Gangster, member of a criminal organization that systematically makes money from such activities as gambling, prostitution, narcotics trafficking, and industrial extortion. Although there are professional criminals who work with associates on a particular job or series of jobs, the gangster is a member of a permanent, highly the popular image of the gangster was formed during the Prohibition Era (1920–33), as the U.S. underworld battled over markets controlling the illegal manufacture and distribution of liquor. Gang murder became commonplace, especially in New York and Chicago, where more than 2,000 killings between 1920 and 1930 were ascribed to gang warfare. The manner, as well as the number of these killings, made them notorious. Usually, they were carefully rehearsed and involved sophisticated techniques for stealing and disguising the “get-away” car; for obliterating all means of identification from the murder weapons; for luring the victim into a defenseless situation (as when one killer shook hands with the victim to prevent his reaching for a gun, while associates opened fire); and for disposing of the body, The most famous gang shooting was the Saint Valentine’s Day massacre in Chicago on February 14, 1929. The murderers, members of Al Capone’s gang, disguised themselves as policemen and induced seven men associated with the gang of Bugs Moran to stand against a garage wall with their hands raised and then shot down. Because such killings were carefully planned and because the criminals influenced with local political leaders, gang murderers were rarely identified, still less often prosecuted, and rarely convicted. In Chicago, for example, between 1927 and 1930 there were 227 killings and only two convictions.

Two men pour alcohol into a sewer during Prohibition in the United States.

Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.ProhibitionCases of whiskey were confiscated by the U.S. Bureau of Internal Revenue during Prohibition.

Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. (LC-USZ62-96025)Gangsters lived more openly in the United States during the 1920s than at any time before or since. Lurid weddings and funerals of prominent gangsters were attended by leading politicians. Capone enjoyed an income of more than $20,000,000 a year, maintained a seven-ton armored sedan, a suite of 50 rooms in a Chicago hotel, a clerical staff of 25 persons to manage his varied enterprises, and a villa in Florida. The notoriety of the gangster in the era of national Prohibition, however, should not obscure the fact that the foundations of criminal power had been laid earlier, nor the fact that after Prohibition was repealed organized crime was no less ruthless. At least as early as the 1850s in New York and the 1870s in Chicago, systematic cooperation between criminals and politicians had become habitual. In return for campaign contributions and the intimidation of voters, the politician protected the criminal in the courts and winked at the existence of gambling and prostitution. The extortion of money—called “protection”—from a business by threats of bombing or otherwise disrupting it was solidly established on the docks of New Orleans and in the gambling houses of Chicago before the turn of the century. Gang murder, too, was common before the prohibition era. In one building on 108th Street in New York, 23 murders took place between 1900 and 1917. Then, as later, organized gangs divided the great American cities into “territories,” in each of which a particular gang monopolized the income from vice and extortion. The typical gangster came from a low-income neighborhood (particularly the lower east side of New York) and served an apprenticeship in petty crime before gaining access to the more lucrative branches of criminal activity.

Meyer LanskyMeyer Lansky, 1958.

New York World-Telegram and the Sun Newspaper Photograph Collection/Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.

The main lasting effect of the Prohibition Era on gang activity was the development of more highly centralized and better disciplined criminal organizations, sometimes called syndicates. Effective bootlegging required notification by radio of incoming liquor shipments from Canada or the West Indies; elaborate arrangements for distribution (for example, by infiltrating the labor unions of longshoremen and truckers); collaboration with liquor distillers inside the United States; and agreement as to quotas and prices among the different smuggling organizations. As Dion O’Bannion of Chicago put it, “big business without high hats.” Following the examples of legitimate business concerns, the distributors of illegal liquor reached out to control its manufacture. Specialists in gambling invested in the manufacture of slot machines and fought for possession of a national wire service that circulated race track information. Moreover, the 1920s witnessed the rapid invasion by gangsters of loosely organized legitimate businesses, such as building, garment manufacture, cleaning and dyeing, and food supply. Louis Lepke, the dominant figure in these industrial "rackets," extracted $1,000,000 a year from the New York garment industry alone. In 1930 the U.S. Bureau of Internal Revenue estimated the profits of the criminal organizations in which Capone participated as $25,000,000 per year from gambling, $10,000,000 from prostitution, $10,000,000 from narcotics, and $50,000,000 from the illegal liquor trade.

