Well isn't any bust just an "individual" member or an associate? I haven't heard of any bust of "The Gambino Family" or "The Genovese Family". Usually on an indictment it just says an individuals name, no?
Furthermore do you know if those individuals were kicking up? Does the chart specify if they were pocketing all the $, kicking any up, or paying tribute?
In New York, or New England for example, there's been multiple mob/drug cases, involving several guys who have been named in this position or that position, over an extended period of time. In other words, it's activity that is obviously sanctioned and/or run by the family. It's not at all that clear in the handful of cases in Buffalo or Kansas City.
You're right, it isn't clear so how can you arrive at the conclusion that "they were not kicking up or acting on behalf of the enterprise"? You admit there are still made guys in Buffalo and Kansas City right? So unless these life long criminals all the sudden decide they no longer want what is rightfully theirs ( tribute $) I would safely say the accused were kicking up and therefore at least to some extent acting on behalf of a criminal enterprise.
Finally do you not agree that anyone made guy or associate operating in these supposed "non viable" areas loves the perception that the mafia is dead in their area?
I know your formula for indicating where viable families still are based on FBI indictments and statements makes sense on paper but to think that all FBI agencies operate on the same level with the same priorities in every city is horribly flawed. To draw the conclusion that Detroit or Buffalo is extinct because they don't have the amount of mafia indictments as NY or CHicago is the same as saying "the Detroit FBI branch allocates the same amount of resources and priority to mafia activity as the FBI in NYC does and since they do not have the same number of indictment the mafia must be non viable in Detroit".
Now I do not know in which cities the mafia is still active in, but IMO your formula in which you use to base your conclusions is seriously flawed.
