Introduction
Organized crime poses a major threat to both the United States national security and economy. These crimes are perpetrated domestically as well as across borders making their investigation and prosecutions difficult. The Webster’s New World law dictionary defines organized crime as “a widespread group of professional criminals who rely on illegal activities as a way of life and whose activities are coordinated and controlled through some form of centralized syndicate” (Your dictionary.com).
Organized crime takes the following forms; drug trafficking, arms trafficking, cigarette trafficking, white-collar crime, bank fraud, terrorism, and computer crime among others. Behind every organized crime is an organized criminal organization. This essay uses law enforcement strategies, tools, and federal statutes to investigate and prosecute members of La Cosa Nostra. Cosa Nostra is an organized criminal organization operating in the United States but traces its origin to Italy. The organization, though secretive, is well established in the United States with its many family organizations operating in major states including New York City.
I find the investigation of Cosa Nostra important because its criminal activities pose a major threat to the United States economy. The group engages in many racketeering activities including drug trafficking, extortion, and kidnapping. La Cosa Nostra is also the oldest criminal organization in the United States whose existence dates back to the late 19th century.
Using law enforcement strategies, tools, and federal statutes to investigate and prosecute members of La Cosa Nostra
Investigating organized crimes can be challenging, but not impossible given the available strategies and tools. To investigate the organized crime activities of Cosa Nostra, I will use the following tools and law enforcement strategies.
Informants
Informants can either be members of the public, victims of crime, or even police officers.
During investigations, informants can provide information on; the nature and organization of the organized crime group, criminal activities of the group, patterns of the organized group’s activities, and any other important leading information. The Organized Crime Control Act of 1970 ( ) enhances organized crime investigation by assigning Grand Juries the responsibility to investigate and produce reports on organized crime organizations.
During my investigations, I will make use of informants, which in this case will involve both police officers, as well as members of the public. I will also look at available reports on Cosa Nostra to find any important information. I will be more interested in gathering information about the main states where Cosa Nostra operate, the family groups of Cosa Nostra, the magnitude of their criminal activities, and how they carry out their criminal activities.
Since informants become the main witnesses during prosecution, it is important to assure them of their security. The Organized Crime Control Act of 1970 allows for witness protection hence can be enforced during prosecutions to provide security for witnesses.
Surveillances
Title III of Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 permits interception of communication of suspected criminals including organized crime organizations. By enforcing this act, many organized criminal activities were exposed. Through wiretapping communication from Cosa Nostra members, I will be able to gather first-hand information on their activities and use it as evidence during prosecution.
Undercover operations
Trained police officers can understate undercover operations to obtain factual evidence and facilitate prosecution. Undercover operations had worked well in the investigation and prosecution of organized crimes in the United States, but following the September 11 terrorist attack, attention shifted to antiterrorism ( ). This is justified by the drastic drop in FBI agent utilization after September 11, 2001. Either way, I will make use of the available agents to perform an undercover operation on this group and gather some information.
Prosecution
Even though organized crime poses a major threat to the United States security and economy, there has been a notable decline in a prosecution since 2001. Probably more attention is given to terrorism letting other organized crimes flourish. This is also manifested by the shift from traditional strategies of fighting organized crime to counterterrorism-related activities ( ).
After gathering enough evidence concerning the organized crime activities of La Cosa Nostra, I will use the following law enforcement strategies, tools, and federal statutes to prosecute them.
Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO)
Since its enactment, the RICO statute has been an important federal tool in prosecuting perpetrators of organized crime ( ). It allows for the prosecution of perpetrators of racketeering activities within 10 years ( ). I will use this statute to press charges against Cosa Nostra members. RICO even allows me to charge Cosa Nostra with organized criminal activities they have perpetrated during the ten years, hence a good statute for prosecuting such a group.
Asset Forfeiture and Money Laundering Statutes
Following the passage of RICO, Congress enacted Asset Forfeiture and Money Laundering legislations, which allow the federal government to combat organized crimes by destabilizing the financial structure and assets of the group. For instance, the Comprehensive Crime Control Act of 1984 allows for the forfeiture of the proceeds obtained from racketeering activity ( ). The Civil Asset Forfeiture Reform Act of 2000 also allows for the forfeiture of assets obtained through organized crimes. Using these federal statutes, I will be able to press charges against Cos Nostra group and demand that their assets, both financial and physical be forfeited.
Conclusion
After researching through the available law enforcement strategies, tools, and federal statutes, I can therefore conclude that there are enough strategies, tools, and federal statutes that can be used to prosecute an organized criminal organization like Cosa Nostra. However, it is worth noting that the federal government has done very little to ensure the enforcement of these laws and statutes to combat organized criminal activities, probably due to the shift of attention towards counterterrorism.