Just a Few Questions Regarding the Contemporary Mafia and/or Organized Gangs

*Not positive this belongs here mods, feel free to move

I don't know where else to seek guidance on this and folks here are mighty knowledgeable regarding all subjects.

So, earlier tonight I had a most unusual conversation with a young friend of mine where I had to give him advice on whether or not he should literally join the mafia. He's a young (17) year old with excellent skills in boxing and fighting. His family is considerably dysfunctional and poor and I've been helping them whenever possible because even though the mother has her share of the family issues, she's somehow magically produced amazing, well mannered and bright children. (Better than most that I've known that have been raised "well")

The young boxer cares very much for his younger siblings and family and bears this gigantic responsibility to take care of them. I've tried to urge him to pay attention to his own needs and not take on so much, but he's determined that it's his lot. His boxing skills have apparently attracted the attention of local mafia and he was recently approached by the head of it, offering him the chance to box "for him" for money. His skills are so good that he's been offered scholarship to one of the state's best universities. The Marines are, of course, also interested.

I'm not positive this is mafia or organized gang. However, it has all the bells and whistles of it. They've been watching him for 2 years. His offer is to box for $200/fight (Low, I know) to start and earn this guy money. And he's been told as long as he has no outstanding debts with him(the boss), he needn't be concerned about action against him or his family. He said the organization is worldwide. To me, local gangs concern themselves more with drugs and whatnot rather than the realm of boxing.

Now naturally, my advice to him, in short, was to avoid this path and follow the university/Marines route to "success". While I have plenty of reservations regarding our current education system and the dubious benefits of being a part of our military, the path he is being offered just sounds like it can't end well. Please, if you're in the know of these things and it's not that bad of a deal, honestly tell me if I advised him wrongly. With corrupt institutions in all branches of society anymore, I don't know if maybe he wouldn't be any worse off with something like this rather than a corporation that will just use him to death someday. (I didn't suggest that though)

My other questions for you are:

What do you know of these organizations these days? Are there ways to find information on the local branches of this? (Google's just not turning much up in the way of local mafia information - hunh) Is he likely in danger even IF he says no? He's seriously contemplating saying yes to "save his family from the ghetto". I know the sports industries (probably many others) are littered with mafia involvement, so maybe this is much more common than I think. Thank you for any information on this as a young man's future is quite literally at stake here and if there's something I need to tell him that will better convince him to avoid this path, let me know.

What a weird story.. There are many paths one can take during a life time.. Some might be considered the high road where others you spend all you time in the mud and filth. Being a young person it is hard to realize what they do today can affect their life from that day on.. Your story reminds me of some of the guys during the 80s that thought they could do a couple of loads of drugs and make big bucks and then get out.. Needless to say for most it did not work out that way.. One was found in a border hotel with 7 bullet holes in important pieces of his body.. Others were caught and spent time in a prison, lost almost everything and are now felons.. One trip was worth $25,000 to the pilot in many cases so the incentive was there; many did not make that much in an entire year. Even the guy who wrote a Vietnam era book called "Chicken Man" was captured and spent time in a federal prison... Florida was a hot bed for those type of operations plus some of the Iran Contra arms for drugs was ran out of there.

I am old and one rule I have tried to live with, is stay away from those who think they can beat the system.. Stay away from cut out agencies that are black ops or so secret they will let you rot if you are captured..

$200 for a fight and if he does good then 500 or 1000 so what.. Will not replace his brain from all the beatings and being punch drunk when he gets a bit older...

If he wants to fight for money go with MMA... But what a horrible way to make money IMO .. A life of crime and having to look over your shoulder wondering who are what is after you is not something a thinking person would want for anyone...

a reply to: gottaknow

if he is Irish,, Marines.
100% Italian,,then he will be looked after.
if not 100% ,,forget about it.

Thank you. It IS a weird story isn't it? As he was telling me this I was thinking to myself this is just something you see in movies and when he apologized for taking up my time, I was like "Are you kidding? This is more fascinating than my entire life has been!"

I like your advice and yes, that's the gist of what I tried to tell him. That by taking this route and helping your family in the short run could lead to all sorts of worse circumstances. I told him that in addition to the ever-present danger, to consider the lying he would be doing to his family, the fact that the younger siblings look up to him and what that means when they find out how he makes a living and asked him just exactly what he thought his parents would do with money that they suddenly had with nothing better to spend it on?

He said he could be making up to 12k in fights before long and marveled at the thought of it. I reminded him that he's human and everyone can get hurt and then what happens? I feel a little bad for posting his situation on here because I highly value the trust he's placed in me, but I feel I need to know as much as I can about this sort of thing.

Oh, and he's not Italian at all. He's Mulatto and I mentioned how little it would mean to them with him not being true family.

Join the mafia? Um, no! Sounds like trouble to me. Trouble the kid needs to avoid.

If this man expects the mafia to simply sponsor his fighting career with no strings attached he may be in for a surprise.He will be told to throw fights so his mob friends clean up on wagers.And more likely than not be expected to act as an enforcer or leg breaker.These people dont do things out of the kindness of their hearts.

a reply to: gottaknow

Okay there's one place you're going wrong with your assumptions about the mafia and that's that they concern themselves with mainly local things and specifically drugs.

The mafia has their hands in EVERYTHING on some level. Kids going to camp, what sort of chicken is sold on the store shelf in a city's grocery stores, everything...absolutely.

Boxing is exactly the kind of thing that the mafia would have their hands in, advise your friend to tread carefully. He'd most likely be in for life.

gangs and triads are global .. these days they even have their hands in legitimate businesses and corporations ..

