At the end of his excellent book, "The Five Families," Selwyn Raab noted that, after Rudy Giuliani's success in the famous Commission Trial, Federal prosecutors were falling over themselves to bring RICO cases against Mafiosi, with considerable success. But, 9/11 redirected a lot of law enforcement resources toward terrorists, allowing the Mob to regroup. I'd add: As long as people want to gamble, whore, do drugs, buy stuff that fell off a truck, and borrow money they aren't qualified to have, there'll always be a Mafia.