I think a lot of times they get caught because of rats.
I agree. You can do all the counter-surveillance you want but if somebody is singing to the boys then it doesn't matter.
Rats are particularly a problem if you have a pyramid structure to your "organization" like Cosa Nostra does.
Other groups like N'Dranghetta and maybe the cartels from south of the US border have a more lateral structure that is compartmentalized. Everyone is arranged into cells and one cell doesn't really know too much about the next cell or who is in it. So there is a reason Cosa Nostra in America took a big hit and the cartels and N'Dranghetta are still hard nuts to crack to this day.
