Despite the fact that no one particular Mafia Family or underworld network ever controlled the City of Albany and Upstate New York’s “Capitol Region” and adjoining territories, over the years, a variety of semi-independent racketeers and official Mafia members, alike, all operated within the region.
Even before the infamous 1920s “Prohibition Era” took hold, the region’s underworld figures were actively engaged in various criminal racket activities.
But similar to what took place in other cities and states across the country after the U.S. Congress enacted The Volstead Act in 1920 which outlawed the consumption of alcohol, the region’s criminal element really gained momentum.
Criminals quickly organized themselves into “bootlegging” organizations and set about capitalizing on the newly enacted federal law which now made the simple possession, manufacture, sale, or distribution of any alcoholic beverages illegal and a federal offense.
By the time these Prohibition laws were finally repealed in 1933, many hoodlums and racketeers had made a fortune.
This failed “experiment” at controlling liquor consumption had also helped to develop “The Mob” as a monolithic nationwide enterprise that now had real “teeth” and the financial strength from bootlegging profits to expand into other criminal endeavors like the gambling rackets, loansharking, and labor-union penetration.
