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FBI arrests 110 Mafia suspects in Northeast
NEW YORK | Thu Jan 20, 2011 12:07pm EST
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Police arrested 110 organized crime suspects in the northeastern United States on Thursday in what U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder called one of the FBI's largest single-day operations against the Mafia.
More than 800 federal and local law-enforcement officials rounded up the suspects in New York, New Jersey and Rhode Island in the early morning hours, targeting New York's five Mafia "families" and an additional one in New Jersey.
Sixteen grand jury indictments charged 127 suspects with murder, drug trafficking, extortion, illegal gambling, arson, loan-sharking and other crimes, Holder announced at a press conference in New York.
He called the Mafia "among the most dangerous criminals in our country." "Some allegations involve classic mob hits to eliminate perceived rivals. Others involve senseless murders.
In one instance, a victim allegedly was shot and killed during a botched robbery attempt. And two other murder victims allegedly were shot dead in a public bar because of a dispute over a spilled drink," Holder said.
Janice Fedarcyk, assistant director in charge of the FBI's New York division, told reporters the investigation was aided by cooperating witnesses, demonstrating that the code of silence known as "omerta" was "more myth than reality today."
(Reporting by Daniel Trotta; editing by Paul Simao)