Lucky LucianoLucky Luciano.

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This vast expansion in the scale and complexity of criminal activity led, in the late 1920s and early 1930s, to the formation of a national organization. It has been compared with a cartel among legitimate business firms in that each gang apparently agreed not to intrude on business controlled by other gangs. Henceforth differences were to be arbitrated rather than settled by anarchic violence. It was agreed, apparently, that approval at the national level should be required for all gang murders. Thereafter, Lepke’s Murder, Inc., carried out murder contracts for the national organization all over the United States, accounting for perhaps 1,000 killings in the 1930s. Top-ranking gangsters were eliminated only after judgment by their peers sitting as a court: this procedure, according to informers, was invoked in the killing of Arthur (“Dutch Schultz”) Flegenheimer in 1935, Bugsy Siegel in 1947, and Charley Binaggio in 1950.

Carlo Gambino, c. 1935.

AP ImagesCongressional committees in the 1950s and 1960s conducted extensive probes into gang activities, but the power of the U.S. gangster was not broken by investigations, indictments, or occasional prosecutions. By the late 20th century, however, the power of gangsters in organized crime had been largely diminished by aggressive prosecutions and the defections of Mafia lieutenants who had become government witnesses.

Costello, FrankFrank Costello testifying before the U.S. Senate investigating committee headed by Estes Kefauver, 1951.

New York World-Telegram and the Sun Newspaper Photograph Collection/Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. (Digital File Number: cph 3c20716)This article was most recently revised and updated by Michael Ray, Editor.

Learn More in these related Britannica articles:

organized crime

Organized crime, a complex of highly centralized enterprises set up to engage in illegal activities. Such organizations engage in offenses such as cargo theft, fraud, robbery, kidnapping for ransom, and the demanding of “protection” payments. The principal source of income for these criminal syndicates is the supply of…

gambling

Gambling, the betting or staking of something of value, with the consciousness of risk and hope of gain, on the outcome of a game, a contest, or an uncertain event whose result may be determined by chance or accident or have an unexpected result because of the bettor’s miscalculation.…

prostitution

Prostitution, the practice of engaging in relatively indiscriminate sexual activity, in general with someone who is not a spouse or a friend, in exchange for immediate payment in money or other valuables. Prostitutes may be female or male or transgender, and prostitution may entail heterosexual or homosexual activity, but historically…

A gangster is a criminal who is a member of a gang. Most gangs are considered to be part of organized crime. Gangsters are also called mobsters, a term derived from mob and the suffix -ster. Gangs provide a level of organization and resources that support much larger and more complex criminal transactions than an individual criminal could achieve. Gangsters have been active for many years in countries around the world. Gangsters are the subject of many novels, films, and video games.

In modern usage, the term "gang" is generally used for a criminal organization, and the term "gangster" invariably describes a criminal. Much has been written on the subject of gangs, although there is no clear consensus about what constitutes a gang or what situations lead to gang formation and evolution. There is agreement that the members of a gang have a sense of common identity and belonging, and this is typically reinforced through shared activities and visual identifications such as special clothing, tattoos, or rings. Some preconceptions may be false. For example, the common view that illegal drug distribution in the United States is largely controlled by gangs has been questioned.

A gang may be a relatively small group of people who cooperate in criminal acts, as with the Jesse James gang, which ended with the leader's death in 1882. However, a gang may also be a larger group with a formal organization that survives the death of its leader. For example, each of the Five Families founded in the early 20th century outlasted its founders and has survived into the 21st century. Large and well-structured gangs such as the Mafia, drug cartels, Triads or even outlaw motorcycle gangs can undertake complex transactions that would be far beyond the capability of one individual and can provide services such as dispute arbitration and contract enforcement that parallel those of a legitimate government.

The term "organized crime" is associated with gangs and gangsters, but is not synonymous. A small street gang that engages in sporadic low-level crime would not be seen as "organized". An organization that coordinates gangs in different countries involved in the international trade in drugs or prostitutes may not be considered a "gang".

