Betraying the boss. In 1992, Gravano, who was the underboss and known for his unrelenting ferocity in any fight, went from one of the most powerful figures in the New York mafia to its most infamous turncoat.
Joseph Valachi, in full Joseph Michael Valachi, (born Sept. 22, 1903, New York, N.Y., U.S.—died April 3, 1971, La Tuna Federal Correctional Institution, Texas), American gangster, member of Lucky Luciano's mob family, who turned informer in 1962.
Al Capone. The first name that everyone thinks of when you say “mob boss” or “gangster” is Al Capone. So, obviously, our list begins with him.
1. Al Capone. Al Capone, also known as Scarface, was one the most famous gangsters who rose to prominence during the Prohibition era in the 1920s and 1930s. He was born in Brooklyn, New York, in 1899 to Italian immigrant parents.
Sandifer, by the age of eight, quit attending school and began to roam the streets stealing cars and breaking into houses. At the age of ten, Sandifer was arrested on charges of armed robbery.
Torrio had several nicknames, primarily "The Fox" for his cunning and finesse. The US Treasury official Elmer Irey considered him "the biggest gangster in America" and wrote, "He was the smartest and, I dare say, the best of all the hoodlums.
The Genovese family is the oldest and the largest of the "Five Families".
Luciano is considered the father of modern organized crime in the United States for the establishment of the Commission in 1931, after he abolished the boss of bosses title held by Salvatore Maranzano following the Castellammarese War.
There are five main New York City Mafia families, known as the Five Families: the Gambino, Lucchese, Genovese, Bonanno, and Colombo families. The Italian American Mafia has long dominated organized crime in the United States.
According to Biography, by 1929 notorious Prohibition-era gangster Al Capone had a fortune of $100 million: or as much as $18.6 billion in today's money.
The Sicilian Mafia was founded in Sicily by elements of the Camorra, a crime organization established in Naples, in the early 1800's. It became established in the United States through the immigration of some of its members in the latter 1800's, the early 1900's, and the mid-1960's and early 1970's.
As the birthplace of the original mafia, Italy is home to some of the world's most powerful organized crime groups, operating domestically and abroad.
The safest place in the world is Iceland, which ranks number one on the 2022 Global Peace Index. Iceland, with a score of 1.107, has held this position on the GPI for over a decade.
In broad terms, there are five original Mafia groups, defined mainly by the regions they operate in or the regions they originated in. All five groups have their hands in criminal operations that span the globe and have set up operatives in many different countries.
The grand don of world crime bosses has to be Semion Mogilevich of Russia. Multiple websites mention Mogilevich – 5 feet 6 inches tall, weighing about 300 pounds and a heavy smoker – as first among his mobster peers, if he has any.
Griselda Blanco (1943 – 2012)
At her peak in the 1970s and '80s, Griselda Blanco became the first-ever billionaire criminal, earning $80 million a month from the proceeds of smuggling cocaine from Colombia to the US.
The Genovese Family
The Genovese Family is considered one of the most powerful and longest-established organized crime groups in the United States, with its origins tracing back to the early 20th century.
While the Mafia - also known as La Cosa Nostra - may no longer possess the robust national presence and influence it once had, it remains a significant threat in the New York metropolitan area, New England, Philadelphia, Chicago, and Detroit.
Top woman mafia boss known as "the little one" sentenced to almost 13 years in Italian prison. An Italian court on Wednesday sentenced Camorra boss Maria Licciardi, one of the few women to lead a mafia clan, to almost 13 years in prison, media reports said.