The efforts of the Mafia are largely concentrated in narcotics. It is also deeply involved in illicit activities such as gambling, coin machine rackets, juke box businesses, pizza parlor operations (which are also used as fronts for drug trafficking and money laundering), prostitution, extortion, smuggling and counterfeiting. The Mafia is also involved in control over such lucrative legitimate ventures as trucking, restaurants, labor unions and garment manufacturing, to name a few. They also exercise powerful influence over boxing, harness racing, dog races, and other professional sports. The book traces the Mafia back 600 years to its origins as an underground patriotic society on the island of Sicily, through its years as a group resisting foreign oppression, and up to its present-day configuration as a criminal colossus unmatched by any other body of criminals anywhere. The book describes the events and individuals who were (and are) part of the Mafia’s development. Index