I think of mafia as providing services that a government/legitimate private entities cannot provide.
Human trafficking - yup, I should have thought of that. In the counties listed in the link the governments does serve that mafia function. I was US centric in my thinking.
Prostitution - no. It can be legal, but the government does not engage in it.
Drug trafficking - I am sure some governments do it. I wouldn't put US in that list. Both the government investigations and the newspaper investigations found the allegations unsupported, according to the given link. I would say it could happen incidentally but organized crime does not need to worry about the government as a competitor in this space.
Gambling - the lottery is not illegal gambling. But you can argue that is tautologically true.
Racketeering - I don't see where in that link it says that the government engages in racketeering. Rico is a law that makes prosecuting racketeering easier.
I think of mafia as providing services that a government/legitimate private entities cannot provide.
Human trafficking - yup, I should have thought of that. In the counties listed in the link the governments does serve that mafia function. I was US centric in my thinking.
Prostitution - no. It can be legal, but the government does not engage in it.
Drug trafficking - I am sure some governments do it. I wouldn't put US in that list. Both the government investigations and the newspaper investigations found the allegations unsupported, according to the given link. I would say it could happen incidentally but organized crime does not need to worry about the government as a competitor in this space.
Gambling - the lottery is not illegal gambling. But you can argue that is tautologically true.
Racketeering - I don't see where in that link it says that the government engages in racketeering. Rico is a law that makes prosecuting racketeering easier.