Eight alleged mobsters and one police officer arrested as part of illegal gambling ring

Federal law enforcement busted eight alleged members of New York crime families and one Long Island police officer in a crackdown against a large-scale illegal gambling racket.

Members of the Bonanno and Genovese crime families allegedly used a string of Queens soccer clubs, as well as a coffee bar and shoe repair shop, as fronts for the operation, according to the New York Post.

Authorities pointed to the arrests as proof that organized crime remains prevalent in New York City and had not been reduced to a nostalgic trope associated with crime films from the 1970s.

U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York Breon Peace said “[t]oday’s arrests… demonstrate that the Mafia continues to pollute our communities with illegal gambling, extortion and violence while using our financial system in service to their criminal schemes."

"This case is further proof that organized crime is alive and well in our communities," Nassau County District Attorney Anne Donnelly said, per the Post.

In the bust, Genovese family acting captain Carmelo “Carmine” Polito was arrested alongside his associates, “Joe Fish” Macario, “Sal the Shoemaker” Rubino, Mark Peuer, Agostino Gabriele, “Little Anthony” Pipitone and Vito Pipitone.

Nassau County Police detective Hector Rosario, also among those arrested, allegedly directed law enforcement raids against the mobsters' competition in exchange for kickbacks. Peace reserved particular scorn for Rosario, saying he “betrayed his oath of office and the honest men and women of the Nassau County Police Department when he allegedly aligned himself with criminals."

New York City is experiencing a significant crime wave. In one high-profile incident, a senior aide to Democratic Mayor Eric Adams was robbed at gunpoint in early July.