Regional variants

Europe

Sketch of the 1901 maxi trial of suspected Mafiosi in Palermo. From the newspaper L'Ora, May 1901There are several organized crime groups in Italy. Notably, the Sicilian Mafia or Cosa Nostra is a criminal syndicate that emerged in the mid-nineteenth century in Sicily, Italy. It is a loose association of criminal groups that share a common organizational structure and code of conduct. The origins lie in the upheaval of Sicily's transition out of feudalism in 1812 and its later annexation by mainland Italy in 1860. Under feudalism, the nobility owned most of the land and enforced law and order through their private armies. After 1812, the feudal barons steadily sold off or rented their lands to private citizens. Primogeniture was abolished, land could no longer be seized to settle debts, and one-fifth of the land was to become the private property of the peasants.

Organized crime has existed in Russia since the days of Imperial Russia in the form of banditry and thievery. In the Soviet period, Vory v Zakone emerged, a class of criminals that had to abide by certain rules in the prison system. One such rule was that cooperation with authorities of any kind was forbidden. During World War II some prisoners made a deal with the government to join the armed forces in return for a reduced sentence, but upon their return to prison, they were attacked and killed by inmates who remained loyal to the rules of the thieves. In 1988 the Soviet Union legalized private enterprise but did not provide regulations to ensure the security of the market economy. Crude markets emerged, the most notorious being the Rizhsky market where prostitution rings were run next to the Rizhsky Railway Station in Moscow.

As the Soviet Union headed for collapse many former government workers turned to crime, while others moved overseas. Former KGB agents and veterans of the Afghan and First and Second Chechen Wars, now unemployed but with experience that could prove useful in crime, joined the increasing crime wave. At first, the Vory v Zakone played a key role in arbitrating the gang wars that erupted in the 1990s. By the mid-1990s it was believed that "Don" Semion Mogilevich had become the "boss of all bosses" of most Russian Mafia syndicates in the world, described by the British government as "one of the most dangerous men in the world". More recently, criminals with stronger ties to big business and the government have displaced the Vory from some of their traditional niches, although the Vory are still strong in gambling and the retail trade.

The Albanian Mafia is active in Albania, the United States, and the European Union (EU) countries, participating in a diverse range of criminal enterprises including drug and arms trafficking. The people of the mountainous country of Albania have always had strong traditions of family and clan loyalty, in some ways similar to that of southern Italy. Ethnic Albanian gangs have grown rapidly since 1992 during the prolonged period of instability in the Balkans after the collapse of Yugoslavia. This coincided with large-scale migration throughout Europe and to the United States and Canada. Although based in Albania, the gangs often handle international transactions such as trafficking in economic migrants, drugs and other contraband, and weapons. Other criminal organizations that emerged in the Balkans around this time are popularly called the Serbian Mafia, Bosnian Mafia, Bulgarian Mafia, and so on.

Asia

Du Yuesheng (1888–1951), a Chinese gangster and important Kuomintang supporter who spent much of his life in ShanghaiIn China, Triads trace their roots to resistance or rebel groups opposed to Manchu rule during the Qing dynasty, which were given the triangle as their emblem. The first record of a triad society, Heaven and Earth Gathering, dates to the Lin Shuangwen uprising in Taiwan from 1786 to 1787. The triads evolved into criminal societies. When the Chinese Communist Party came to power in 1949 in mainland China, law enforcement became stricter and a tough governmental crackdown on criminal organizations forced the triads to migrate to Hong Kong, then a British colony, and other cities around the world. Triads today are highly organized, with departments responsible for functions such as accounting, recruiting, communications, training, and welfare in addition to the operational arms. They engage in a variety of crimes including extortion, money laundering, smuggling, trafficking, and prostitution.

Yakuza are members of traditional organized crime syndicates in Japan. They are notorious for their strict codes of conduct and very organized nature. As of 2009, they had an estimated 80,900 members.[18] Most modern yakuza derive from two classifications that emerged in the mid-Edo period: tequila, those who primarily peddled illicit, stolen, or shoddy goods; and bakuto, those who were involved in or participated in gambling.

