people's knowledge of the Mafia largely stems from films like "The Godfather" and "Once Upon a Time in America," another renowned gangster film, or the American television series "Boardwalk Empire."
As cinematic works, they inevitably include glamorized elements, much like the film "Young and Dangerous," whose gangster aesthetics can lead many to blur the lines between reality and exaggeration.
Today, there are four major Italian Mafia factions worldwide:
the Sicilian Mafia (Cosa Nostra), meaning "Our Cause," is a long-established faction. While primarily based in Sicily, its influence radiates across Europe, North America, and South America.
The Camorra, originating from Naples, has a near-universal reach across Europe, but its organizational structure is relatively loose and riddled with factions.
The 'Ndrangheta, originating in Calabria, is currently the most powerful organization, dominating the European cocaine trade and possessing exceptional money laundering prowess, penetrating nearly every political and business sphere in the continent.
Another relatively small group, the Sacra Corona Unita from Puglia, controlled the smuggling routes along the Adriatic Sea, primarily operating in drug trafficking, human smuggling, and human trafficking.
While it's common knowledge that there are five of the "Big Four," the American Mafia (La Cosa Nostra, LCN) is rarely mentioned separately because it's often confused with the Sicilian Mafia (Cosa Nostra).
In fact, the American Mafia (officially known as the LCN) has its own distinct mob mob mob mob mob mob. This mob mob mob mob is almost exclusively used in American English to refer to the American Mafia.
Similar to the development of American history, the American Mafia also had its own independent process.
In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with the influx of impoverished immigrants from southern Italy, the embryonic form of the American Mafia emerged in predominantly Italian neighborhoods in cities like New York and Chicago.
Initially affiliated with the Italian Mafia, they often divided their territory based on blood ties and geographic ties—for example, Sicilian or Neapolitan descent—and controlled these Italian communities through protection rackets, gambling, and loan sharking.
A turning point came during Prohibition in the 1920s, when bootlegging became a lucrative industry. Second-generation Italians born in the United States (such as Al Capone and Charlie Luciano) made a decision that went against their ancestry.
They began to incorporate Irish and Jewish gangs, forming various large and small inter-ethnic gang alliances.
This displeased the traditional Sicilian faction in Italy, and Salvatore Maranzano, known as the "Godfather of Godfathers," attempted to assert his authority as a patriarch.
However, Al Capone's cousin, Charlie Luciano, nicknamed "Lucky Boy," joined forces with other American forces to assassinate Maranzano, sending him to the afterlife.
"Lucky Boy" Charlie Luciano has a more famous name, "the father of modern organized crime in the United States" and "the father of the American Mafia."
After defeating the Italian "emperor," he assembled all 24 Mafia families in the United States in 1933 and established a parliamentary "National Commission."
This also declared the American Mafia officially independent from the Italian Mafia, transforming it into a separate force.
While the LCN maintained some cooperation with the Italian Mafia, such as drug trafficking and the exchange of promising members (to escape crime), it no longer accepted orders from Italy.
Some say that Charles Luciano was the inspiration for Vito Corleone, played by Marlon Brando in "The Godfather," but the Godfather's story is far more legendary.
Luciano's influence can even be seen in the rise of Las Vegas. He invested in the Flamingo Hotel, the city's first casino, and built it with his ally, Bugs Siegel.
Later, due to the project's massive budget overrun—a staggering $6 million, even in 1946—and Luciano, suspecting Siegel of embezzlement, dispatched an assassin to assassinate the man nicknamed "Bug."
The Flamingo Hotel subsequently returned to profitability and became a template for Las Vegas casinos, with numerous casinos funded by various Mafia families subsequently opening.
It wasn't until the 1990s, when the FBI, using the RICO Act, brought down the Las Vegas Mafia (LCN), and conglomerates like MGM acquired the major casinos in Las Vegas, effectively banishing the Mafia from Sin City.
