The FBI’s War Against the Mafia

The arrests in February 1985 of the heads of New York’s five Mafia families marked the culmination of a case the FBI had been cultivating for years. Frank Storey embraced this moment as he had been at the forefront of the battle against the Mafia in the United States for much of his career. Frank Storey became an agent at 23 years old and worked in offices in Asheville, NC, Gary, Indiana, and Philadelphia, PA. He oversaw cases against gangsters but believed an impact wouldn’t be made until the Mafia hierarchy was pursued. With the passage of the RICO law in 1970, the opportunity was there for a full-frontal assault against the Mafia chieftains. Electronic surveillance (wiretapping/bugs), infiltration (“Operation Donnie Brasco”), and cooperating witnesses (i.e., Vincent Cafaro) all figured into the downfall of the old guard of the New York Mafia.

The FBI’s War Against the Mafia provides an insider’s perspective on the government’s continuing war on crime, and Frank Storey’s memoir is both insightful and intriguing in many ways. Storey details his path from part-time employee to Special Agent to his role in supervising the NY Office and utilizing human and technological resources to curtail the Mafia’s stranglehold on New York.