Most accounts point toward extortion being a real thing with the cholos in LA. The green light list is real. However, I'd take with a grain of salt the claims made by law enforcement and in some documentaries regarding taxation in other regions of the country. The episode of Gangland about Nortenos had some white guy from the bay area claiming he was taxing neighborhoods all over NorCal, which is total b.s.
"...the successful annihilation of organized crime's subculture in America would rock the 'legitimate' world's foundation, which would ultimately force fundamental social changes and redistributions of wealth and power in this country. Meyer Lansky's dream was to bond the two worlds together so that one could not survive without the other." - Dan E. Moldea
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