On the surface, some of the recent mob trials may have come across as a waste of money but they still go after the mob for one, simple reason: under no circumstances do they want them regaining the same type of power that they had prior to the eighties, when the government really started putting the pressure on. As soon as they show signs of slacking off, the mob rebuilds its power. Because of attrition, it may not necessarily be as an exclusively Italian/Sicilian entity like in the "old days", but its potential for resurrection would still be high if government pressure significantly slackened.

It would be a larger waste of money to go after violent, loosely organized street gangs, where putting one away simply leads to three taking their place. They are a largely localized element of the criminal society that never had near the stranglehold on certain aspects of the national economy that the mob did in its heyday and preventing that from ever occurring again is high on their priority list. Of course, some simple old-timer gamblers may get swept up with the bigger fish, but its simply guilt by association in those cases, as sad as it is to say.

Last edited by Snakes; 10/14/15 03:57 PM.

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