NCJ Number
132300
Date Published
1991
Length
50 pages
Annotation
The New Jersey Commission of Investigation studied Afro-lineal organized crime in the State, focusing on African-American, Jamaican, and Nigerian criminal groups.
Abstract
African-American groups including the Family (North and South), neighborhood crime groups in Newark, Junior Black Mafia, Camden "Sets", E'Port Posse, Isaac Wright Group, and Five Percenters currently operate in 13 counties. Their main activities center on narcotics distribution and violent crimes including homicide, robbery, aggravated assault, and weapons offenses. Some groups are also involved in illegal gambling, often in cooperation with La Cosa Nostra. Five Jamaican posses are described in this report; their major criminal activities, in the same 13 counties, are weapons and drug trafficking, homicide, robbery, extortion, and assault. Nigerian groups centered in six counties specialize in various types of fraud including false bank accounts, forgery, counterfeiting, and credit card fraud. They are also involved in heroin and cocaine smuggling. Afro-lineal organized crime is linked to increasing violence, destruction of neighborhoods, and provision of breeding grounds for durable syndicates. The Commission recommends policies that would reduce the demand for drugs, increase local law enforcement assistance and encourage community participation, increase intelligence gathering and sharing among agencies, target and isolate organized crime leaders, and expand organized crime fighting tools.