From the mid-1990's to the early 2000's the Bonannos were actually considered quite strong by law enforcement. They had not been an investigative priority for quite a while, which helped them to grow in power. Also, ironically, the fact that they were cut out of the other families' joint labor rackets spared them from a lot of scrutiny. But of course, things came crashing down once the top guys started getting indicted and then flipping.