Wow the know bodies in KC using the same wire room in costa rica for their gambling operation as the real mob in NY, I am sure it was just a coincedence.
"NJ state authorities rounded up several suspected Lucchese mobsters in connection with an alleged gambling ring, and pursuant to the continuing Operation Heat investigation officials on Thursday announced the arrest of Brian Cohen who is "accused of running the organization's online gaming operation" as reported by Chris Megerian for The Star-Ledger:
Brian Cohen, 61, of Buffalo, N.Y., is charged with money laundering and gambling promotion. Officials said the gaming operation, which processed wagers of $2.2 billion in a 15-month period, routed bets through a "wire room" in Costa Rica, where Cohen also lives. Detectives arrested Cohen at Buffalo Niagara International Airport as he got off a flight from the Central American country on May 16."
First, bookies all over the country, mob-connected and otherwise, now use offshore wirerooms and websites in places like Costa Rica and Panama. Many of the same offshore outfits service books run by various crime families.
Second, as we've seen with any number of examples, even when there is no real formally structured family left, what remains of a mob family is often still at least able to conduct the most fundamental of mob operations - bookmaking. There are only about 5 or 6 old members left in Pittsburgh, plus however many associates, but they've also had bookmaking and video poker busts in recent years.
