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Aug. 16 (UPI) -- Nine members and associates of two of New York City's organized crime families, including one police detective, were arrested Tuesday on gambling and racketeering charges. The list of those charged includes members of the Genovese and Bonanno crime families, according to the two indictments filed in the U.S. District Court Eastern District of New York.
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The nine men are alleged to have operated several illegal gambling operations in Queens and Long Island, N.Y., according to the the Justice Department.
Among those arrested was Hector Roasrio. The 49-year-old from Mineola, N.Y., is a Nassau County police detective believed to have taken money in exchange for arranging police raids on rival organizations.
Rosario is charged with obstructing a grand jury investigation and lying to the FBI.
"Today's arrests of members from two La Cosa Nostra crime families demonstrate that the Mafia continues to pollute our communities with illegal gambling, extortion, and violence while using our financial system in service to their criminal schemes," U.S. Attorney Breon Peace said in a statement.
"The defendants tried to hide their criminal activity by operating from behind the cover of a coffee bar, a soccer club, and a shoe repair shop, but our Office and our law enforcement partners exposed their illegal operations. Even more disturbing is the shameful conduct of a detective who betrayed his oath of office and the honest men and women of the Nassau County Police Department when he allegedly aligned himself with criminals."
Seven of the defendants were arrested in New York, while an eighth, Vito Pipitone, taken into custody in Wellington, Fla. Of those charged in the indictments, Genovese family associate Joseph Rutigliano, 63, remains at large.
Carmelo Polito, an alleged acting captain in the Genovese crime family, is one of the highest-ranking members charged.
Polito, 63, is charged with running an illegal online gambling scheme. He also faces extortion charges, threatening one person who had lost money in his operation by saying that he was "going to put him under the f------g bridge."
"Current members of the five families demonstrate every day they are not adverse to working together to further their illicit schemes, using the same tired methods to squeeze money from their victims. Enlisting alleged assistance from a member of law enforcement also proves they are willing to do all they can to hide their illegal behavior. Our active investigations show the mafia refuses to learn from history, and accept that at some point they will face justice for their crimes," FBI Assistant Director-in-Charge Michael Driscoll said in a statement.