He'd be far better off going into the marines or taking the scholarship and getting some education that he can use in future when he cant box anymore ..

Tdawg61 is correct on how theyd "manage" his career ..

Thanks for the responses so far.

I'm certain he would come to regret joining with them eventually and it could potentially destroy this really good kid and the others as well. I'm learning that they're involved in many things. What's bizarre is how good they are at keeping their work behind the curtains. I'm afraid if he does refuse if they will simply let that go or will there be retribution one way or another? Is there a way we can find out information on them in specifics? A good site to go to perhaps? So far, I'm only finding general info, history, movie references and extensive information on the Mafia Wars game on FB...

a reply to: gottaknow
You know something gottaknow? That same thought occured to me as well.Now that your friend has their attention is he already in too deep.From what I've heard being raised in NY they dont take no for an answer.Maybe he has to join the military now to escape them.

a reply to: TDawg61

Yes. That's a big concern of mine and one of the main reasons I'm trying to find info. Since boxing is his passion and what he excels at, he's going to keep going forward with that no matter what. But, since they've been "watching him" for the last couple of years already, who's to say they won't take action against him if he refuses? My line of thinking is to try to be a step ahead of them by finding information should it come down to something. I can't imagine being in this kind of situation myself and the whole thing seems a bit surreal to me that this happens. Editing to add I think it's a very sad shame as well that talented people get forced into these positions when they become good at what they do.

Just came across this site: www.gangsterbb.net..., so I'm hoping this forum has good info.

originally posted by: gottaknow
Just came across this site: www.gangsterbb.net..., so I'm hoping this forum has good info.

That site is off the hook.Like everything you would want to know about organized crime.I'd go in the live chat but im afraid I'd get whacked!

If someone wants to make money the last thing they should do is get involved with the mafia. And unless things have changed not just anyone can become a "made" guy anyway. The mob has "associates" who are technically not "members," but who do business with the mafia. There are certain criteria to meet to even become a member, the most important of which is how much money you make for the organization. You used to have to be Italian, but I don't think this is the case anymore. As a matter of fact, the letting in of non-Italian members, and becoming lax where membership was concerned, is what broke up the real "mafia" in the first place.

If the mob is interested in your friend it is because they want to make money off of him. Even someone who is a "made" guy is going to be kicking up the majority of their earnings. You may illegally make a lot of money, but you don't get to keep most of it. And if it is boxing related, you better believe the fights will be fixed. Considering that he has a much better option, I would go to school and do boxing there. At least then you will have an education, and perhaps he can even become a professional fighter. Affiliating with the mob and becoming a professional fighter would probably both bar you from going to school on an athletic scholarship. You cannot make any money from fighting and then box for a university. At least that is how I think things still work. It would be an extremely bad decision to get mixed up with guys who you know are trying to make money off of you. And once you do it, they hold the stick.

You cannot just back off after making a little bit of money from them. They OWN you after that, and this is something that must be realized before taking the step from which there is no turning back. It would not be a smart decision. Then there is the fact that you have to worry about the mafia harming or killing you if things don't go their way, and you also have to worry about the police considering you would be doing something that breaks the law. The mob is not known for their legitimate business earnings or anything. They do things that are illegal to make money, because the margins on legitimate businesses are nowhere near as high as those of illegal earnings.

a reply to: JiggyPotamus
Thank you,

By the sounds of it, I really hope he doesn't choose to join with them. I like what you said about being unable to box for a university if you've profited from the sport. That's a good thing to tell him. I can't imagine being his age and given this kind of choice because what kid - especially if they're not well off - will take the harder road when presented with a quicker way?

Still not findin' any info about the local people involved in this. Apparently, all the names of the big guys are easy enough to look up, but when you get into the smaller groups, not so much. All I know is the alias of the guy who contacted him.

a reply to: gottaknow

NEVER seek a future with CRIMINALS EVER. You always get screwed over 100% absolutely GUARANTEED SCREWED.
If he goes into the Marines combat arms is a limiting choice if he is indeed intelligent. Hit the Marines attend SCHOOL at sea and get commissioned as an officer would be MY suggestion NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO CRIMINALS or he will be GONE one day.

a reply to: gottaknow

I've always found it interesting, and have pointed out to a few gang members i've encountered, that even though there are hundreds of different gangs, all supposedly against every other one, they all belong to one of two "sides" - the 5 pointed star, and the 6.
Many here should know what that means.
They are branded with tattoos of either the stars, or "dice-dots", or other symbols, so everyone will know which "side" of the two you are on, in the bigger picture.
It's just divide and conquer dualism. They create their own enemies so that the lower ranks have a "purpose."
Exactly like any other organization or government.

TDawg61 is correct. They will want your friend to throw fights and also to go along as muscle on collections or to intimidate witnesses, make deliveries, etc. He will be expected to commit crimes, maybe not right away but they will slowly bring him in on the illegal stuff. All the while paying him more and more money to make it worth his while. They will make him feel like he owes them and if he refuses then he risks the consequences; a beating or worse. If your friend gives them any indication that he is not enthusiastic about this 'work' then some real bad things could happen to him.

Also, the boxing will more than likely be underground fight clubs, as the legitimate boxing world is pretty much free from the Mafia's influence nowadays.

The scholarship, to me at least, seems like a no brainer for a direction to point this young mam in. Free school, qualifications, a chance to mix with a variety of people, get away from his neighbourhood and enjoy the early college years that all young people should, relatively care free, that will in turn help him lay the foundations for a future. The boxing can play part of a brilliant distraction for a first rate education.