Also wrt Detroit proper, not only have demographics changed in the city but the businesses or activities which used to be the bread and butter of the Mafia have changed or shrunk.

1) Gambling is run by the State and that is where I think most people in SE Michigan spend their gambling money. I think the various lotteries have taken the place of numbers and to a lesser extent bookmaking.

2) The Unions have shrunk dramatically since their heyday. I think only something like 7-10% of private sector workers are unionized now. This is likely a bit higher in SE Michigan because of the auto industry but even there so much has been moved to China or Mexico or elsewhere that even if there were a vibrant local Mafia they wouldn't have the opportunity to exploit unions like they used to do. Michigan's economy is not doing well enough for a group (besides the government) to extort from it.

3) Narcotics has changed. There are various black, hispanic, white or Middle Eastern gangs or organizations that ultimately get most of their product from Mexican organizations. Every now and then you hear about a local alleged Italian-American associate getting charged or busted around this crime but it's really like finding a chicken with teeth. Rare.

4) Loan sharking has been taken over by payday loan, pawnshop and rent-to-own centers, which are ubiquitous in the poorer areas of SE Michigan, regardless of racial demographic.

One of the themes in Puzo's Mafia books was various Dons seeking to legitimize their children or grandchildren. To an extent I really think this took place in SE Michigan. There are certain businesses such as restaurants, realty companies, food supply, waste disposal or towing that have some interesting antecedents if you dig into them but for the most part they don't appear to have the ongoing Mafia connections that are still not uncommon on the East Coast.

The only traditional business where you still see some local Mafia activity is trucking/waste hauling. That's centered in Warren, a Detroit suburb, which has an not undeserved reputation for being rather unfriendly to outsiders, particularly Detroiters.

I would be quite interested in any source that spoke to major current Detroit area traditional Mafia activity. When Isiah Thomas came under scrutiny (in the 90's???) for his alleged involvement with gambling games run by OC figures the people involved were of Middle Eastern descent not Italian, although I seem to remember there might have been an unsuccessful (?) shakedown attempt by a Italian group.

It was a long time ago so I can't remember and as Bonanno would say "I was out of town when that happened".. rolleyes

"When the snows fall and the white winds blow, the lone wolf dies but the pack survives."
Winter is Coming

Now this is the Law of the Jungle—as old and as true as the sky; And the wolf that shall keep it may prosper, but the wolf that shall break it must die.
As the creeper that girdles the tree-trunk, the Law runneth forward and back; For the strength of the Pack is the Wolf, and the strength of the Wolf is the Pack.