Although it doesn't have any Irish or Italian criminals, it does briefly feature Polish street criminals in the second season. The Wire also portrays a variety of elements similar to LCN. Union and political corruption, front businesses, money laundering, surveillance evasion, dubious lawyers, competing criminal organizations, etc. A cartel group gets formed in the third season. And then there's also watching how the police methodically develop their cases against these groups. I thought the five season kinda sucked but whatever.

I don't think you can really compare The Wire with The Sopranos. They're entirely different shows with different, I guess, goals in mind. The Wire is about the drug war and its toll on American inner cities. There are lots of great characters but none of them get explored too deeply like Tony Soprano. Which is fine because they're just cogs in the system. To focus on any one of them would miss the point of the show. You could probably compare Brotherhood with The Sopranos a little, though, because of the family elements. Brotherhood was definitely a worthwhile watch. However, it's not a repeat watch for me. I've watched both the Sopranos and The Wire several times but I don't think I'll watch Brotherhood again.

So, you should definitely give The Wire a shot at some point. It gives a pretty in-depth look at the drug trade.

This is pretty cool too:

http://www.freakonomics.com/2008/01/09/what-do-real-thugs-think-of-the-wire/