ABSTRACT
In the United States, criminals have managed to put together an organization which is at once a nationwide illicit cartel and a nationwide confederation. This organization is dedicated to amassing millions of dollars by means of extortion, and from usury, the illicit sale of lottery tickets, chances on the outcome of horse races and athletic events, narcotics, and untaxed liquor. The danger of organized crime arises because the vast profits acquired from the sale of illicit goods and services are being invested in licit enterprises. It is when criminal syndicates start to undermine basic economic and political traditions and institutions that the real trouble begins. A former special attorney in the Organized Crime and Racketeering Section of the United States Department of Justice accurately has pointed out that "when organized crime embarks on a venture in legitimate business it ordinarily brings to that venture all the techniques of violence and intimidation which are employed in its illegal enterprises."
