You make a valid point, Ivy...however, when comparing the above cities to NYC in terms of bust activity simply isn't fair...NYC still has dedicated teams of agents devoted to CN...in the secondary cities there aren't enough FBI agents available to even handle counter-terrorism and white collar crimes, let alone a crippled LCN, which to my understanding, they are pretty much ignoring in these smaller cities.
First, the FBI prioritizes and devotes it's resources according to the threat level of who/what they're going after. In other words, the whole reason the feds have relatively little resources dedicated to the LCN in those areas outside NY is precisely
because it isn't needed. As far back as the 1999 UN report on the LCN, it was said the LCN in New York remained a high priority while elsewhere, relatively speaking, it was a low priority because "things were under control."
Second, there are other law enforcement agencies available to investigate the LCN in addition to the FBI or the other feds. For example, the Massachusetts State Police have been involved in several cases against the New England LCN in recent years.
Third, the cases - or lack thereof - in a given area only support what the feds and mob experts have said. You can go back at least 15 years and the only families you will see listed consistently as being still around are the 5 NY families, New Jersey, New England, Philadelphia, and Chicago. Detroit is sometimes listed, sometimes not. Miami is sometimes listed simply because of the presence of the NY families there. That's it. Nowhere else does anyone have any argument about there still being a formally structured, active family.
Finally, people can use the excuses we keep seeing only so long. Eventually, with enough time passing by, they become weaker and weaker. At some point people have to recognize that the lack of mob cases in a certain area over the past 15, 20, or 30 years - not to mention the FBI and mob experts saying as much - is a clear sign of a family being gone.