The United States and Canada[edit]

In the late 1860s, many Chinese emigrated to the United States, escaping from insecurity and economic hardship at home, at first working on the west coast and later moving east. The new immigrants formed Chinese Benevolent Associations. In some cases, these evolved into Tongs, or criminal organizations primarily involved in gambling. Members of Triads who migrated to the United States often joined these tongs. With a new wave of migration in the 1960s, street gangs began to flourish in major cities. The Tongs recruited these gangs to protect their extortion, gambling, and narcotics operations.

As American society and culture developed, new immigrants were relocating to the United States. The first major gangs in 19th century New York City were the Irish gangs such as the Whyos and the Dead Rabbits. These were followed by the Italian Five Points Gang and later a Jewish gang is known as the Eastman Gang There were also "Nativist" anti-immigration gangs such as the Bowery Boys. The Italian-American Mafia arose from offshoots of the Mafia that emerged in the United States during the late 19th century, following waves of emigration from Sicily. There were similar offshoots in Canada among Italian Canadians, such as the Rizzuto crime family.

Mug shot of Al Capone. Although never convicted of racketeering, Capone was a protégé and successor of Torrio, later convicted of income tax evasion by the federal government. The terms "gangster" and "mobster" are mostly used in the United States to refer to members of criminal organizations associated with Prohibition. In 1920, the Eighteenth Amendment of the United States Constitution banned the sale, manufacture, and transportation of alcohol consumption. Many gangs sold alcohol illegally for profit and used acute violence to stake turf and protect their interest. Often, police officers and politicians were paid off or extorted to ensure continued operation. Al Capone was one of these notorious gangsters during the Depression-era for the Chicago Outfit. Capone would rise to control a major portion of illicit activity such as gambling, prostitution, and bootlegging in Chicago during the early 20th century.

In New York City, by the end of the 1920s, two factions of organized crime had emerged to fight for control of the criminal underworld, one led by Joe Masseria and the other by Salvatore Maranzano. This caused the Castellammarese War, which led to Masseria's murder in 1931. Maranzano then divided New York City into five families.[26] Maranzano, the first leader of the American Mafia, established the code of conduct for the organization, set up the "family" divisions and structure, and established procedures for resolving disputes. In an unprecedented move, Maranzano set himself up as boss of all bosses and required all families to pay tribute to him. This new role was received negatively, and Maranzano was murdered within six months on the orders of Charles "Lucky" Luciano. Luciano was a former Masseria underling who had switched sides to Maranzano and orchestrated the killing of Masseria. As an alternative to the previous despotic Mafia practice of naming a single Mafia boss as capo di tutti capi, or "boss of all bosses," Luciano created The Commission in 1931, where the bosses of the most powerful families would have equal say and vote on important matters and solve disputes between families. This group ruled over the National Crime Syndicate and brought in an era of peace and prosperity for the American Mafia.

Latin America

Members of Colonel Martinez's Search Bloc celebrate over Pablo Escobar's body on December 2, 1993Most cocaine is grown and processed in South America, particularly in Colombia, Bolivia, Peru, and smuggled into the United States and Europe, the United States being the world's largest consumer of cocaine. Colombia is the world's leading producer of cocaine, and also produces heroin that is mostly destined for the US market. The Medellín Cartel was an organized network of drug suppliers and smugglers originating in the city of Medellín, Colombia. The gang operated in Colombia, Bolivia, Peru, Central America, the United States, as well as Canada, and Europe throughout the 1970s and 1980s. It was founded and run by Ochoa Vázquez brothers with Pablo Escobar. By 1993, the Colombian government, helped by the US, had successfully dismantled the cartel by imprisoning or hunting and gunning down its members.

Although Mexican drug cartels, or drug trafficking organizations, have existed for several decades, they have become more powerful since the demise of Colombia's Cali and Medellín cartels in the 1990s. Mexican drug cartels now dominate the wholesale illicit drug market in the United States. Sixty five percent of cocaine enters the United States through Mexico, and the vast majority of the rest enters through Florida. Cocaine shipments from South America transported through Mexico or Central America are generally moved over land or by air to staging sites in northern Mexico. The cocaine is then broken down into smaller loads for smuggling across the U.S.–Mexico border. Arrests of key gang leaders, particularly in the Tijuana and Gulf cartels, have led to increasing drug violence as gangs fight for control of the trafficking routes into the United States.

