If you say that the Hong Kong Triads operate on a far smaller scale than the Five Famalies, then you're forgetting the fact that they come from hong kong. That they have international influence.
Thats the cool thing about the russians to, they have all this international influence and have only recently come to america. They deal in alot've gas fraud and the like. The asians and russians deal in some BIG scams (those little computer chip things, counterfeiting, etc) and I don't think they're confined to just shaking down local businessmen. Ok sure, they don't have a hold on waterfront rackets or other things that require political influence but I think thats mainly because they're minorities and minorities have NEVER had good political influence. I think the main reason the italians have so much of that is because they're white and the italain community is alot more mainstream (and if theres one thing politicians like, it's mainstream).
I also don't agree with how you say that drugs have been the ONLY area where the mob's lost ground. I remember in "The New Ethnic Mobs" that it said that the mob's lost ground in bookmakeing and numbers and other day to day operations to even the blacks (but really only in their neighborhoods) sure they don't have an edge on extortion or waterfront rackets, but the day to day stuff the mafia keeps getting chilsed away at more and more. Espiclly nowadays.
I think you need to read my posts better because once again you're putting words in my mouth. I was talking about domestic organized crime, specifically in New York. The Chinese Triads are a syndicate (or syndicates) with global reach, more comparable to the Italian groups that also operate on the same scale, i.e. the Sicilian Mafia, 'Ndrangheta, and Camorra. La Cosa Nostra is not on the same level as these international groups. But within New York specifically, the LCN still has the biggest presence and scope of operations.
I'm not sure what you mean by the Russians have only recently come to America. They've been operating in the U.S. since the late 1970's. But in many of their big time scams, like fuel tax fraud, they had to pay the Mafia a tax in order to operate. It's also important to know that for the most part the powerful Russian syndicates that are based in Moscow avoid operating in the U.S. to a great degree because they have a "healthy respect" for American law enforcement and intelligence communities and the rest of the world is wide open.
The Mafia still far and away controls the largest illegal gambling operations in the U.S. Especially bookmaking or sports betting. As I said before the only group that can rival one of the New York Families in terms of organized illegal gambling is the Cuban Corporation, which controls most of the illegal gambling in the Hispanic communities of New York, New Jersey, and Florida. And their main business is the numbers or policy racket.
You are correct though about the fact that Mafia members are white enables them to operate much more in the mainstream. The same thing as helped Russian and Eurasian criminals in America operate with less restrictions.
