NCJ Number
94480
Date Published
1984
Length
13 pages
Annotation
The Department of Justice believes that the traditional mob families in Cleveland and Detroit continue to control the dominant criminal enterprises in Ohio and Michigan, particularly drug trafficking, but each family has been seriously damaged by prosecutions, the advancing age of its leaders, and, in Cleveland, by internal violence.
Abstract
The crime families of Cleveland and Detroit have failed to anticipate the sudden or unexpected incarceration of their leaders for offenses ranging from murder to racketeering, narcotics, and loansharking. Consequently, the families may experience difficulty in maintaining their preeminence in the rackets, especially in narcotics operations. In Northern Ohio, there is increasing evidence of the involvement of outlaw motorcycle gangs in sophisticated criminal activities such as narcotics distribution, 'chop shop' and stolen vehicle operations, strong-arm services, and murder-for-hire. In the past, the Hell's Angels club in the Cleveland area has allegedly performed murder contracts (bombings) against high-ranking associates of the traditional mob in that area, and a nationwide 'turf' war between the Hell's Angels and the Outlaw Motorcycle Club has accounted for at least 12 homicides in northern Ohio over the past several years. Although Detroit has its local motorcycle clubs and chapter of the national clubs, information on their activities is too inconclusive to indicate whether they are engaged in large-scale criminal activities. The Federal Government's challenge is to prevent new groups from establishing the deep roots and organizational abilities so characteristic of traditional organized crime while continuing to maintain pressure on the Cleveland and Detroit syndicates.