Cocaine traffickers from Colombia, and recently Mexico, have also established a labyrinth of smuggling routes throughout the Caribbean, the Bahama Island chain, and South Florida. They often hire traffickers from Mexico or the Dominican Republic to transport the drug. The traffickers use a variety of smuggling techniques to transfer their drugs to U.S. markets. These include airdrops of 500–700 kg in the Bahama Islands or off the coast of Puerto Rico, mid-ocean boat-to-boat transfers of 500–2,000 kg, and the commercial shipment of tonnes of cocaine through the port of Miami. Another route of cocaine traffic goes through Chile, this route is primarily used for cocaine produced in Bolivia since the nearest seaports lie in northern Chile. The arid Bolivia-Chile border is easily crossed by 4x4 vehicles that then head to the seaports of Iquique and Antofagasta.

In popular culture[edit]

Further information: Gangster film

Gangs have long been the subject of movies. In fact, the first feature-length movie ever produced was The Story of the Kelly Gang (1906), an Australian production that traced the life of the outlaw Ned Kelly (1855–1880). The United States has profoundly influenced the genre, but other cultures have contributed distinctive and often excellent gangster movies.[citation needed]

United States

Actor Edward G. Robinson starred in several American gangster movies stereotypical image and myth of the American gangster is closely associated with organized crime during the Prohibition era of the 1920s and 1930s.[36]

The classic gangster movie ranks with the Western as one of the most successful creations of the American movie industry. The "classic" form of a gangster movie, rarely produced in recent years, tells of a gangster working his way up through his enterprise and daring until his organization collapses while he is at the peak of his powers. Although the ending is presented as a moral outcome, it is usually seen as no more than an accidental failure. The gangster is typically articulate, although at times lonely and depressed, and his worldly wisdom and defiance of social norms have a strong appeal, particularly to adolescents.[37]

The years 1931 and 1932 saw the genre produce three classics: Warner Bros.' Little Caesar and The Public Enemy, which made screen icons out of Edward G. Robinson and James Cagney, and Howard Hughes' Scarface starring Paul Muni, which offered a dark psychological analysis of a fictionalized Al Capone.[38] These films chronicle the quick rise, and equally quick downfall, of three young, violent criminals, and represent the genre in its purest form before moral pressure would force it to change and evolve. Though the gangster in each film would face a violent downfall which was designed to remind the viewers of the consequences of crime, audiences were often able to identify with the charismatic anti-hero. Those suffering from the Depression were able to relate to the gangster character who worked hard to earn his place and success in the world, only to have it all taken away from him.

Latin America[edit]

Latin American gangster movies are known for their gritty realism. Soy un delincuente (English: I Am a Criminal) is a 1976 Venezuelan film by director Clemente de la Cerda. The film tells the story of Ramón Antonio Brizuela, a real-life individual, who since childhood has had to deal with rampant violence and the drugs, sex, and petty thievery of a Caracas slum. Starting with delinquency, Ramón moves on to serious gang activity and robberies. He grows into a tough, self-confident young man who is hardened to violence. His views change when his fiancée's brother is killed in a robbery. The film was a blockbuster hit in Venezuela.

City of God (Portuguese: Cidade de Deus) is a 2002 Brazilian crime drama film directed by Fernando Meirelles and co-directed by Kátia Lund, released in its home country in 2002 and worldwide in 2003. All the characters existed in reality, and the story is based on real events. It depicts the growth of organized crime in the Cidade de Deus suburb of Rio de Janeiro, between the end of the '60s and the beginning of the '80s, with the closure of the film depicting the war between the drug dealer Li'l Zé and criminal Knockout Ned.[41] The film received four Academy Award nominations in 2004.

East Asia[edit]

The first yakuza (gangster) film made in Japan was Bakuto (Gambler, 1964). The genre soon became popular, and by the 1970s the Japanese film industry was turning out a hundred mostly low-budget yakuza films each year. The films are descendants of the samurai epics and are closer to Westerns than to Hollywood gangster movies. The hero is typically torn between compassion for the oppressed and his sense of duty to the gang. The plots are generally highly stylized, starting with the protagonist being released from prison and ending in a gory sword fight in which he dies an honorable death.