Today, the LCN's influence has faded, confined to the East Coast (though a few remnants remain on the West Coast). Aside from the five major families that still control the New York underworld under the name "National Committee,"
the remaining families are primarily based in Chicago, Philadelphia, New Orleans, and Florida.
There are also small remnants in New England (Boston and Providence), but they've been reduced to competing with Irish gangs for port smuggling rights and engaging in illegal online sports betting.
However, as the saying goes, even a rotten ship can still be repaired. While the LCN
is no longer as powerful as it once was, the New York Five Families have largely shifted their operations to white-collar crime in the financial sector, even laundering many of their assets. However, the more this situation develops, the more difficult it becomes to combat. While the FBI diligently labels all identified local mafia members as LCN members, bringing one boss after another to prison, the results are limited.
Even after its decline from a nationwide criminal empire to a regional power, the LCN still generates tens of billions in illegal revenue annually.
According to FBI and NYPD investigations, Leah controls numerous drug trafficking and money laundering channels between the US and Canada, a significant lure for the struggling LCN.
But Jack couldn't quite grasp how Leah planned to control such a behemoth as LCN. After all, even "Lucky Boy" Charlie Luciano, at the height of his fame, hadn't dreamed of ascending to the throne of "Godfather of Godfathers."
But a call from Finch in the old library soon resolved his doubts.
When Jack hurried to the old library, he saw Finch and Reese taping up five photos on a blackboard.
Seeing him, Finch pointed to the photos and read out the names one by one.
"Caparelli, Zambrano, Grifoni, Basile, and Gianni Moretti II. I just received a number today. Do these names sound familiar?"
"The five leading families in LCN in New York, or five godfathers, okay? Now I know what Leah is planning to do with $12 million in funding," Jack replied with a sigh.
"What do you mean by $12 million?" Finch looked a little stunned.
Jack briefly described the findings of the FBI and IRS investigations. "It looks like Lai Ya wants to launch a decapitation raid to kill the 'heads' of these five families, take down the five major families in New York in one fell swoop, and take over the 'National Committee' of LCN.
This guy has a big appetite, isn't he afraid of being stuffed to death?"
"It sounds like a good thing. I'll be happy to watch them fight each other." Reese shrugged. "In order to prevent the situation from becoming one-sided, I suggest sending a warning letter to each of the five families. That will be considered as fulfilling our obligations."
Finch coughed lightly and immediately put on the posture of a boss. "Mr. Reese, I know that when you worked at the CIA, they would condone or even encourage some not-so-good moral values.
But I think, can we improve our moral standards a little bit? We must know that gang wars will bring collateral damage, and we must consider the interests of innocent people."
"So what? You won't ask me to be a nanny to the most powerful and notorious criminal bosses in New York, right?" Reese sneered.
"That's why I called in Agent Tavola immediately." Finch turned to look at Jack. "Officially, I imagine the NYPD and FBI wouldn't want to see a bloodbath between the two sides, would they?"
"I'm going to say I've seriously considered killing Reia and those Mafia bosses."
Seeing Finch's expression, as if he were crazy, Jack waved his hand to ignore the remark.
Reese, on the other hand, remained calm. After all, he'd witnessed a royal family member being shredded to pieces by helicopter rotors. Finch might have taken the man's words as a joke, but he wouldn't.
But Jack was indeed joking. He wasn't the Governor of New York and couldn't mobilize the National Guard.
If chaos truly erupted in Manhattan, even the 20,000-plus NYPD officers, including civilian officers, wouldn't be able to contain the situation, let alone the FBI.
"My advice is to wait and see. As long as these big guys aren't wiped out en masse, the death of one or two won't be a big deal. If Laia dares to take action, he'll be prepared to spend the rest of his life in prison."
Hearing Jack say this, Reese raised an eyebrow in surprise. "Just send him to jail?"
"We don't have an obligation to clean up the Mafia, do we?" Jack didn't like Laia, but he didn't want to help the Mafia either, because his biological father, Moretti, was even more of a jerk.
(End of this chapter)