I remember reading in The Goodfella Tapes one law enforcement official in Philadelphia say something like (referring to the mob), "We give them names and we put them on charts but they're really no different than the local drug gangs."

Still, some things set them apart. The ethnicity for one. Mob families are more dependent on illegal gambling while gangs are generally more dependent on drugs. The NY families, at least, are far more diversified than any gang as well as most other OC groups for that matter. Included in that would be what set the mob apart from every other group - labor racketeering and infiltration of legitimate industries (again mainly confined to NY). The political and police influence is largely a thing of the past. Other groups and gangs have their own structures, basis for membership, etc. but the mob's structure has proven to have greater longevity than most.