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CONNECTED BY BLOOD
One Big Happy Family
By TONY ESPOSITO
EDITOR’S NOTE: Tony Esposito is the grand-nephew of the late “Frankie the
X” Esposito and comes from a family with a long history of ties to the Chicago Mob.
His book, Union Boss, is expected to be published later this year.
WHAT’S ONE OF the only things every hood in the world can agree on?
THE ANSWER? Pick out the sucker. Rip him off. Steal from him, con him, do whatever you can
until his money is in your hands.
ORGANIZED CRIME has no boundaries, no shores. But it crosses them all the time so that
crime families in one place can work together with crime families someplace else.
IN THIS COUNTRY, all the books and movies and other examples of popular culture focus on
the Italian Mafia, the Cosa Nostra, the Mob. But some of the strongest and most dangerous
crime families are in Russia, China and Nigeria. And our own local African-American gangs
are just as lethal as any game the Mafia ever played.
WE’VE ALL HEARD stories about black kids killing other black kids for their Nike
shoes or Starter jackets. But it’s pretty rare that some Italian Mafia guy in a
$2,000 suit goes after some other Mob guy for his suit.
SO HOW DOES the Italian Mob in Chicago stay in business? They change. And change they
have. They’ve learned it’s better to pull together than fight each other.
It’s the only way they can survive, so they slimmed down their crews, made fewer
“made” members, and cut down on killings by about 75 percent. They’ve also
learned how to work with other crime families in other countries, and vice versa.
ONE COUNTRY where their hoods have worked with our hoods—and which would probably not
make your top ten list of organized crime hot spots—is Her Majesty’s own
England, Great Britain, the United Kingdom. I was just in London recently and watched a
group of local hoods rip off international tourists for thousands of pounds in an
electronics sales scam.
THE WAY IT WORKS is English hustlers approach tourists with flyers announcing an auction
down the street where all kinds of electronic stuff like laptop computers, Nintendo games
and Sony Walkman radios can be had for almost nothing.
THE AUCTION looks really authentic. It’s held in a store on a main street. The
products all appear to be brand-name stuff and everything about the place looks legit.
EVEN THOUGH there are signs on the wall saying “No Talking Or You Will Be Asked To
Leave,” there are several people in the room saying things like, “Can you
believe how cheap this stuff is,” and “this must be a clearing house for big
companies to get rid of their overstocks.”
ONCE THE SCAM begins, the auctioneer gains the trust of the crowd by offering things like
a 5-pound camera for 1-pound. And, some few people in the crowd really do get the cameras.
Then the auctioneer begins “bundling,” putting packages of three or four items
together and again, some few people in the crowd do get their laptops and cameras and
radios at what appears to be amazingly low prices, say 10-pounds for something that might
normally cost eight or ten times as much.
AFTER THE CROWD is thoroughly convinced the auction is for real, the auctioneer tells
everyone they must hold 30-pounds-cash in the air, or else they cannot stay. Those who
don’t have enough cash are escorted down the street to Cash Station machines, and
then brought back in for the kill.
THEN, each person is asked to turn over his 30-pounds in cash for a small sign that says
“30-pounds” on it. The sign is supposed to be proof that you have made your
“commitment” and are entitled to stay. Then, as the auctioneer is carefully
“bundling” a camera, a car-tool set and a stereo system, his assistants go
through the crowd giving everyone a bottle of cheap cologne and taking their
“30-pound” signs.
THE NEXT ROUND involves “40-pound” signs and instead of cheap cologne, black
plastic garbage bags apparently containing more expensive items. However, nobody actually
gets what they think they’re bidding on and, when they catch on, they’re out
70-pounds each.
WHEN THEY COMPLAIN and demand their money back, the auctioneer announces the auction is
over, the goons come out of a back room and clear the hall, and a couple of dozen more
tourists walk the streets of London complaining about how they were swindled.
THE NET EFFECT is, each victim winds up paying 70-pounds for about 2-pounds worth
of cologne and maybe the cheapest possible camera.
AFTER I WATCHED the whole hustle from start to finish, I asked one of the head goons where
they learned the scam. At first, he wouldn’t tell me. I told him they do something
similar back home in Chicago. Then, with a big smile, he admitted that he learned his game
here, then took it back to London to work the tourists there.
WHICH MEANS that, at least in street hustles like this, criminals don’t let
international borders slow them down. When it comes to separating the sucker from his
money, organized crime is just one big happy family.
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