Although some Hong Kong gangster movies are simply vehicles for violent action, the mainstream movies in the genre deal with Triad societies portrayed as quasi-benign organizations.[44] The movie gangster applies the Taoist principles of balance and honor to his conduct. The plots are often similar to those of Hollywood gangster movies, often ending with the fall of the subject of the movie at the hands of another gangster, but such a fall is far less important than a fall from honor.[44] The first movie made by the acclaimed director Wong Kar-wai was a gangster movie, As Tears Go By. In it the protagonist finds himself torn between his desire for a woman and his loyalty to a fellow gangster.[45] Infernal Affairs (2002) is a thriller about a police officer who infiltrates a triad and a triad member who infiltrates the police department. The film was remade by Martin Scorsese as The Departed.

Gangster films make up one of the most profitable segments of the South Korean film industry. Films made in the 1960s were often influenced by Japanese yakuza films, dealing with internal conflict between members of a gang or external conflict with other gangs. The gangsters' code of conduct and loyalty are important elements. Starting in the 1970s, strict censorship caused a decline in the number and quality of gangster movies, and none were made in the 1980s.[47] In the late 1980s and early 1990s, there was a surge of imports of action movies from Hong Kong. The first of the new wave of important homegrown gangster movies were Im Kwon-taek's General's Son (1990). Although this movie followed the earlier tradition, it was followed by a series of sophisticated gangster noirs set in contemporary urban locations, such as A Bittersweet Life (2005).[

Gang vs Mafia

 Gang, mafia, Mob, etc. are words that are often used in connection with organized crimes. Organized crime is different from crimes that are committed on the spur of the moment or resulted from individual effort. This kind of criminal activity is a result of a group of criminals coming together and performing illegal activities for monetary benefit of the organization or syndicate so formed. There are many similarities in the types of crimes committed by gangs and mafia. However, there are structural differences and also differences in nature and functioning of gangs and mafia that will be highlighted in this article.

Mafia

Mafia is a term that refers to a criminal organization that originated in Sicily, Italy in the 19th century. The firsts of the Mafia groups or gangs were extended families that engaged in illegal activities and extorted money in lieu of protection they provided to common people. Members of this organized crime syndicate took pride in calling themselves men of honor and each group had control of some territory where it operated. People and law enforcing authorities referred to such clans or families as Mafia. With the passage of time, the term mafia has become generic in nature and is today applied to all groups or gangs that engage in illegal activities and have a particular modus operandi and close knit structure involving family members. Mafia in US was a result of immigration of families from Sicily in Italy to the country.

Though extortion was the main activity of the Mafiosi in earlier times, such crime syndicates are today involved with many different illegal activities such as prostitution, smuggling, and drug trafficking to name a few. The thing to remember in the case of Mafia is that the syndicate has a strong control exercised by a patriarch, and it has strong connections with officials in positions of authority. This helps the members of the group to stay clear of law enforcement authorities and thus avoid jail sentences.

Gangs

Gang is a term that is applied to any association of criminals with a clear cut hierarchy and control that engages in criminal activities for monetary profit. Gangs normally operate claiming control over territories and often having fierce battles with other gangs over this control. Gangs are seen more often in big cities and other urban areas than in the countryside. The Sicilian Mafia is perhaps the best example of a gang. There are thousands of gangs operating in the country indulging, in diverse illegal activities. Gangs are often also known as mobs.

Gangs vs Mafia

• Gangs are organizations with members engaging in illegal activities while Mafia is a type of gang.

• Thus, gang is a term that is used in a generic sense while Sicilian mafia or simply Mafia is a typical example of a gang.

• Mafia is a crime syndicate that is comprised of members mostly belonging to an extended family with a clear cut hierarchy and control.

• Mafia originates in Sicily, Italy but today it has become a generic word that is applied to similar organized criminal organizations operating throughout the country.

• Gangs are less organized than Mafia.

• Mafia is more powerful than gangs with connections with officials in power.

• Mafia has a family structure that is lacking in gangs.

• Gangs often engage in petty crimes while mafia is known to indulge in drug trafficking and extortion.