United States: arrest of the leaders of the gangster “Los Colombo” clan of New York’s Cosa Nostra | They loaded 14 people

The American authorities announced Tuesday the arrest of almost all the leaders of the Los Colombo mafia clan, accused of extorting a union of construction workers for two decades.

The United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York reported that the imputation of a total of fourteen people, including ten members or collaborators of the Colombo – including their boss – and one member of the Bonanno, two of the great families of La Cosa Nostra New York.

Of the fourteen defendants, thirteen were arrested on Tuesday – almost all in New York and New Jersey – and will appear in the next few hours by videoconference before a judge of the Big Apple, while one has not been captured for the moment. .

Those arrested include Andrew “Mush” Russo, 87, and the Colombo leader; Benjamin “Benji” Castellazzo, his number two; and several “captains” and “soldiers” of the mafia group. Ralph DiMatteo, the “consigliere” of the clan, is the only defendant who remains at large for the moment.

What are they accused of?

The alleged gangsters are accused of extortion, conspiracy, money laundering, drug trafficking or fraud, among other offenses.

Prosecutors say the Colombos had been exploiting a plot for the past two decades to extort money from the management of a construction union to make decisions in favor of their businesses and retain part of their wages.

Suspected criminals have used various threats for this; for example, the prosecution highlights an appeal recorded last June in which one of the defendants threatened to assassinate a union leader if he did not comply with his demands.

“Everything we allege in this investigation proves that history is repeating itself. The support of New York’s criminal families is alive and well. These soldiers, consigliers, deputy chiefs and chiefs are clearly not students of history and don’t seem to understand we’re going to catch them, ”said Michael Driscoll, deputy director of the FBI New York bureau, in a note.

Colombo

Family Colombo It is one of the five main Italian-American mafia organizations in the northeast of the country. The other families are the Genovese, Lucchese, Gambino and Bonanno.

The entire crime family administration, including Russo and Castellazzo, already pleaded guilty to various gangster activities in 2012. Russo, convicted of felonies seven times, was last released in 2013 .

The New York crowd has been weakened by various coups d’état in recent years, including arrests, fratricidal fights and competition from other criminal organizations, but it is still considered active.

The leader of the Gambino clan, “Frank” Cali, was shot and killed outside his home in New York’s Staten Island district in March 2019.