It seems there’s a lot of general interest in the question of corruption in state and local government, and that leads to questions of organized crime. The drawn out investigation into the crimes of Louis and Katherine Kealoha provided a window into one type of corruption, individuals in positions of power who abuse the public’s trust for their own financial benefit. And now the indictment and prosecution of Micheal Miske, owner of Kamaaina Termite & Pest Control and several other well-known businesses, has opened a window into another form of corruption, an alleged street gang operating a racketeering enterprise of drug dealing, extortion, armed robbery, even kidnapping ad murder, behind the facade of legitimate businesses.
But while local organized crime was the focus of a lot of reporting back in the 1970s and 1980s, local crime figures are no longer familiar names and faces in the news. To some extent this reflects changes in the business of news, a pull-back from the broad community coverage local newspapers and television once provided. But it also likely reflects changes in organized crime as well. What is the structure of local organized crime today? I don’t have a good answer.
So I thought this would be a good time to look at what’s been written about organized crime and local government in other places, both in terms of history and current events.
Hopefully some of you can join in the search for relevant examples, and leave your suggestions as comments on this post.
Hawaii never had anything quite like the mob families of New York, but its still interesting to read about the New York experience, which echoes behind today’s headlines because of President Donald Trump’s past crime ties. Here are a few suggestions.
“Material Politics Of New York: From The Mafia’s Concrete Club To ISIS,” Vyta Baselice, The Gotham Center for New York City History, October 17, 2019.
“The Mob and the Machine,” Nicholas Pileggi, New York Magazine.
“The Mayor and the Mob,” David Samuels, Smithsonian Magazine, October 2019.
“Trump’s mob connections,” Amanda Luz Henning Santiago, City & State NY, September 27, 2019.
“Behind the Fence: Buying and Selling Stolen Merchandise,” Security Journal, October 2003.
“The Problem of Stolen Goods Markets,” Michael Sutton, ASU Center for Problem-Oriented Policing.
“On the Waterfront, a Mob Watchdog Is Fighting to Survive,” NY Times, January 17, 2018.
“‘Guys like that don’t get wiped out in a day.’ Why the mob still holds sway at the port,” Ted Sherman, NJ.com, Updated May 14, 2019; Posted Jul 05, 2018.
“Organized criminals and associates work on Vancouver docks, government files say,” Peter Edwards, Toronto Star, February 27, 2018.
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It’s simple. “Organized crime” is a LOT more organized these days with myriad ways to disguise the enterprise behind legitimate shields and bought off officials, bureaucrats & politicians. In many ways America’s legal system facilitates it all.
I recall reading a great news piece (or series…can’t remember) in the NY Times a few years ago about all the luxury condos snatched up in NYC by anonymous offshore shell companies, LLCs and whatnot representing filthy rich dictators, drug dealers, kleptocrats and other assorted shady characters. Same probably applies to a good chunk of the apartments along Ala Moana Blvd between Ward and Atkinson.
Perhaps a better way of approaching this is a google scholar search of “mafia”. I say this because in order to understand this phenomena one requires a broader perspective. What was ‘orgaqnized” about the Kealohas? They were corrupt yes, and poor oversight let them thrive for awhile. The oldest mafia, Sicily, arose in the context of a weak and oppressive state, the Bourbon monarchy. And offered “protection” from thieves, sometimes official, to people. They substituted a sort of shadow police force, for one that was virtually nonexistent when it came to ordinary people. They arise out of weak states, and corrupt, or inefficient criminal justice systems.
https://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=Winf_4mif90C&oi=fnd&pg=PR5&dq=related:JLYEgMJgs-IJ:scholar.google.com/&ots=RCGcYdi2rj&sig=KvMYXiWedFcuvzPP9iK9u99qkrs
This is a history of the Italian mafia and its relation to media and politics.
https://academic.oup.com/jleo/article-abstract/19/1/218/795146
A law and economics view of the mafia, the bibliography can lead to further sources. A t5hought. Orginazations like Brinks, substitute for the original mafia today.
I suspect that the USO prison gang, reportedly to have more than 1,000 members in Hawaii more than 6 years ago, is a major player in Hawaii Organized crime. I also agree that local news coverage has degraded to “weather ( in a community where there isn’t any weather most of the time) and traffic every 10 minutes so that there is little coverage of anything beyond fluff most of the time, the exception being Civil Beat. See who provides security to the illegal gaming rooms for a clue as to who are the “shot callers” in local organized crime. And just who was it that served as references for Mike Miske’s bank loans?
The Bell County,CA case is an astounding example of public corruption at the municipal level. The LA Times did an excellent job of investigative journalism, and the topic is easily accessible on Wikipedia.
The federal government website doj.gov also has extensive information regarding public corruption.
Christopher Woo , an infamous attorney tied to drugs and arrested in relation to public corruption is listed as the in house counsel for the Ebbtide Hotel ran by Kumai. John Wollstein the hotel president is a very honest guy so not sure how he got caught up with these folks
https://www.linkedin.com/authwall?trk=gf&trkInfo=AQEYYtIRDqhpHgAAAXZ2UJv4MT_QYvuzdSYGNJOSekzronBqTreIifN0q7gTb8s0sJ4IOiaaK7rKoUgKvjrHQBgPejOa8yG1-K6uoPSMPRCuRkbA1HxFtgcrVfAtk7uoHrPaWGo=&originalReferer=https://www.google.com/&sessionRedirect=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.linkedin.com%2Fin%2Fchris-woo-929058190
Processing LinkChris Woo – In-House Counsel – Hawaiian Ebbtide Hotel Inc. | LinkedInwww.linkedin.com › chris-woo-929058190
Chris Woo | Hawaiian Islands | In-House Counsel at Hawaiian Ebbtide Hotel Inc. | 0 connection | See Chris’s complete profile on Linkedin and connect.
The rampant drug dealing and prostitution yelp reviewers speak of at the ebb tide sounds like a movie. Marc Kumai described himself as the “booking manager”.
https://www.yelp.com/biz/hawaiian-ebbtide-condo-honolulu